Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2013 September 12

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September 12

Rail stations a long way from towns

Which railway station is the greatest distance from the town/city it is supposedly meant to serve?Any advances on Bodmin Parkway-4 miles and a 20 minute bus journey from the centre of Bodmin or Tiverton Parkway-some 8 miles and a 30 minute bus journey from the actual town itself?(both of which I have had the dubious pleasure of having to visit this week...) Lemon martini (talk) 00:29, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

That "supposedly meant to service" bit is impossibly vague. They often don't go directly to each city, but rather run through the center of the cluster, so who's to say which are inside or outside the "serviced area" ? StuRat (talk) 07:58, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

That's pretty much what "parkway" means in a railway station name. It's a station placed to not quite get into a city so you have to use further transport (reducing traffic to the city centre caused by people travelling out of the city, and acting as a park and ride into the city if there is a corresponding central station). So List of Parkway railway stations in Britain should narrow down your search. MChesterMC (talk) 08:09, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

(edit conflict)I think the OP means a station that's labelled "Anytown" but actually isn't very near Anytown itself. In the UK, there was a rash of Parkway#United Kingdom stations created in the 1970s and 80s to serve towns that didn't actually have a rail station but it was feasible to drive or catch a bus to a fairly nearby one. In other words, they found the nearest little village station, built a big car park and changed the sign to that of the big town they thought it could serve - a park and ride station. Alansplodge (talk) 08:13, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

Bristol Parkway station is about 7 miles from the centre of Bristol, but is now surrounded by residential and office development so may not count. Kemble railway station is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but is now the main station for Cirencester, over 4 miles away. Ghmyrtle (talk) 09:28, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

• The Amtrak North East Corridor line from Boston to Washington runs about a mile south of Princeton, New Jersey where it has the Princeton Junction station. A light rail line goes from there to Princeton proper.

Aix-en-Provence TGV railway station station is 15.5 kilometres (9.6 mi) from the centre of Aix-en-Provence. Astronaut (talk) 09:14, 13 September 2013 (UTC)

Not quite the same, but in Ireland Limerick Junction is some 24 miles from Limerick. However there is a railway line between the two, but the naming may cause people to get off at the wrong place. -- Arwel Parry (talk) 07:45, 14 September 2013 (UTC)

Punching Gloves for Heavy bag

Hello there, recently I bought Canvas Punching bag from Weifang Bowei Sports Goods Co., Ltd. But not from the manufacturer directly. It's really huge (110 IBS) and vinyl shell, fiber filled heavy duty bag. The problem is our country does not import any exercise equipment in mid level. Either they are very sturdy that is hard to punch even after wearing gloves or too small or soft that could move simultaneously when punching at moderate level. When buying this bag they also gave me N 6401 Ninja card martial arts gloves. I am totally beginner in boxing but I have an experience in Strength Training. (Following a program called Strong Lift 5×5 for the last 8 months). I tried to hit bag with bare hand first but knuckles got hurts (red bruise). A few hours later I tried with mentioned gloves but same results except it takes longer time to get red knuckles. One more thing is that I am not hitting bag incorrectly. Before practicing, I read and watched several articles and videos to ensure the correct form and also planning to buy The Fighter's Guide To Hard-Core Heavy Bag Training by Wim Demeere and Loren W Christensen . Since, it's my first time, is it normal to get bruise on my knuckles and feeling sore in hands. Should I buy new gloves? Any suggestions, recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you --180.234.29.151 (talk) 19:27, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

Kill Bill-type scenarios aside, I don't see any point in deliberately punching hard objects with your soft hands just to toughen them up. Those gloves look like open-palm MMA gloves (the kind that allow grappling); ideally you'd use proper bag gloves, intended for that purpose. The first few times, more than a few minutes of punching (even with bag gloves) is going to leave your knuckles red or even broken - I've had bloody knuckles a few times. Naturally you should wait until things are healed before punching again. If you're going to be hitting the bag a lot (that is, if you're going to actually train as a boxer, rather than just incorporate boxing training into a general circuit training regime) then you'd typically wrap your hands (in the complicated way that boxers do, that you really should get someone who knows what they're doing to show you in person) to reduce the risk you'll break a metacarpal bone (a boxer's fracture). -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 20:58, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

Agree 100% with Finlay about "...punching hard objects..", letting hands/knuckles heal and getting advice from an experienced person, though I would expand that to include your punching techniques as well. It is easy to hurt your hands and they are too important nowadays for typing and similar to take to much risk with them. I have an extensive martial arts background (in striking & throwing arts). I never did exercises to specifically toughen up the knuckles, and even then my finger/hands got a fair amount of 'damage'. Simply unnecessary, at least in my (Australian) society and circumstances. It may be that the problem is that the bag is canvas? (your linked pageactually says "Durable black vinyl shell"). Bags I used were rather smooth vinyl, or similar material. It also says "Please note that these bags are designed for the serious martial artist and are not softly filled", so perhaps this is not the best bag for you as a beginner, or you need to remove some of the filling?

I would also suggest trying to find someone with good experience (preferably a qualified instructor) in an indigenous martial art that emphasises striking. Also remember that 'punching' bags are not just for punching. Elbow, knees and feet are good 'weapons' too! In many ways better than a fist. (range and power for example). Bags may even potentially stand in for an opponent for throwing practice.

The Wikipedia page Punching bag and Punch (combat) may be of some help.--220 of ^Borg 01:07, 14 September 2013 (UTC)

Similarly, kicking the tree is far more trouble than it's worth, if you're not Van Damme. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:05, 15 September 2013 (UTC)

It is unusual to sustain an injury from punching a bag so I would take another look at your punching technique to ensure you are punching squarely with the first two knuckles. Most injuries occur because the knuckles meet the bag at an angle and the wrist bends or the knuckles slip. The error may be tiny so examine your technique carefully. I have to disagree somewhat with the comments above, in that, if you are practising a martial art for self-defence reasons you will need to do some conditioning sooner or later but get your technique right first and build it up slowly.--Ykraps (talk) 19:00, 16 September 2013 (UTC)