Makiwara

I made this makiwara quite a while ago. It's a really good tool to check one is punching/striking correctly; as they say, anyone who says a makiwara doesn't hit back, has never really used one...

Anyway, it's outside, and exposed to the elements. The "padding" (I shouldn't even call it that, as I just wound some straw-like stuff around the wood) has been getting rather the worse for elemental wear - as well as punching wear: the last time I used it I could actually see it fraying more with each punch, to the point I figured I'd better stop before I was punching bare wood.

Not sure that would've been any softer, but still...

So, I need to make a better, longer-lasting pad of some kind.