subject: Great Kung Fu Wooden Dummy Training Tip [print this page] The kung fu wooden dummy is a great piece of martial arts equipment. It strengthens the arms and the fists, and even the legs, and it is an opponent that never quits but always loses. The cost of a wooden playmate is sometimes high, so here are a couple of alternatives to help the wooden dummy aficionado meet his opponent.
The Kung Fu Wooden Dummy is popular in many martial arts, but the main art is Wing Chun Ving Tsun) Gung Fu. This art has practiced with the wooden man for the longest, and even has a complete form for dominating it. Other arts, however, use the dummy, also.
This writer recalls seeing the Kung Fu wooden dummy in Jackie Chan's wonderful kung fu flick Rumble in the Bronx. Seeing the air fill with dust when Jackie lays into it is a great moment. Possibly the best flick to demonstrate the wooden figure is Ip Man, with Donny Yen.
In the beginning the martial artist will become adept at pounding on kicking bags and speed bags, and perhaps toughening the fists on the makiwara. It won't be long, however, until the karateka or kung fu practitioner puts a couple of rug samples on a tree and moves into tougher fist conditioning. The trick, however, is to get the arm to fly out at you so you can block it.
This writer made a quick striking pole by taping a towel around a broomstick, and then having people come at him with it. This rapidly turned into an advanced form of free fighting, where the block had to be accomplished, and the distance to the attacker covered. It is a hard task to move three or four feet in a split second to close the distance the to the pole.
The next step might be putting a pole on some sort of swivel device. Sink a four by four, then place a moveable pole atop it. On can block the limb, and block it again when it comes around, and even get into ducking and blocking.
Eventually, one will want to get a length of a log, drill a few holes, then arrange some arms and legs. One can then move around, block the wooden arms and legs, and pretend that one is defending against a real attacker. What is really nifty is to place some large springs on the arms and legs so that they become more realistic.
The cost of wood being considerable, or perhaps the difficulty of procuring a log when you live in in a city, one might think about different materials. A length of PVC might suffice, if one can find thick enough material that won't break, or perhaps even some sort of light metal. This type of dummy and limbs would require some sort of wrapping to protect the hands and feet.
In closing, there are many ways to set up a fake opponent, and the martial artist is limited only by his imagination. Watch movies, read books, and start inspecting the materials available to you. Guaranteed, a kung fu wooden dummy will go a long way in your martial arts training.
