Thursday, June 21, 2012

A Great Kung Fu Wooden Dummy Training Tool

By Al Case


The kung fu wooden dummy is a fantastic martial arts tool. It strengthens the arms for blocking, it toughens the fists for striking, and it is an opponent that never quits, but always loses. Unfortunately, the cost is sometimes high, so here are a couple of alternatives to help the wooden dummy aficionado.

The Kung Fu Wooden Dummy is a popular piece of equipment, but Wing Chun Ving Tsun) Gung Fu is the best known for utilizing it. This art has practiced with the wooden fellow over a hundred years, and even has a complete form for dominating it. Other Martial arts, however, advocate dummy training, also.

This writer recalls watching the Kung Fu wooden dummy in Jackie Chan's great kung fu flick Rumble in the Bronx. Watching the air become thick with dust when Jackie lays into it is a great moment. Possibly the best flick to show the wooden training Partner is the movie Ip Man, with Donny Yen.

In the beginning the martial artist will become adept at beating on kicking bags and speed bags, and perhaps strengthening the hands on the makiwara. It won't be long, however, until the karateka or kung fu student puts a couple of rug samples on a pine tree and moves into tougher hand conditioning. The trick, however, is to get the wooden limb 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.

From there one might consider mounting a pole on a pivot. Simply bury a two by four in the earth, then place a moveable pole atop it. On can block the pole, and block it again when it swings 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 what it is, or perhaps the difficulty of procuring a log in a city, one might consider alternative materials. PVC might work, if one could find thick enough plastic that won't break, or perhaps even some sort of metal. This type of material would require towels or other material being wrapped around it to protect the arms and fists.

In summation, there are many ways to make your own friendly attacker, and the martial student is limited only by his creative abilities. Watch film, read instruction books, and start analyzing the materials that you might need. Guaranteed, a kung fu wooden dummy will give you great martial arts training.




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