Wing Chun Wooden Dummy(Mook Joong) with Stand

A time-tested traditional training tool, the Wooden Dummy (Mook Joong or Mook Jong) is used by Wing Chun practitioners or anyone who wants to harden their practical fighting skills. This solid hardwood dummy is handcrafted by authentic artisans in China. Built solid out of beautiful, sturdy North African Spotted Hardwood, selected for it’s density and straightness, this Wooden Dummy is in full accordance with the long-established design specifications used by generations of masters. Comes complete with a wall-mounting stand. This dummy is meant to mount to a secure wall. Stand dimension only 70"(H) x 61"(W) x 42"(D).

Wing Chun and the Wing Chun Dummy
Origins of Wing Chun
A relatively younger form of Chinese martial arts, Wing Chun focuses on self-defense maneuvers that combine striking, “sticking,” and controlled actions in close-range combat situations. The philosophy behind Wing Chun emphasizes using the mind as a source of power instead of muscular force.
Developed in southern China approximately 300 years ago, the practice of Wing Chun is attributed to Buddhist nun and abbess, Ng Mui, a master of Shaolin Kung Fu. One of the legendary Five Elders, Ng Mui has also been credited with creating Southern Dragon-style fighting of Shaolin boxing, White Crane-style martial arts, and the Five-Pattern Hung Kuen.
Ng Mui’s creation of Wing Chun sounds like the stuff of legends. According to legend, Ng Mui was a resident studying at the Henan Shaolin Monastery. After defeating her teacher while under the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, she was betrayed by the same teacher, and subsequently, Ng Mui fled from the destruction of the Shaolin temple to the White Crane Temple where she met a bandit named Yim Wing-Chun. Finding her in need of protection, Ng Mui taught Yim Wing-Chun how to defend herself by distilling Shaolin martial art basics in a way that Yim Wing-Chun could learn and master quickly without first developing foundational strength and skill. Wing-Chun was thus named after its first student of the form.
Wing Chun subsequently spread throughout Southern China. Western viewers and non-participants might know the martial art form best through the famous Hong Kong American martial artist Bruce Lee and the Ip Man film series.

Modern Practice and Benefits of Wing Chun
Today, Wing Chun is a relatively accessible martial arts form that allows individuals to defend themselves even when unarmed. Wing Chun is based on reflexive motions and trains students to respond instinctively to surprise attacks. The practice itself is straightforward and efficient, allowing students of Wing Chun to learn the martial arts form in as little as two years. Wing Chun is regularly practiced by individuals of all ages, genders, sizes, shapes, physical skills, and abilities.
In addition to the accessibility of the martial arts form, there are a variety of benefits to practicing Wing Chun.
Wing Chun, like other martial arts forms, trains students to strengthen their fine motor skills. The time spent focusing on the timing of strikes and kicks naturally leads to improved coordination, balance, and contact and visual reflexes.
A key aspect of Wing Chun training is meditation. The practice of Wing Chun forces a student to focus their mind and intentions on the tasks at hand. Training methods focus on efficiency through the elimination of unnecessary actions and movements and promotion of the mind and body connection. Its effectiveness comes from technique and response rather than size and strength. The intense focus required to practice and hone these skills results in students feeling more relaxed and less stressed and anxious.
Proper Wing Chun training is intense and will help students build a greater degree of physical fitness. Training requires individuals to learn controlled punches, kicks, counterstrikes, and more. It is an excellent sport that builds cardiovascular endurance and burns calories and fat. To improve skills used in Wing Chun, engage in activities that will improve cardiovascular endurance, strength training, and mindfulness.

The Wing Chun Dummy
While much of Wing Chun requires practicing movements with a live partner, there are training tools that can help individuals to practice on their own. The Wing Chun Dummy, also known as the Wooden Dummy, in Cantonese as Muk Yan Jong, and Mandarin as Mu Ren Zhuang, is a popular training tool.
The origins of the Wing Chun Dummy can also be traced to Ng Mui. According to legend, the old southern Shaolin Temple in the Fujian province housed a collection of 108 man-made wooden dummies that are said to have represented 108 different attack techniques. Monks in the temple would rotate down the hall to practices different skills on the dummies. After the Manchus razed the temple 300 years ago, Ng Mui created a training device that mimicked the 108 techniques offered by the original wooden dummies.
Today, students use the Wing Chun Dummy to learn form and practice skills of self-defense, such as footwork, positioning, kicks, strikes, blocks, counterstrikes, and combinations.
Wing Chun Dummies were traditionally made of wood, with a full tree trunk for the body and arms made from branches. Holes were dug in the ground where the original dummies were be placed with gravel packed all around. Now, dummies are made from softer woods and synthetic materials like PVC, plastic, and even metal. The height of the dummy can be adjustable to help a student train at different heights and levels. They can be customizable, and typically start at $700.00.

Training with the Wing Chun Dummy
In Wing Chun training, power and mastery over the martial arts form do not derive from sheer physical strength. It comes from training the body to move with precision, accuracy, and efficiency. Mastering Wing Chun will come from developing reflexive and tactical training skills by learning to optimize balance, accuracy, timing, positioning, speed, flow, and power. Rather than working with heavy punching bags, students may use the Wing Chun Dummy to develop contact and visual reflexes.
When training with a dummy, students will practice his or her offensive and defensive moves. It is vital to train with the philosophies of Wing Chun in mind. In the beginning, students must start slowly and deliberately with their movements, making light contact with the dummy until the body is sufficiently conditioned to withstand more. Students of Wing Chun should take care to minimize the forceful impact that can stress the bones and joints. As students progress, they can place more energy and intention into each strike and counterstrike. The goal of training with a dummy is to establish a foundational skill set that will provide a basis for training with a live partner.
As in any workout or combat training, it is essential to warm up to reduce the chances of potential injury. Do active movements like dynamic stretching to warm up the muscles.

Wing Chun Forms and Techniques
Wing Chun has three hand forms, Siu Nim Tau, Chum Kiu, and the Biu Jee. Siu Nim Tau is the most fundamental form of Wing Chun.
Siu Nim Tao, sometimes referred to as Siu Lim Tao, translates to “small idea” or “little thought,” and can be used as a form of moving and breathing meditation. This form teaches proper structure techniques, such as stance and how to use hand movements, and how to achieve a relaxed state of mind, which is fundamental and necessary to generate the appropriate force. In this form, students learn the basic handwork actions of tan sau, bong sau, and fook sau, and use these actions to form part of an arc of a circle or sphere. These movements require rotation of the circle at its center, such as rotation of the ball joint in the shoulder. By focusing on movements that are initiated by a rotation of the “sphere,” as compared to forceful pushing of the hands, the Wing Chun practitioner can defend themselves while keeping their body flexible and fluid to remain adaptable and responsive to any offensive actions. These actions, as “spherical actions” can withstand more external impact than any other shape, and, therefore, are effective self-defense. This is just one example of how a Wing Chun philosophy can be mastered and applied to any self-defense situation.
Chum Kiu is the second form and teaches how to use the skills of Siu Nim Tao in different conditions. Chum Kiu introduces kicks, wider movement, and appropriate body positioning that will enable a practitioner to pivot correctly when facing multiple threats.
Biu Gee is for more experienced Wing Chun practitioners and focuses on advanced techniques and emergency and recovery maneuvers, such as when an individual is trapped or boxed into a corner. Secondary forms of Wing Chun may incorporate tools such as poles or knives.
Students can learn the art of Wing Chun through extensive mindfulness and effective practice with a Wing Chun Dummy. The Wing Chun Dummy helps students to learn and practice such fundamental actions as shifting and stepping, pak and cover, blocking, kicking, and more.
Remember, in Wing Chun practice, precision and care are vital to effective movements. Repetition, dedicated practice, mindfulness and a strong work ethic with a Wing Chun Dummy are the skills that will help a student build muscle memory and ready themselves into the proper position each and every time. If you can achieve the proper footwork and hand movements each and every time, you will not be thrown off course in future combative practice.
Let’s learn one of the most basic movements, the shifting and stepping maneuver. This maneuver will demonstrate some of the fundamentals and teach some of the key terms of Wing Chun practice.
Stand in Wing Chun basic stance in front of the dummy. Place your left hand in Jong Sau, or posture hands. Place your left hand in Wu Sau, or a guarding position, close to the body.
Brace yourself by grabbing the upper left wooden arm with the left hand and perform a Spade Hand, or palm strike, with the right hand.
Shift your body weight to the left, sink your weight onto this side of your body, and pull back with the left hand pushing forward with the right hand.
Return to basic stance. Place your left hand in Wu Sau. Place the right hand in Bong Sau, or as a wing, on the left wooden arm of the dummy.
Step left and shift your body weight to the right so that you are facing the dummy. Pivot your right arm under the wooden arm into a Tan Sau, with your palm facing up. Step forward with your right foot while performing a left-hand Side Palm Strike against the dummy’s torso.
Step right and shift left so you are facing the dummy. Using your right arm, perform a Gaun Sau, or a low block, against the lower wooden arm. Simultaneous to this movement, perform a Jut Sau, jerking arm motion, with your left arm against the upper left arm of the dummy.
Take your left arm, and perform an inner Bong Sau, or deflecting motion, against the upper right wooden arm. Bring the right hand to Wu Sau.
Step right and shift left so you face the dummy. Pivot the left arm under the wooden arm into a Tan Sau while your left footsteps into the dummy's stance and right arm perform a Side Palm Strike against the dummy's body.
Step left again and shift right so you face the dummy. With the left arm, perform a Gaun Sau against the lower wooden arm while the right arm performs Jut Sau against the upper right wooden arm.
Bring up both hands above the upper wooden arms and have your fingers pointing to the dummy with palms down. Press down on the upper arms of the dummy. Quickly, bring your hands below the wooden arms and press up. At this point, you have reached the standard closing of the maneuver.
Once you have done these steps, repeat Steps 1 through 3. At the end of Step 3, after you've sunk into your stance, place your left hand Huen Sao, or circling the inside of the wooden arm, and then perform a side palm strike to the dummy’s torso. Then proceed with Steps 4-10.