Do you IP Man? or What is with Wing Chun and their Wooden Dummy?

If you are a fan of martial arts then you have seen a Mook Jong or wooden dummy from Wing Chun before. I never saw one in person until four years ago when I first stepped foot into KI Fighting Concepts which was being run by Sifu Joseph Simonet and Addy Hernandez. It was intimidating, people break their hands all the time hitting walls and here was this log thing for me to kick and hit.

Doesn't have to be fancy.

Sifu Simonet has a few resources out there on Amazon. There is Extreme Wing Chun, The Mook Jong Slam Set and Slam Set. I have met people that have studied for years and have not mastered the Slam Set. There are 10 parts and go through a tremendous amount of hand positions. It toughens your fore arms like no other exercise that I have found. When I did knife tapping for the first time last summer, the strikes were a whole lot easier to handle. To understand how hard knife tapping can be, a student fractured his forearm the previous year.



Look, you can even get these on Amazon with out too much difficulty.

If you are budget minded then build one. Seriously, a professionally built Mook Jong can run from $500 to $2500. There are versions that are wall mounted, free standing or set in the ground. I have seen a wide variety of materials from PVC to lacquered hard wood laminates to a crude pine log. The goal is to get you practicing so don't let money get in the way of training.



There are some amazing videos out there to observe and learn.

1. The late Grandmaster IP Man performing Muk Yan Jong;


2. Sifu Joseph Simonet going through the Blade Set. This is shot at Lake Chelan a few years.

A wooden dummy is an awesome partner so don't skip it just because it is an old school training tool. When I practice one of my focuses  is to break the supports by driving it back with an elbow strike. It has cleaned up my forms considerably because it really sucks when you hit it wrong. You can tell the difference when someone has worked with one. Right now I am missing it because my local school has shut down and I am working on securing a new one.

If you know of some good videos teaching the Mook Jong then post below. I don't plan on giving up Wing Chun or the Wooden Dummy anytime soon.