Muk Yan Jong

The Muk Yan Jong is a wooden dummy used in Chinese martial arts training.It is associated with the martial art of Wing Chun and other kung fu styles of Southern China. Traditionally made from wood, the dummies are now also made from modern constructs such as steel and plastic.

In Wing Chun

The Wing Chun wooden dummy is the most popular form of wooden dummy. The Wing Chun wooden dummy uses an arm and leg configuration designed to cultivate fighting skill and chi simultaneously. [http://wingchunmagazine.com/WingChunTeahouseSpring2006.pdf] The Hong Kong wooden dummy is a wall mounted version of the Wing Chun Wooden Dummy that hangs using two wooden slats through the body of the wooden dummy. Older versions of the Wing Chun wooden dummy were originally placed in the ground. The modern design was created by Yip Man in Hong Kong to fit the needs of living in an apartment. The Wing Chun version of the "muk yan jong" has three arms and one leg, which represents an opponent's body in various positions and the lines of force the body can give out. The wooden slats on which the "muk yan jong" is mounted has a springiness that is similar to a human opponent's involuntary reaction and allows the user to practice absorbing energy into his/her stance. Due to this springiness, this type of dummy is considered an "alive" dummy. Therefore, the older version of the dummy without mounting is commonly called a "dead" dummy.

In Jeet Kune Do

Bruce Lee had also made and modified a Wing chun wooden dummy for his martial arts philosophy of Jeet Kune Do which had a modified neck and a metal leg.

In Choy Lee Fut

Ching Jong

Ching Jong (balanced dummy) has a different orientation to the arms more suited to Choy Lee Fut style's arm motions. In this version, the single top arm, protruding straight out from the front, moves up and down, anchored traditionally with a rope and heavy weight (the origin of the namesake) and anchored with a spring to the rear in modern times. Furthermore, the two middle arms now protrude outward in a "V", and also an additional lower arm that can be substitute with a traditional Wing Chun dummy's leg. Also, sandbags are mounted on the front and sides, which are struck for hand and finger conditioning, similar to makiwara.

ui Sau Jong

The sui sau jong (breaking hand dummy) features a swinging arm around the shoulder level, hanging sandbags, as well as a rotor-like arm at the top, located at head height. The arms are coordinated so that striking the swinging arm causes the rotation of the helicopter arm, and vice versa. The main aim of this dummy is to train quick reactions for counterattacks.

Ma Jong

Unlike other dummies, the Ma Jong (horse dummy) is a moveable dummy.

The overall shape of the dummy is a horse, with the main body of a heavy log carrying two frames, a tall one at front and the short one in the rear. Each frames are mounted with a horizontal crossbar that is perpendicular to the log, which has spring mechanism that are connected to the wheels. When pushed back, the horse dummy charges forward, forcing the students to control the dummy through a good stances. Furthermore, as the two horizontal arms are interlocking spinning arms, this also train coordinations and speed.

Others

Other dummys used in Choy Lee Fut includes the Cheung Bau Jong (墻包樁) (A sand bag on wall, basically a makiwara), Sah Bau Jong (沙包樁) (a Sand Bag Apparatus, with one main heavy sandbag connected to two other sandbag on its side through a pulley system), and other mechanical dummies.

Plans

* [http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=677 Kung Fu Magazine]
* [http://www.usuarios.com/ib307618/construirm.htm Spanish instructions for Ching Jong]
* [http://sanclementemartialarts.blogspot.com/2007/06/make-your-own-wooden-dummy.html Make Your Own Wooden Dummy]
* [http://web.singnet.com.sg/~firedog/Wooden_dummy/wooden_dummy.htm Self made wooden dummy with some plans]

Appearances in pop culture

*Jackie Chan can be seen training on a steel "Muk Yan Jong" in "Gorgeous" and on a wooden "Muk Yan Jong" in Shaolin Wooden Men and "Rumble in the Bronx" (near the start of the movie).Fact|date=February 2008
*Jason Scott Lee in the film is seen training with a wooden dummy.
*On the Season Two Premiere Episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "When She Was Bad", Buffy Summers is seen using a Muk Yan Jong during one of her training regimens as the slayer.Fact|date=February 2008
*Mark Wahlberg can be seen skillfully practicing on a traditional wooden "Muk Yan Jong" in the beginning of "The Big Hit".

References

External links

*http://www.plumblossom.net/ChoyLiFut/formslist.html (Scroll to bottom)
*http://www.tai-chi-centre.com/woodendummies.htm
*http://wingchunmagazine.com/WingChunTeahouse_Spring2006.pdf
* [http://web.singnet.com.sg/~firedog/Wooden_dummy/wooden_dummy.htm Self made wooden dummy with plans]