The Wooden Man Form (Muk
Yan Chong) fascinated me when I was a novice to Wing Chun as it added
to the mystery of the style.
My teacher told me to learn
the form and then forget it.
This confused the living
daylights out of me at the time, but later on I grew to understand his
reasoning.
Think of the dummy as you
would a punch bag, ok it doesn't react like one, but the principal is
the same.
Working the dummy rather
than going over a set form time and time again does wonders for getting
your range right, and if you pad it up a bit you can put strikes in
while working your blocks, pinning, footwork and hand co-ordination.
Sure, the dummy is inflexible
and will not react like a human when struck but still I find it a very
useful training tool.
A good dummy is not cheap
and you can expect to pay several hundred pounds for a good chinese
import.
There are cheaper alternatives
but I cant comment on the quality and overall durability.
Another approach might
be to construct your own see the link for plans. Believe me it's not
an easy task unless you have the rights tools and someone willing to
turn an oak tree trunk but it's well worth while in the end.
You need oak or a similar
hard wood for the body leg and arms and ash for the cross beams, still
not cheap but at least half the price of a quality dummy.
