After six or seven years of training I am finally starting training on the wooden dummy. In most lineages, including mine, the wooden dummy is taught at the end or towards the end of the unarmed system, which in Wing Tsun means after you have learned all 7 chi sao sections, the Biu Jee Form and the four Biu Jee Chi Sao sections, and is hence considered to be quite advanced (but I believe that at least in the Wong Shun Leung lineages the dummy is typically learned much earlier, perhaps even before the Biu Jee form). I actually never thought that I would get this far and am really excited about getting the opportunity to learn the dummy. Augustine Fong wrote something to the effect that if you learn Wing Chun but don’t learn the dummy, its like going into a gold mine and leaving without taking the gold.
Grand Master Leung Ting writes in his Wooden Dummy book that while all the lineages have the dummy form, most know nothing or next to nothing about the applications of the movements. Whether or not this is true, one thing that I like about training with this piece of equipment is that just doing the form probably has substantial benefits. As you come up through the ranks in the Leung Ting system (and offshoot systems), you learn the various Chi Sao Sections and become exposed to more and more techniques. Eventually that becomes a problem in that you will have learned many techniques but may only able to use a small number of them in either Chi Sao or actual fighting. So eventually the idea of learning even more techniques and cooler techniques loses its luster so to speak. But after you have learned the dummy form and practiced it over and over, gradually increasing the speed of the movements, I believe that you will inevitably improve your footwork, sticking, and the speed and fluidity of the transitions of movements.
Once I started the form, I read up as much as I could find about the dummy and its training. First, the dummy itself is made out of the heaviest and strongest wood available, ideally teak, but more practically something like walnut or mahogony. These are very hard woods, and consequently when you start practicing on the dummy, the first thing you notice is that it hurts your forearms and wrists. This is actually a very good thing, as it toughtens up your forearms and wrists for real combat. Modern day dummies are built either mounted in wood frames or on springs creating a device that has some “give” or recoil to it. This “give” allows the training of the so called “fa jing” or short distance explosive power. Also, the three arms and one leg are constructed with joints that have slight gaps, which means that when you hit them they cause a distinct “clacking” sound. You are supposed to make all the movements simultaneously, so it is possible to tell just by the sound if a movement is performed correctly.
Since the form is designed to improve your footwork and indeed to introduce different and superior footwork, all footwork must be performed precisely and with perfect timing and coordination with the hand movements.
In the Leung Ting and offshoot lineages students, after the student learns the form he or she is required to learn how to perform the whole form in the air without the dummy. It is also possible to practice this so called “air dummy” even while you are learning the form in the first place. This is helpful if you can’t get to the school every day and don’t have room in your house for your own dummy.
