Muk Yan Jong

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Muk Yan Jong
Chinese: 木人樁
Literal meaning: "wooden man post"


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.

Contents

[edit] In Wing Chun

Wing Chun Dummy
Wing Chun Dummy

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.[1]The Hong Kong wall mounted version of the Wing Chun Wooden Dummy. Traditional wooden dummies were 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. The wooden slats on which the muk yan jong is traditionally mounted have a springiness that is similar to a human opponent's involuntary reaction and allows the user to practice absorbing energy into his stance.

[edit] In Choy Lee Fut

[edit] Ching Jong

Choy Lee Fut's Ching Jong wooden dummy
Choy Lee Fut's Ching Jong wooden dummy

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.

[edit] Sui 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] In contemporary arts

Bruce Lee had also made and modified a Wing chun dummy for his style of Jeet Kune Do also known as the "Jeet Kune Do Dummy", which had a modified neck and metal legs.

[edit] Plans

[edit] Appearances in pop culture

[edit] References

[edit] External links