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A first approach with the Wing Chun wooden dummy

In this article, we want to describe 5 easy and safe exercises / drills for beginners (but not only).

Important premises:

Do stretching before starting (read Basic soft stretching and How to correctly perform stretching)
These exercises can be performed as a warm-up (read Basic warm-up and How to correctly perform warm-up)
Train safely, do not train what is in pain (read also Safe training: the 3 errors rule)
This kind of training is part of the poles training (read Basic tools: the pole)
These exercises can be performed barehand but only at a slow intensity, otherwise, if we are not conditioned we can also use gloves or bands (middle-full power blows are for advanced / experts practitioners only)
We have not invented these exercises but we have adapted them to our needs, it is, therefore, necessary to emphasize that there are other versions

A note by Master Kongling – Do not waste money uselessly. In the beginning, you do not need to buy a real wooden dummy, you can even build your own PVC version (read A Wing Chun wooden dummy like in PVC) or use a bench, a stool, a chair (etc.). The perfect positioning of the limbs is not crucial, the important thing is to learn to manage them not as obstacles but as fighting opportunities.

The exercises

1. Touch the elements

This exercise is made to familiarize with the opponent’s interactions:

To familiarize ourselves with the wooden dummy we can start simply touching its limbs with open palms
Let’s position us in a guard stance in front of it (read /// Subscribe (it's free!) or Login to see this content ///)
Let’s simply touch with our hands its core parts
Our right hand touches the internal part of the upper right wooden arm
Let’s return to the guard position
While the right turns back, the left hand touches the internal part of the upper left wooden arm
Let’s return to the guard position
While the left turns back, the right hand touches the internal part of the upper right wooden arm Instead of going back to the guard position, the right hand goes down and touches the lower wooden arm
While the right goes down, the left hand touches the internal part of the upper left wooden arm
Then (symmetrically) the hand that is down, goes up and the one that is up, goes down
Let’s return to the guard position and let’s restart the loop

2. Slip on the limbs

This exercise is made to gain fluidity for the liquid interactions (read The 6DKF’s Liquid and Fluid Contacts). The explanation may appear very complex but in its execution, this practice is absolutely intuitive:

Let’s position us in a guard stance in front of the wooden dummy
The left hand touches the internal part of the left arm of the dummy
The same hand slips on the lower wooden arm
At the same time, the back of the right hand touches the internal part of the left arm of the dummy
Then the back of the left hand goes up and touches the internal part of the right arm of the dummy
At the same time the right hand slips on the lower wooden arm
Then the left hand slips on the right wooden arm and become a fist
The fist hits the “head” of the wooden dummy (the part above the upper arms of the central trunk)
Then the left hand touches the left wooden arm
Immediately the left hand slips on the lower arm and at the same time the back of the right arm touches the left wooden arm
At this point, the right hand becomes a fist and hits the head of the dummy
The right hand goes down to the lower arm and at the same time the back of the left hand touches the right wooden arm
Then the left hand becomes a fist and the loop continues (it is a circular motion)
In this drill, our limbs should be in a liquid state (relaxed but active, read Combat interactions: from the strong blow to the light touch)
The entire movement is managed by the back-and-forth motion of our shoulders
Let’s not forget to execute the drill also in the opposite direction

3. Leg control with a heel kick

This exercise is born to work on legs’ precision:

Let’s position us in a guard stance in front of the wooden dummy
Our right foot touches the left surface of the wooden leg (the nearest)
Without leaning the foot on the ground, the same leg touches the right surface of the wooden leg (the opposite one)
Always without leaning on the ground, the same leg kicks on the central trunk of the dummy (at the height of the knee)
Each movement should be loading for the subsequent one
Let’s return to the guard position
Then let’s symmetrically execute the same sequence with the right leg
Let’s return to the guard position and let’s restart the loop

4. Leg control with an instep kick

As for exercise number 3, this one is focused on legs’ precision:

The same as exercise 2 but with a small difference

The left foot touches first the right surface of the wooden leg
The kick is with the instep

5. Upper and lower limbs combination

This exercise is made for coordination:

Once we are able to execute the exercises from 1 to 4 without problems we simply have to mix one of the first 2 with the number 3 or 4
As in real combat, we have to simultaneously work with upper and lower limbs

A note by Master Kongling – These are only exercises studied to condition fluidity, speed, resistance, instinct, coordination (etc.): in no cases, they should be seen as practical techniques.

General execution rules

When the hand touches the wooden limbs, it must be ready to grab or to move (read How to acquire the Soft Touch skill)
All the movements must be performed in sync with our body balance, let’s involve our entire body structure in each motion
Let’s move our knees and feet accordingly to our needs, let’s not stand still in front of the wooden dummy
All of these kinds of drills / exercises should be performed for (at least) 10 minutes
We can do specific sessions for each of them or we can divide the amount of time dedicated to executing altogether (eg. 2 minutes each)

Variations

Within the sequences, we can gradually insert random variations (thrusts, displacements, strokes, grips, pauses, locks, etc.)
While our ability increases we can add more speed and strength to the movements but without sacrificing fluidity and effectiveness

In the next article of this series, we will see more exercises.

In-depth articles

The path to the soft movements – How to gain the skill of the soft movements
How to combine softness and power – How to exploit the power of softness

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

Do you feel pain executing these exercises?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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