Muk Yan Jong — Wooden Dummy

 Chu Shong Tin

The Wooden Dummy is recognised as the highest skill in Wing Chun. Hence, the majority of Wing Chun learners consider that learning the moves of the Wooden Dummy will automatically become a good Wing Chun fighter. Some even feel very happy with themselves and boast about their own achievements to the junior learners.

The moves of the Wooden Dummy are all good for fighting. However, those moves are actually formed by the basic moves of Siu Nim Tau, Chum Kiu and Bill Gee. They are not uniquely owned by the Wooden Dummy only.

In fact, the practice of the Wooden Dummy is taken as an auxiliary measure for the training of the Wing Chun forms. If your purpose is to practise the skill of the three forms then you should treat the Wooden Dummy as a piece of equipment and try your best to practise the moves and the skill of the three forms on it. You should also try to feel if your goal has been achieved, e.g. trying to concentrate the force of the whole body to a particular point and induce the opponent's force for your own use (N.B. to induce the opponent's force for your own use is one of the basic structure of Bill Gee, which is the combined effect of rotation of the body and the formation of the whirlpool effect). On the other hand, if you treat the Wooden Dummy as your opponent, you should try to concentrate your own force, as well as the skill of inducing the opponent's force, to attack the Wooden Dummy so as to attain the state that your hands can reach any part of the opponent as your mind wishes to do.

As I said before, if I describe every move of the Wooden Dummy in writing, one will find it difficult to follow and it may even lead him away from the principal goal in practising the Wooden Dummy. For this reason, I have made up my mind to show you the skill of the forms as well as the Wooden Dummy myself so that you can feel the mysterious and profound skill of the Wing Chun Kung Fu.