How to make a Wing Chun dummy

When it comes to making a homemade Wing Chun dummy, there are several options. The first is to try and create and build a Wing Chun wooden dummy. The second is how to create a PVC Wing Chun dummy. For the sake of this article, we are going to have two sections: one will be for the creation of a PVC Wing Chun dummy, whilst the other section is for a wooden Wing Chun Dummy.

So, what should you choose? Some people believe that a wooden mook jong is quite impractical to build. However, that isn’t completely true and others will argue it looks more aesthetically appealing. Overall, there’s not much between making a wooden or PVC dummy though, bot in terms of financial budgets and practicality. This means it’s really up to you. What should also be acknowledged is your DIY skills. Overall, making a homemade Wing Chun dummy isn’t that easy, but isn’t massively difficult either. As long as you follow the guides then you should be ok.

How to make a homemade PVC Wing Chun dummy

Firstly, go out and buy a large, hollow PVC pipe. This shouldn’t cost too much and is available to buy from DIY stores. Make sure the pipe is around the same height for yourself, if not slightly taller. The reason for this is that typically, Wing Chun dummies aren’t too small or tall. As a result, this will give you a realistic height to practice on. Usually, a pipe of this size should only cost around $20.

Next, you want to buy smaller PVC pipes that will act as the arms of the dummy. These should stick out towards the top of the dummy, but can also be placed towards the bottom which is also an option. Make sure these pipes are much smaller and thinner compared to the main PVC pipe. In other words, you’ll want enough room so they can fit and don’t compromise the rest of the dummy.

How to make PVC Wing Chun dummy arms

After this, you’ll want to start drilling holes into the pain pipe. To do this, get a regular drill and make sure the pipe is held down whilst drilling, otherwise it may come loose and ruin the size of the hole. Here, drill enough miniature holes in the same area to create a circle that is big enough to fit in the smaller PVC pipes. Once this is done, you can fit the smaller pipes in place which act as arms to practice on. Usually, an average dummy has around 3 arms sticking out.

Lastly, you will want to secure the arms/pipes by making sure they don’t fall out at either side. To do this, you should first aim to make the original hole tight enough so they don’t come loose. This means whilst drilling, that you keep checking to see if it’s big enough. Remember, less is more as you can always add to the hole instead of making it smaller. When the smaller pipes are fitted, you can then cement them with blu tack from the inside of the main pipe. To do this, you’ll need quite a large amount of blu tack and you need to place this around the smaller pipes on the inside.

To add the finishing touches to your homemade Wing Chun dummy, you will need to keep it in place. This means propping it up at the bottom. To do this, you’ll need to buy a PVC sheet which will add stability to the bottom. Finally, you can then put bricks around the bottom to keep the main pole from falling. Obviously, if you have more pipes sticking out in one direction then you’ll need to put more bricks in that area on the bottom. You can also put sandbags at the bottom to add stability instead of bricks.

Another tip is putting sandbags inside the pipe as it’s erected. This will make it more heavy and durable, meaning it’s less likely to fall around. A different technique is to also buy a U-bend PVC pipe. If you place this at the bottom and its end touches the floor, then it acts as a base and is less likely to fall due to having stronger foundations.

How to make a PVC Wing Chun dummy cheap at home

In summary, get creative. Really, there’s no set length on how big the holes are, as long as they can fit the smaller pipes. To do this, you will need to judge what length you want yourself, which can be done at a DIY shop in person. Overall, this creation should cost around $30 which is not much at all. The alternative to creating a wooden Wing Chun dummy is that it may cost a similar amount. However, finding enough wood can be difficult, as can carving and drilling the correct sized holes. Overall, creating a PVC Wing Chun dummy should only take around two hours, depending on your DIY skills. Thankfully, there are some decent guides online and videos that can help you.

How to make a homemade wooden Wing Chun dummy

If you’ve read the above guide on making a PVC Wing Chun dummy then it’s kind of similar when making a homemade wooden Wing Chun dummy. In short, you’re just substituting certain materials for others. For example, instead of using a large PVC pipe, you’ll want to get three large parts of wood or timber. Again, these should be around head height. You can get these at most DIY stores as well. Basically, the thicker these are, the better as it will make the dummy more sturdy.

You will want to put these three parts in a row with room in between each of them. Then, you will want to fill in the base of these wooden planks at the bottom to make sure they are all connected on the floor. To do this, you’ll want to drill smaller pieces of wood in between the three pieces to keep everything tight. If you want, you can also put bricks or sandbags on the bottom to keep everything weighted and stable.

Next, you’ll want to make the arms which is why there needs to be space in between the three planks. Here, you’ll want to insert a nail through a smaller piece of wood which will act as an arm. Make sure you have large nails for this, so the nail can enter at one end and come out the other of the small piece of wood. Then, hammer this piece into one of the standing pieces of wood to make an arm. You can then do this with other pieces and it’s up to you as to where you want to place each limb of the dummy.

If you really want, you can fill the blank parts in with filler and let it dry. This may look ugly but it does the job and makes the body solid rather than hollow. One issue with this method of making a wooden dummy is that the wooden planks are rectangular rather than circular like a PVC body. Although this may look visually different from a normal dummy, it will still function in the same way. You can then choose to varnish the body or paint it, depending on your own taste.

The cost of this should be around $50. Obviously, if you can get hold of some scrap pieces of wood then this will cut costs significantly. Like the PVC dummy, you will need a drill at hand. You will also need various shapes of wood, nails, and filler.

How hard is it to break wooden Wing Chun dummy?

So, you’ve made your own Wing Chun dummy, now what? In theory a wooden Wing Chun dummy should never break. Due to the thick nature of the wood on the body, this would be very difficult to do so. Even the strongest and most conditioned men would struggle with destroying a wooden Wing Chun dummy for these reasons and would probably hurt themselves whilst trying.

At the same time, if you hit the arms hard enough over a consistent basis, then they could eventually begin to snap. However, this idea is purely speculation and it’s not ideal to even try to do this. As a result, breaking a Wing Chun dummy is probably possible, but you would have to abuse the dummy and really go hard on it. This is not what Wing Chun is about, as it preaches technique over strength.

Where can I buy a Wing Chun dummy? And how much is a Wing Chun wooden dummy?

Alternatively, if you don’t have the time to build a homemade Wing Chun dummy and money isn’t an issue; then you can buy them online. This is convenient as they can be delivered to your door (you may have to assemble them but this is not difficult). The catch is obviously that buying a Wing Chun dummy is not cheap. Usually, they cost around $200-$600. Usually, this means buying through sites such as Amazon which also shows its reviews on its products. This means you’re less likely to get ripped off and receive a shoddy dummy. In terms of Amazon dummies, the Syntesco is a particularly good deal for how much it costs.

In short, be aware as some websites or foreign suppliers may have supposedly great deals on dummies. The catch is that these could be incredibly poor quality or small in size…or have a number of issues upon receiving a dummy. These days, there are a few Wing Chun dummies to choose from though. For instance, some may be made from wood whilst others are made from other materials.

How to use a Wing Chun dummy?

The Wing Chun dummy is meant to mimic a human body. As a result, you are meant to train on it as you would with a human being. The point of this is to emulate the main techniques used in Wing Chun such as trapping. Here, you’re meant to hit around the arms with your own arms and elbows, improving your arm speed as you get more experienced.

In brief, the Wing Chun dummy is great for solo training and basically drills your moves. This means that if you have a dummy in your garage then you can train whenever and combined with online videos, you can actually learn a lot. As a key part of Wing Chun relies on speed, the idea with a dummy is that the more you drill, the quicker you get. At some point, your hand and arm movements should be so quick that if you got into a fight that you should be able to capably defend yourself. This is how to use a Wing Chun dummy, and the vast majority of drills involve arms and upper body movement. Of course, you can also add in foot and head work if required.