I made a post a few months ago asking for wooden dummy suggestions…
But now the time has come! This week I’m going to be buying a wooden dummy after quite a bit of research, and I’m sure now that I’ll be sticking with wing chun for the foreseable future… and I just want last minute suggestions if anyone is willing :).
The most obvious suggestion would be: If you have a dummy where did you get it from? How much did you pay? Is it a good dummy or not?
I’m going to be contacting as many places as possible to get more information, but I think I know where I’ll be getting my dummy from.
However, please post ANY information you have about any wooden dummy retailers… whether its good or bad experiance, the more I know the better!
I got mine from the Great Lion Company. I know at least four other people who also got theirs from here, including one guy who ordered the JKD version (he had remorse about that later).
Be aware, he likes to set the arms up with very little play. The last one one of us ordered, we asked for another 1/4" of space in the holes so the arms would have more play. He countered saying 1/8" was all we needed for that. He was right. It worked great. His normal deal is an oak trunk with oak arms, although he’ll do other woods if he can come up with them. We generally choose maple arms, again for liveliness.
The other thing is to make sure you specify how you want your leg. I didn’t, and he sent a leg that came out about 16 inches and then dropped vertical all the way to the floor, ala Koo Sang. I sent that back and got a 45 degree leg that works perfect for me.
Mr. Thornton is a stand up guy in my experience. It usually takes a while to deliver, but he’ll go the extra mile to get you what you ask for. Alls you gotta do is know what you want.
Re: Buying wooden dummy this week, last minute suggestions welcomed!
Originally posted by Brithlor The most obvious suggestion would be: If you have a dummy where did you get it from? How much did you pay? Is it a good dummy or not?
I made it myself. I got the arms made by Asheville Woodcrafters who don’t seem to exist anymore. Their website, wooddummy.com, has been replaced by a stupid porn webcam thing. I don’t know wtf is up with that. Their phone number has been disconnected, too. Anyway, the arms they made me are absolutely perfect. But, I guess they don’t exist anymore. It cost between $250-275 total (I can’t remember exactly) for everything including the stand. It is a good dummy. My cross pieces are a bit thicker than “traditional” so it’s a little stiffer, but I like it this way. Other than that, everything is perfect. The upper arms are at the same height, everything is the proper dimension, etc.
However, please post ANY information you have about any wooden dummy retailers… whether its good or bad experiance, the more I know the better!
Like I said, Asheville Woodcrafters had the best prices and excellent quality stuff but they don’t exist anymore. Maybe they lost too much money cuz their prices were AWESOME. Anyway, a lot of online retailers have crappy dummies and I’ve called them out before in previous threads.
So in the meantime, the only company I would recommend would be Great Lion (www.woodendummy.net).
I just so happens that www.woodendummy.net is the company I’m considering at the moment… I’m hoping to get other suggestions aswell though :).
Anyone visit that site recently?
They have (unfortunetly) raised their prices and now have some strange three legged dummy as their standard… they also no longer have the wall mount apparently…
Does anyone have the email address for the woodendummy.net people? I’d really like to ask them a few questions.
Here’s mine if you want to see it. See? Pretty much the same, except the two diagonal pieces on mine are 2x4’s instead of 4x4’s like they used, but mine go a little bit higher on the vertical pieces to create a sturdier base to make up for the thinner piece I used there, but I don’t imagine it matters that much. Oh yeah, I didn’t stain mine either. And like I said my cross pieces are a little thicker.
You could build one if you have Great Lion build the arms, but they don’t have prices for those up yet. Asheville Woodcrafters built my arms and leg out of Persimmon for $175 shipped. I told you their prices were amazing.
I have a friend who bought the square stand, but it bolts together and is constantly coming loose and creaking. I helped him with the assembly, it went together pretty easy. Personally, I don’t care for a freestand because they tend to move around and you lose some of the energy that way rather than have it come back in the way of a reaction. My sifu has a freestand but he uses thinner/narrower side slats that are a lot more lively and compensate for the ‘portability’ of the stand.
I built my own wall stand. It doesn’t take much. (2) 4x4 verticals, metal strapped and anchored to the studs on my garage wall. Works great, cheap, and very low profile. BTW, my garage is detached from my house, otherwise I’d rock the house when working the dummy because it’s directly connected to the framing.
I built a freestanding stand for a friend of mine. You can just copy what the other stands look like and bolt or screw one together (depending on if you want to move it later).
FWIW, I had heard the Asheville Woodcrafters made a pretty good dummy, too. But I’ve never actually seen one of those up close.
This is the one that my school uses. The lineage of my school is Yip Man - William Cheung (Traditional Wing Chun). I’ve also heard a few other folks mentioning that they either have or will be buying this one. I think AndrewS is going to get one of these… if you read this Andrew, maybe you could chime in with which dummy you are going with and why?
Originally posted by wentwest
[B]This is the one that my school uses. The lineage of my school is Yip Man - William Cheung (Traditional Wing Chun). I’ve also heard a few other folks mentioning that they either have or will be buying this one. I think AndrewS is going to get one of these… if you read this Andrew, maybe you could chime in with which dummy you are going with and why?
They seem very well made from my limited experience. I’m a newcomer to Wing Chun too, Brithlor. [/B]
I only see two problems with that one. One, it’s $1,200. And two, the top arms are at different heights. The stand looks pretty sturdy, but if I was going to pay $1,200 for a dummy, which I wouldn’t anyway, but if I was, it would have to be absolutely perfect, which means the upper arms would have to be the same height.
The upper arms (for most lineages) are both identical. To get them at different heights you face the side with the bevel on both of them in the same direction; to your right. To get the right one at more or less the same height as the left one, you flip it so the beveled sides face each other.
That is unless your line uses the dummies that feature the right hole as being higher than the left hole; essentially reverse of what the majority uses. In that case, I guess you’d have to ask Mr. Thornton to alter his design a bit. I’m pretty sure he’d do it as long as you pay for it in advance. He seems flexible in giving you what you want vs. what he thinks is right.
I just picked up a book a few weeks ago called “Mok Jong Construction”. Its a book on how to build your own dummy. They have several techniques and methods. The back side cover claims you can make a dummy for around $100.00 USD. This book is a few years old and wood costs I believe have gone up since then. They have several different methods of making them. Traditional, modern, metal, wood, pvc pipe, etc etc.
My sifu has a dummy and a few of my sihings have one as well. So I can’t train on the dummy at my house at the moment. I think I am going to build one this spring. It looks like the hardest part would be constructing the arms. Since the base of the arm and the tip are two different dimensions. You would need a lathe for the arms.
I am at work right now. When I get home this evening I can post the title of the book if you wish on looking into getting it. I know there was a guy who lived around my area and he made dummies following this book and was selling them for about 700.00 dollars, and you could apparently haggle him down to a bit lower than that.
^ Is that the book by Paladin Press? I heard it’s a piece of crap. I heard the dummy isn’t the proper proportions and a bunch of other stuff was wrong with it.
Assuming it’s the Paladin press one, I had some people who bought my book email me and say mine was so much better. I’m not trying to brag or make sales here, I’m just saying what I’ve heard. It’s not like I make very much money from that anyway. I just don’t like people getting ripped off.
Yeah its the Paladin press book called, Mook Jong Construction. It seems like it covers all basis and the pictures in the book look like a traditional wooden dummy. I looked at your link for your wooden dummy construction and it looks just like the dummy in this book I have.
However, it looks like its gonna be a bit of work to build one. So if you are up for the job it may be worth your time and save some money that way.
I have had an Immortal dummy for two years, and have been very pleased with it. I bought the model with the base stand which does not require wall mounting. This has the great advantage of being reasonably portable (I once took it to an offsite location where a seminar was being held, so we would have a dummy available in the building.) Perhaps the best feature is that it is pleasantly QUIET. Training hard on a classical teak dummy might wake up the neighbors, but on an immortal dummy, a training session can barely be heard in the next room.
The Immortal dummy feels slightly stiffer than a classic teak model, but personally, I really like it this way. My concept of dummy training is; “How would my reactions be if I faced an opponent that was too strong for me move his arms?”
There is a bit of play in the limbs, but less than a traditional dummy, so this works very well for me…Once you get used to the slightly different feel, you might find that you prefer it.
What kind of wood is your dummy made of? Teak is what they use on boats right? Tough sturdy wood that does not warp/rot that easily and is very strong. So if you were for some reason going to put a dummy outside I could see Teak being a very attractive wood to use.
Can you give us a link to a website showing what dummy you have please?
Upon re-reading my post, it DOES sound somewhat like a paid endorsement…
No ties to Immortal, just happy with their product…I wouldn’t mind having both an immortal dummy and a classic dummy, but since I have to choose (I can’t yet afford a second dummy), I would purchase the immortal again if I was buying for the first time. -My Sifu doesn’t like it as much as I do, though, and I agree that it’s not for everybody…
Gangster Fist,
Immortal dummies are made of black recycled plastic (similar to the kind of plastic they fashion benches out of in public parks these days.) It’s about the same weight as a wooden model.
Teak is an asian hardwood (very beautiful), but if I owned a dummy made from it, I would never put it outside. I would keep the teak one inside, and put the immortal outside since it doesn’t matter if it; gets rained on, freezes, etc.
I think there are a few different places on the web selling these now. Try a Yahoo search, and compare prices between the retailers. Differences in shipping charges could make quite a difference too. -I think I paid $600 and about $120 shipping when I bought mine.
Good Asian teak sources are becoming rare due to deforestation
and I understand that much teak now being used is from Africa.
My huge classic family sculptured teak bed in India has helped raise 4 generations-
no erosion and no termite damage in the tropics. They can dry out in the American southwest or equivalent if not properly cared for.
A good dummy should last a lifetime. Not just the wood but good workmanship pays on the long run. Dont always agree with Ironfist but I like his advice on the top arms being fairly level.
$1200 for a very well made dummy with well selected and treated good hardwood is not an unreasonable price- considering
materials and labor/workmanship specially if it is custom made..
