A martial art, Wing Chun specializes in training students to fight in close combat using grappling and striking maneuvers. The Wing Chun dummy helps strengthen and refine these skills. The dummy consists of a vertical pole with four poles cantilevered toward the user. Three poles are arranged at chest height and form the corners of a triangle shape. The last pole is lower, near the hip region. A Wing Chun practitioner engages these poles as though they are an unmoving human being.
Instructions
1. Approach the Wing Chun dummy and stand about a foot away from the reach of the horizontal arms.
2. Stand in a ready position with hands at your side and your feet together. Move to a striking position, with feet just beyond shoulder width, elbows triggered at the waist and palms flat and facing the sky.
3. Strike forward and down in front your navel, turning your palms downward as you do so. Trigger your elbows back as though you are hitting someone behind you and turn your hands into fists as you do so.
4. Strike the shoulder-height arms of the dummy at the bottom of the pole as though you are pushing an opponents arms upward and away from you.
5. Slide your hands over the two shoulder-height arms of the dummy and firmly pull toward you. This action simulates pulling an opponent off balance.
6. Let go of the arms and trigger your hands so they point forward. Stab at the pole as though you were hitting an opponents neck, chest or eyes.
7. Bring your right elbow inward and strike the left pole with the top of your elbow. Twist with your waist as you strike to give the hit more power.
8. Stride to the left of the dummy. Take one step with your left foot, keeping it parallel to the right foot. Take a step forward and to the left with your right foot, sliding the foot to point rightward. At the same time, swivel your right arm below the left pole so the right palm is not facing upward, pinning the left pole down. Strike with your left palm at the neck height of the dummy.
9. Repeat this series of steps for the left arm rather than the right.
