# Home-made Mook Jong (wooden Dummy)



## Sandstorm

Just thought I'd throw this out there for those who wish to own a Mook Jong but can't afford the ridiculous prices, I've made one this weekend using a tree trunk, a couple of limbs and some lengths of timber (for the supports etc). Here's some photos of the (almost) finished project...

http://sandstormfighter.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in making one yourself, I can try and give some tips/advice, and I can put up the dimentions etc.

Just thought I'd share it with you

Kind regards

John


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## Eru IlÃºvatar

Allright John! I don't have the dummy form yet and don't realy know what to look at in a dummy but threw my amateur eyes it looks great! Nice work.


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## skinters

Sandstorm said:


> Just thought I'd throw this out there for those who wish to own a Mook Jong but can't afford the ridiculous prices, I've made one this weekend using a tree trunk, a couple of limbs and some lengths of timber (for the supports etc). Here's some photos of the (almost) finished project...
> 
> http://sandstormfighter.blogspot.com/
> 
> If you are interested in making one yourself, I can try and give some tips/advice, and I can put up the dimentions etc.
> 
> Just thought I'd share it with you
> 
> Kind regards
> 
> John



 john,

i made one myself recently,ill fish out some pics,see what you think.the only problem i found was the arms kept snapping,and feel hardwood(if you can get hold of some) is the way to go.i made all the arms for mine by hand,ended up with some blisters m8,i can tell you.also considered investing in a wood lathe,takes all the work out. 

its worth having a go of making your own.

regards


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## Sandstorm

Eru Ilúvatar;1132300 said:
			
		

> Allright John! I don't have the dummy form yet and don't realy know what to look at in a dummy but threw my amateur eyes it looks great! Nice work.


 
Thanks, Eru. You can still own a dummy without knowing the form. It's a great tool for conditioning the forearms/knuckles/palms and working the strike/block combinations. Just need ot add the final limb and she's ready for punishment:asian:





skinters said:


> john,
> 
> i made one myself recently,ill fish out some pics,see what you think.the only problem i found was the arms kept snapping,and feel hardwood(if you can get hold of some) is the way to go.i made all the arms for mine by hand,ended up with some blisters m8,i can tell you.also considered investing in a wood lathe,takes all the work out.
> 
> its worth having a go of making your own.
> 
> regards


 
Sweet! Would love to see it. I've neglected to add the leg so far, I'll see how it goes and may add one at a later date. For now, I'm just wanting it for the upper body workout. I used to own one years ago but had to sell it. They are far too expencive to buy, especially with the braces etc, so thought I'd knock up my own one. I'm just finishing the final limb. I had the same problem as you yesterday, where I inserted the final limb and didn't make the connecting joint as long or as thinck as the other two and it just buckled after two blocks. Fixing it up now and should be done by this evening. Not sure if I'm going to go all out and strip the body or treat the wood yet. Again, we'll see. It was just an experiment really, and it sems to be working ok. Just wanted to put it here in case others wanted to build one, as it's pretty straight forward.

Thanks for you interest.

Kind regards
John


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## skinters

john,

can i use your blog to post pics? or even pm me your email.

there some cracking dummy plans on the net,seen this ? http://www.mccarriedesign.com/wooden_dummy/dummy.php


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## geezer

Sandstorm said:


> Just thought I'd throw this out there for those who wish to own a Mook Jong but can't afford the ridiculous prices, I've made one this weekend using a tree trunk, a couple of limbs and some lengths of timber (for the supports etc). Here's some photos of the (almost) finished project...
> 
> http://sandstormfighter.blogspot.com/
> 
> If you are interested in making one yourself, I can try and give some tips/advice, and I can put up the dimentions etc.
> 
> Just thought I'd share it with you
> 
> Kind regards
> 
> John



Now that's cool. It's rustic appearance makes it look like something out of an old Chinese movie... you know, where the young protagonist goes out into the wilderness to train with some yoda-like hermit. 

On the other hand, a here are a few considerations. Check your geometry. At first glance, the upper two arms seem a bit wide-set. Also, you have one upper arm noticeably higher than the other. In a standard dummy, although the two upper arm holes are offset, the stems on the arms are cut to one side to compensate. So, when the arms are properly set in their sockets, they are at, or very nearly at, the same level (traditionally said to be at the nipples of the breast). The geometry doesn't matter so much if you are doing free-form JKD style training, but _it is important_ in training the form in classical WC/WT. The dummy is said to be like a "protractor"  for correcting your angles and structure. If your protractor is way off kilter it won't be of much help.

Back in the early '80's, I made a dummy and didn't have access to a lathe, so I bought some old hardwood baseball bats at a thrift store. I was able to use the middle third of the bats for the arms, rounding off the narrow end with a sander. I cut the fat end into a long, square peg that I fitted into a length of square steel "tubing", or hollow stock. They worked pretty well until I got a "regular dummy" from Yip Chun. (Did he actually make these or just market them? I wonder...)


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## AceHBK

You guys have waaay too much time on your hands.  May I introduce you to some women or porn perhaps???

lol..just kidding.  Great job.  I know I don't have skill nor patience to make one so I commend you guys on taking the time to build it.  How long did it take?  Please tell me you all put padding on the dummy where your knuckles strike.  I see many that have padding when you punch the post.  No need helping the development of arthritis.

I was looking at this website to purchase one and call it a day.
They have a lot of different versions.  I didn't know there we so many.
http://www.woodendummy.net/shop/


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## mook jong man

Sandstorm said:


> Just thought I'd throw this out there for those who wish to own a Mook Jong but can't afford the ridiculous prices, I've made one this weekend using a tree trunk, a couple of limbs and some lengths of timber (for the supports etc). Here's some photos of the (almost) finished project...
> 
> http://sandstormfighter.blogspot.com/
> 
> If you are interested in making one yourself, I can try and give some tips/advice, and I can put up the dimentions etc.
> 
> Just thought I'd share it with you
> 
> Kind regards
> 
> John


 
Looks alright that one John , pretty rugged looking unit . I wouldn't just be working empty hands I'd work my stick and knife stuff on it as well . 

I don't think you'd be worried about marking up your dummy like if it was one of them 600 dollar jobs . 

You don't want to cut your dummy up to much or damage your sticks so probably best to use one of your old sticks and a aluminium training knife.


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## Sandstorm

skinters said:


> john,
> 
> can i use your blog to post pics? or even pm me your email.
> 
> there some cracking dummy plans on the net,seen this ? http://www.mccarriedesign.com/wooden_dummy/dummy.php


 
Ive seen that site before, while researching. Nice work, but I don't have the facility to make it as 'tidy' as that unfortunatley.
I can PM my email addy if you like, or, if you want to set up your own blog, that is also possible. Just go to blogger.com and follow the steps. It's handy for diary entries and stuff.



geezer said:


> Now that's cool. It's rustic appearance makes it look like something out of an old Chinese movie... you know, where the young protagonist goes out into the wilderness to train with some yoda-like hermit.


 
Thanks mate. I wasn't sure about stripping off the bark etc, but I kind of like it's roughness.



geezer said:


> On the other hand, a here are a few considerations. Check your geometry. At first glance, the upper two arms seem a bit wide-set. Also, you have one upper arm noticeably higher than the other. In a standard dummy, although the two upper arm holes are offset, the stems on the arms are cut to one side to compensate. So, when the arms are properly set in their sockets, they are at, or very nearly at, the same level (traditionally said to be at the nipples of the breast). The geometry doesn't matter so much if you are doing free-form JKD style training, but _it is important_ in training the form in classical WC/WT. The dummy is said to be like a "protractor" for correcting your angles and structure. If your protractor is way off kilter it won't be of much help.


 
I followed the hieght dimentions and the distance from the top down to each limb respectively. I didn't bother too much with the geometry becasue it's not specifically for Wing Chun forms or anything, more for conditioning work and Kali/Wing Chun trapping etc. Thanks for the pointers though, really appreciate the input.



geezer said:


> Back in the early '80's, I made a dummy and didn't have access to a lathe, so I bought some old hardwood baseball bats at a thrift store. I was able to use the middle third of the bats for the arms, rounding off the narrow end with a sander. I cut the fat end into a long, square peg that I fitted into a length of square steel "tubing", or hollow stock. They worked pretty well until I got a "regular dummy" from Yip Chun. (*Did he actually make these or just market them?* I wonder...)


 
I'm sure he made them all himself:jediduel:

LOL




AceHBK said:


> You guys have waaay too much time on your hands.


 *:rofl:*



AceHBK said:


> lol..just kidding. Great job. I know I don't have skill nor patience to make one so I commend you guys on taking the time to build it. How long did it take? Please tell me you all put padding on the dummy where your knuckles strike. I see many that have padding when you punch the post. No need helping the development of arthritis.


 
It took about 4 hours in total, just to get it to this stage and I used hand tools (mallet,Chisels,saw etc). You could machine it much much quicker if you have access to the equipment. As for the padding, I spent enough time punching bags and pads, not sure it's going to make alot of difference striking bark




mook jong man said:


> Looks alright that one John , pretty rugged looking unit . I wouldn't just be working empty hands I'd work my stick and knife stuff on it as well .
> 
> I don't think you'd be worried about marking up your dummy like if it was one of them 600 dollar jobs .
> 
> You don't want to cut your dummy up to much or damage your sticks so probably best to use one of your old sticks and a aluminium training knife.


 
Thanks, MJM. The place it's located doesn't really have enough room for stick work, but I was intending to do some close range knife stuff, yes. It's a strudy bit of kit for sure, and a hellava lot cheaper than a manufactured one. 
I've drilled some techs on it today and it's held up real good. Just enough movement and spring without compromising resistance. 


Thank you all for looking and your comments/advice. really appreciate your input.

Kind regards to you all
John


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## suicide

i had one made after i see one for sale at 300 $ :shooter:


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## jks9199

suicide said:


> i had one made after i see one for sale at 300 $ :shooter:


Where'd you have it made or did you do it yourself?  Are you satisfied with it?


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## bigbadade

It has a certain Rustic appeal, but nothing feels better than one you make yourself!!


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## chisauking

What I'm saying is aimed at wing chun practitioners & doesn't apply to other styles.

When you are considering a jong, it's important to remember the following:

1) It's a lifetime's investment, so paying between 500 to 600 hundred pounds for your jong is not a great deal of money if you see it in this context. If you look after it, it will still be worth a large % of your purchase price when it comes to selling.

2) It's important that you get all the dimension & angles of your jong & its arms & leg right to develop the correct angles & positions in relationship to oneself. One will find your 4 wing chun seeds -- tan, bong, fook, wu -- won't flow from one to the another if the angles are wrong, and therefore you won't be training your transitional techniques properly.

3) The arms of the dummy must be smooth, otherwise one would rip their own arms to peices, and would also discourage the practitioner from sticking to the jong.

4) The main purpose of the jong is not to toughen your arms & legs -- altough sometimes it's a by-product of your training in the long run.

5) If you set your jong up properly on 2 horizontal bars, it would give you invaluable 'feedback' when you train on it. It's a type of energy which you can 'play' with to help you gauge your own correct use of power on the jong. It can even tell you whether you are hitting the jong correctly or not.

6) Set the height of the jong lower than your own yee-jee-kiim-yeung-ma height in order to develop your sitting power by forcing yourself into the ma-bo at all times.

If money really is a big issue, then you can try to make as much of the jong as possible and buy the arms from a kungfu shop. My friend at cransproductions do sell the arms at reasonable prices.

Of course, if you have access to all the wood turning equipments, then you can make the whole jong yourself, providing you have the skill, but then you still have to consider buying the wood -- which is quite expensive.

Hope my quick points helped.


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## koenig

I built my own dummy years ago.  I actually bought a book a guy had written on eBay on how to build one.  I know he was selling it for years on eBay but I just checked and I don't see it listed anymore.  Let me see if I can find a link to it and I'll post it up here.  It was a PVC dummy with wooden limbs and looked quite good.

Anyway, I did as he recommended in the book and used a PVC body but had someone make the limbs for me.  This was recommended because making the arms yourself would be impossible if you don't have all the equipment and experience.

I do recommend making one, however, as they can be over a thousand dollars at some stores to buy a new one.


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## koenig

koenig said:


> I built my own dummy years ago.  I actually bought a book a guy had written on eBay on how to build one.  I know he was selling it for years on eBay but I just checked and I don't see it listed anymore.  Let me see if I can find a link to it and I'll post it up here.  It was a PVC dummy with wooden limbs and looked quite good.
> 
> Anyway, I did as he recommended in the book and used a PVC body but had someone make the limbs for me.  This was recommended because making the arms yourself would be impossible if you don't have all the equipment and experience.
> 
> I do recommend making one, however, as they can be over a thousand dollars at some stores to buy a new one.



I found it, he has a website now: Guide to Wooden Dummy Construction


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## chisauking

One consideration when making the body of the jong with upvc or a hollow trunk is the mass \ weight. If the body is light, it would not rebound any significant mass back to you, so you don't have the energy to play with.

One of the reasons for the jong form is to force one to train \ find their structure. If the jong is too light, it doesn't help the practitioner to find their structure, due to the lack of feedback.


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## naneek

good effort sandstorm i like the rustic look of it too, have you got any pics of the arms and how you connected them to the body this seems like it might be the hardest part of the build to me, nice work for such a short time by the way!!


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## geezer

chisauking said:


> One consideration when making the body of the jong with upvc or a hollow trunk is the mass \ weight. If the body is light, it would not rebound any significant mass back to you, so you don't have the energy to play with.
> 
> One of the reasons for the jong form is to force one to train \ find their structure. If the jong is too light, it doesn't help the practitioner to find their structure, due to the lack of feedback.



Good point. I wonder if they make hollow tubing bodies (PVC or metal) that you can fill like a heavy bag (sand, water, sawdust, etc.)? That would really cut down on the shipping and transportation headaches, and still allow for a good massive trunk when set up and filled.


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## mook jong man

geezer said:


> Good point. I wonder if they make hollow tubing bodies (PVC or metal) that you can fill like a heavy bag (sand, water, sawdust, etc.)? That would really cut down on the shipping and transportation headaches, and still allow for a good massive trunk when set up and filled.


 
I think you can buy end caps that go on to the ends of pvc pipe from the hardware , I know they have them for the small diameter pipes , so they should have them for the big ones as well.

I remember seeing a picture of a homemade dummy a wooden one , ages ago and instead of having it suspended on the wooden rails , the guy had it suspended by several heavy duty springs , according to him it worked pretty good.


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## koenig

Yeah, you can cap the bottom and fill it with sand to add some weight.

Well you can fill it with sand up to the leg hole, at least 

The lighter PVC body weight can be compensated for by using thicker mounting boards.  Then you're dealing with the entire structure's mass rather than just the dummy, yet the dummy will still move when you hit it.  It doesn't feel *quite* exactly like a wooden body one, but the small difference is worth saving $500.

Plus, the original wooden dummy was a post burried in the ground, so it wouldn't have had any body feedback at all (other than being completely solid and immovable).


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## LordOfWu

Wooden Dummy's, eh...at my work we call them Vice-Presidents, but that model is not as durable and costs a  heck of a lot more!

Nicely done, though, just from the perspective of tackling a project yourself!  I don't know anything more about the technical pieces.


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## Old Duag

Hello, I'm completely new at this and while I'm busy getting my weight, and overall fitness back to a starting point I thought I would spend some of that time making the wooden dummy.  Have some plans I bought, but the biggest obstacle so far is - Where do I find a 9 inch diameter log?  

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this.

Thanks
Bill


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## geezer

Old Duag said:


> Hello, I'm completely new at this and while I'm busy getting my weight, and overall fitness back to a starting point I thought I would spend some of that time making the wooden dummy.  Have some plans I bought, but the biggest obstacle so far is - Where do I find a 9 inch diameter log?
> 
> Sorry if this is the wrong place for this.
> 
> Thanks
> Bill



The best way is to laminate five good kiln-dried 2X10s together. Fir or pine will do fine, although hardwood is nice. To get a good fit the pieces should be run through a joiner first, then glues and clamped well. Then use a large saw, such as a bandsaw, or whatever, to knock off the corners to make an octagonal post. Then round it out with a carpenter's plane and a belt sander. If a bit of the faceting still shows up after sanding, make sure to have one flat surface facing due front, and then the side angles will line up evenly and provide a good, if slightly flattened, surface to strike when you are angled off to each side. The advantage of laminating the center post is that it will be much stronger and never crack like my old one-piece dummy has.  And generally, the posts were always shaved down by hand this way since a log of that size won't fit on an ordinary lathe. On my old Chinese dummy you could still faintly make out the facets if you ran your hand carefully around the surface. Laminated "bentwood" would be an ideal choce for the leg too, since it si stronger than two pieces joined together at the "knee" or bend, like on many commercially sold dummies. Otherwise use a naturally bent branch cut to fit. That's what mine has. Funky looking but strong.

BTW I once had a room-mate who was a first class woodworker and he explained all this to me after taking a look at my dummy. Still, I've had a hard enough time just refurbishing my old dummy... I'm not about to make one from scratch. On the other hand, you might just come out with something better than you can buy. Good luck.


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## Old Duag

Thanks Geezer.  

I was thinking of glueing up boards like you discribed, but thought it would be too weak.  I see now it would be just the opposite.  I'll do it that way.

Thank you.


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## Tensei85

Nice Jong!
We used to make our dummies out of pvc piping and believe it or not even though it was super cheap & semi stupid looking it held up pretty well. Plus all the materials cost way less than a $100. Actually we even build a stand for it out of the same material, but now a few years ago I bought a Muk Jong from China. It was around $700 but decent quality, im definitely happy with its performance, however pvc will do the trick as well if you dont have the extra $$$ to spend.


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## mook jong man

geezer said:


> The best way is to laminate five good kiln-dried 2X10s together.


 
You know that has never ever occurred to me to do it like that , in my mind I've always thought of it as a single piece of wood , a big log.
But that would work great , awesome idea Geezer.
Now thats what I call lateral thinking.


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## Tensei85

Question:

What would you guys/girls recommend for the wall mount?

For instance what dimensions?
What type of wood should the wall mount be composed of to allow longevity?

Thanks,


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## Tensei85

Also would you recommend Floor stands as opposed to wall mounts?

Basically I would have to attach it to my wall in my house which may over time & practice cause damage to the wall which I'm trying to prevent.

In the past I had a wall mount made out of regular pine, it held up well however I've never used a floor stand so I'm not sure as far as quality if its as sturdy as a wall mount or if there are cons to it as well.

Thanks,


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## sbooder

Hi All,
         new here, but I thought I would post a couple of pics of my homemade dummy.  The arms a pro arms, but the rest is all me.

http://www.booder.eclipse.co.uk/glebe/dummy.html you have to scroll down a bit for the Mook pics.

Simon.


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## Xue Sheng

Sandstorm said:


> Just thought I'd throw this out there for those who wish to own a Mook Jong but can't afford the ridiculous prices, I've made one this weekend using a tree trunk, a couple of limbs and some lengths of timber (for the supports etc). Here's some photos of the (almost) finished project...
> 
> http://sandstormfighter.blogspot.com/
> 
> If you are interested in making one yourself, I can try and give some tips/advice, and I can put up the dimentions etc.
> 
> Just thought I'd share it with you
> 
> Kind regards
> 
> John


 
I like it, but then the version of Sanda I trained used trees for strike training.

As for Wing Chun, I never got to the Mook Jong forms, but I still think it is very cool


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## chinaboxer

Sandstorm said:


> Just thought I'd throw this out there for those who wish to own a Mook Jong but can't afford the ridiculous prices, I've made one this weekend using a tree trunk, a couple of limbs and some lengths of timber (for the supports etc). Here's some photos of the (almost) finished project...
> 
> http://sandstormfighter.blogspot.com/
> 
> If you are interested in making one yourself, I can try and give some tips/advice, and I can put up the dimentions etc.
> 
> Just thought I'd share it with you
> 
> Kind regards
> 
> John


nice! yea, it's ridiculous how expensive wooden dummys are! =(


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## caesjong

Checkout My Jong..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df8JvDG2Ods


Made a few this one is posted on CL Philly

Thanks


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## wtxs

caesjong said:


> Checkout My Jong..
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df8JvDG2Ods
> 
> 
> Made a few this one is posted on CL Philly
> 
> Thanks



A-1 professional construction ... I want one :waah:


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## simplewc101

currently making my own jong and its a lot of hard work.

OP did the hardest part, which is finding a log for the body.
My goal is to make a professional grade mook jong
I have made my arms and the leg with a band saw, beltsander, drillpress and accessories, tablesaw, laminate, wooden pegs, a billion clamps, and alot of engineering and know how.
OP alluded that given access to the proper equipment, one could make a nice lookin mook jong in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, this is not so... unless you have access to proper sized hardwood trees. even then there are hours of cutting and sanding ahead...mostly sanding.

I set out with an idealistic vision in mind to build a professional grade mook jong like the one made by caesjong,
but along the way I encountered problems. Even with tons of woodworking experience, know-how, and proper tools/ facility ,building a mook jong is a large task.

problem #1) Hardwood trees I had access too were not straight, and would require around 15 hours or more to steam it straight.
problem #2) finding a source for hardwood log/pole or proper wood and dimensions and quantity.
problem 3) know-how. Given the proper tools and resources, the actual building of the mook jong is difficult, especially if you like to do things right the first time without messups. Sometimes its downright dangerous.

what I ended up doing:
-used very hard, thoroughly dried oak wood cuts for the arms. laminated oak pieces together and used wooden pegs and glue for stronger hold and solid wood look with no screws or nails.
-used very hard, thouroughly dried fir cuts for leg, lamination and wooden peg methods..
-forgoing the wood body and opting for a body made from Schedule 80 piping. (pretty sure ill fill it with sand, and make it so the sand can be easily added and removed from the base for transportation) as geezer was suggesting earlier in the thread.

The design for the stand has not been completed yet, although I think I'll go with a stand alone method, as it will be easier to move from place to place.
in the future, the Schedule 80- piping can be replaced, temporarily or permanently with a suitable wood log.
The stand can also be replaced or changed for future circumstances.

it took me about 40 hours ( 4 complete working days) or so to make three arms and a proper leg twice (lol @the first messup). the hardest part was making the leg, as all your cuts had to have very precise angles to make the fit correct.

I know my oak arms will be durable. the fir leg worried me until I picked it up and felt how dense that 40 yr old dried fir timber was. It'll be durable.


I have to finish:
Final sanding before coating wood with a particular oil. (anyone who knows about metal polishing knows what it takes to get a good final surface)
cutting schedule 80 piping
stand


I'll post some pics of my arms and leg soon , and later one when its all done.
I can be more detailed of the processes if anyone wants, this is just a long post already, and I don't want to bore people.


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## simplewc101

finished arms and leg..


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