# Dummy Arms: Round or square?



## izeqb (Oct 3, 2010)

Hi guys...

I'm in the process of building my own dummy... 

I've seen both round and square dummy arms (I'm taling about the part that sticks OUT of the dummy, not the part that's inserted).

I'm not quite sure what the advantages and disadvantages are of square and round arms...

What do you think?


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## geezer (Oct 3, 2010)

izeqb said:


> Hi guys...
> 
> I'm in the process of building my own dummy...
> 
> ...



_Round and tapered_ from thick at the base to thinner at the ends. Definitely. The only WC/WT/VT dummies that have square-ish arms are sort of square at the base near the dummy body, but rounded as you move outward away from the trunk. Many of the classic dummy movements involve circling the hands around the dummy arms, so rounded arms are essential.

Now if you are making your own dummy and do not have access to a lathe, you can taper and round the arms the old-fashioned way with a plane or spoke-shave. Most Chinese dummy trunks were rounded by hand too. A square beam would be trimmed by taking off the corners with a saw, creating an octagonal beam. This would then be rounded by hand with a plane and sander. In fact my old Ku-Sang dummy circa the mid 80's still has a vaguely octagonal shape, which although not visually apparent, can be felt when doing the form. It actually works quite well since the faint, residual "faceting" aligns pretty well with the angles you strike it from.

As for the arms, I once made a set of dummy arms using the center portion of three old wooden baseball bats I got for next to nothing at a thrift store. I used a bandsaw to cut the sides of the fat end down to make the tenons (square pegs).  The tenons were too short, so I cut them off at an angle and spliced them to a good piece of hardwood to extend them. At the other, skinny end, I just cut off about 6 or 8 inches of the very slender part of each bat handle (the part with the knob) and used a sander to round off the cut end. They came out looking good and worked really well.

Oddly, since I couldn't find a suitable beam for the trunk and as I had access to welding and metal working tools, I chose to make the dummy trunk out of a piece of 10 in. diameter steel tubing I found at a scrap yard. I cut the holes for the tenons and inserted pieces of 2 in. square steel tubing which I welded flush to the surface of the "trunk" to line the sockets for the arms. It worked really well... enough so that I'm surprised nobody makes them like this commercially. Using _aluminum_ tubing you could create a very light and portable dummy which could be filled with sand and sawdust to add mass as needed. Having some substantial weight really helps. 

Anyway, my life changed and I no longer have access to a lot of tools. I finally got my pretty teak wooden dummy and it was all I could do to haul _that_ around with me over the years. I have no idea where the old metal trunked one with the baseball-bat arms ended up. Probably at the dump by now.  Even my wood one almost got thrown out buy my wife at one point! By the time we got settled-in permanently, it was weather damaged, cracking, and missing its leg. Still, I eventually got it fixed up, properly mounted and back in service... at last. So, best of luck. Building your own dummy will be a great experience!


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## izeqb (Oct 3, 2010)

Thanks Geezer... You just gave me a lot of good ideas 

My plan was to get some pieces of hard wood (2.5*2.5) and then make them as round as possible, using a saw and a sander... 

I like the idea with the baseball bats, very clever  Maybe I could even find a stool with legs in the right size?

FOr the trunk I started out with a log, but I soon realized that making the holes and verything was quite difficult without the right tools and skills.

I'm planning on using a PVC pipe instead and fill it with sand bags or something.

By the way, the "square arms" I'm talking about are not completely square... The ones I've seen are rounded, but the sides are plain and not round... Kinda hard to explain


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## izeqb (Oct 3, 2010)

This is a round arm:







and this is a "square one" (the ones I've seen are very similar to these):


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## geezer (Oct 3, 2010)

Those are exactly the two versions I was referring to. Although the bottom one has arms that are square-ish at the fat end where they abut the trunk, it still has rounded arms as they extend away from the dummy trunk so that they are round where you actually put your hands (bridges) on them.

By the way, doesn't LT look like he has a bad case of constipation in that picture? Sorry, couldn't resist!


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## izeqb (Oct 3, 2010)

geezer said:


> Those are exactly the two versions I was referring to. Although the bottom one has arms that are square-ish at the fat end where they abut the trunk, it still has rounded arms as they extend away from the dummy trunk so that they are round where you actually put your hands (bridges) on them.



So what you are saying is that it doesn't matter if they are squarish on the fat end?



geezer said:


> By the way, doesn't LT look like he has a bad case of constipation in that picture. Sorry, couldn't resist!



Nah, he's just a badass... That's how badasses look :ultracool


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## Carol (Oct 3, 2010)

Square ends make no sense to me, but I don't do Wing Chun.

Its a practice tool, right?  Why have a practice tool be harder on your body than it has to be?


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## mook jong man (Oct 4, 2010)

Carol said:


> Square ends make no sense to me, but I don't do Wing Chun.
> 
> Its a practice tool, right? Why have a practice tool be harder on your body than it has to be?


 
It only makes sense if you want to get good at fighting people made out of Lego who have square arms lol.

No your right , with the amount of shearing forearm contact that is made on the dummy you don't want to be hitting edges repeatedly.

But the arms can be squarish up near where the arm joins to the body like the one Leung Ting is using because generally speaking your hands or forearms are only making contact on the first few inches of the arms any way.


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## izeqb (Oct 4, 2010)

mook jong man said:


> It only makes sense if you want to get good at fighting people made out of Lego who have square arms lol.



:ultracool


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## Poor Uke (Oct 4, 2010)

mook jong man said:


> It only makes sense if you want to get good at fighting people made out of Lego who have square arms lol.


 
^^My new sig^^


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## sifupr (Oct 17, 2010)

They should be as close to a human arm as possible. So square is definitely out.


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## profesormental (Oct 17, 2010)

LOL

Now this thread made me laugh!!

Good advise. Yet remember to make the bad *** face while you make the dummy and while you train with it...

it is the most important part.

Show us the finished product if you can. It would be awesome to see.


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## Xue Sheng (Oct 18, 2010)

mook jong man said:


> It only makes sense if you want to get good at fighting people made out of Lego who have square arms lol.


 
Well you never know when you might run into this guy


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## KamonGuy2 (Oct 18, 2010)

Xue Sheng said:


> Well you never know when you might run into this guy


 
Look at him...sitting there...he thinks he's so cool.... Im gonna get him....


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## Domino (Oct 22, 2010)

sifupr said:


> They should be as close to a human arm as possible. So square is definitely out.



IMO This.


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