Wooden Dummy – TCMAInstitute 南北國術研究社

History

The Origin of “Shaolin Buddhist Palm Pillar”

According to Chinese legend and folklore, students from the Fujian Shaolin Temple must passed series of tests before they could leave the temple. During the final test, a student must fight through a hall guarded by 108 wooden robots. Once the student fought through the hall unharmed, his identity would be verified by the Shaolin head master. Only then would the student be allowed to leave the temple and proclaim himself as a student graduated from the Shaolin Temple. The students who wanted to leave the temple but could not master the Shaolin marital arts techniques must escaped through a small dog hole through the sidewall. Those students would not have the same respect or status as the regularly graduated students from the Shaolin Temple.

After the Fujian Shaolin Temple was burned down, Head Master Gee Shin fled to avoid being captured by the government. He hided his identity and worked as a helper in a “Red Boat,” a boat where the Chinese Opera was performed. Eventually, his identity was uncovered. The students on the “Red Boat” asked him to teach Shaolin marital arts. Head Master Gee Shin noticed that the limited spaces on the boat would not be large enough to practice Shaolin marital arts’ wide swing and strong stance techniques. After careful consideration, Head Master Gee Shin decided to adapt the ideas from the Fujian Shaolin Temple wooden robots. Based on the design of the wooden robots, Head Master Gee Shin invented the Wooden Robot Pillar (“Wooden Robot Dummy”), which was well suited for practicing Shaolin martial arts in an environment with limited spaces. According to the dictionary, a wooden pillar is a long piece of upright pole with one end buried on the ground. In his book titled “Marital Arts Ensemble”, Mr. Maunt Lai Shing, a famous Chinese Martial Artist, described the Shaolin Wooden Robot Pillar in great details.According to Mr. Maunt, a wooden robot pillar is an eight feet long wooden round pole with half a feet in diameter. The pole was set upright with three feet of the pole buried into the ground.

Two pieces of small round poles were attached horizontally approximately one foot below the top of the pillar to represent the arms of the robot.The resulting pillar would be similar in appearance to a standing person with head, arms, body, and leg. Current marital artists classified the wooden robot pillar as described by Mr. Maunt as an “Immobile Wooden Pillar” or an “Immobile Wooden Dummy.”

Mr. Maunt also described various methods of utilizing the wooden pillar to practice marital arts:

Stand in front of the horizontal bars (the arms) of the pillar. Imagine the horizontal bars as the opponent’s arms. Hit and swing the bars using the hands, palm, and fingers. Hit the upper part of the pillar with the fists, the middle part with the arms, and the lower part with the legs. One can also imitate the action of a cat and climb the pillar to attack the upper part. These methods can enhance the strength of the entire body.

The wooden pillar was highly praised and recommended by Mr. Maunt. In his book, Mr. Maunt clearly regarded wooden pillar marital arts as the base and foundation of Shaolin Martial Arts and should not be treated lightly.At the age of 12, Grandmaster Chiu Chuk Kai began his martial arts training with two Shaolin monks: Sifu Ching Chun and Sifu Kwok Tong. He spent much of his time practicing the wooden pillar martial arts techniques similar to the one described by Mr. Maunt. Later, Grandmaster Chiu met Sifu Chu Chung Man, a Shaolin WingChun master, in Macau. They quickly became good friends and soul brothers. At that time, Sifu Chu was teaching wooden pillar techniques in his martial arts school. Due to his strong desire to improve his skill, Grandmaster Chiu continued his martial arts research and practice in Sifu Chu’s school. As a result of his dedications, Grandmaster Chiu invented new techniques of martial arts training with the wooden pillar. The new techniques incorporated and combined the traditional Shaolin martial arts techniques and Shaolin Tai-Chi Mantis styles. In order to commemorate Shaolin and his Shaolin teachers, Grandmaster Chiu named his newly invented techniques “The Shaolin Buddhist Palm Pillar.”

Training Method

The Wooden Dummy Form is used to improve the responsiveness of our hands, stance and body form.

Wood is used for its firmness to help better prepare oneself for combat.

There are different ways this form can be practiced; through the variance of speed (fast or slow); step by step (one move at a time); with the eyes closed; or practiced without using the wooden dummy.

The three “arms” on the wooden dummy can be switched to rattan which replicates the feeling of combating with another person.

Six Different Methods

Wooden Limbs Training Method -Move By Move

We initially train with this set up. The firmness of wood is beneficial in developing strong structure for power generation, precise positioning for accurate strikes, footwork for swift navigation and in particular conditioning the practitioner’s limbs. Using the “Move by Move” training method, practitioners can work on individual techniques to produce clear and complete movements with proper structure that leads to better technique transition. With improved transitions the punctuation between combinations can be well developed, which will result in a clearly defined form routine.

Rattan Limbs Training Method – Eyes Closed

Rattan has a unique flexibility that can replicate the lively tension of a person’s limbs. Practicing in this way could augment sensitivity through its bounce feedback. Practitioners capitalize the rebound flowing from technique into subsequent techniques. Here we added a unique method by either blindfolding or simply closing the eyes of a practitioner. This demands his or her sensitivity to stick closely with the limbs and “listens” to the feedback relying on the sense of touch rather than the sense of sight.

Foam Limbs Training Method and Practice without Dummy

The foam, although light, helps to develop the quick change in muscle tension between contraction and expansion. The aim is to strike the dummy with adequate strength while loosening the muscle tension immediately switching from striking techniques to grappling counterparts. Practice without a dummy is an alternative method to develop quick change in muscle tension, accurate footwork, precision and intention; Much like practicing a solo form.