EWC - Wooden Dummy (No Stand) (aka Muk Yan Jong, or Mook Yan Jong)

This jong is a replica of a traditional Yip Man dummy made to scale. It is hand made in the USA by our hand-chosen carpenter (see notes on the carpenter at the end). This is not a cheap Chinese/Vietnamese factory made dummy. Each part of the Wooden Dummy is carefully constructed using a combination of traditional skills combined with the latest technology.

You will receive the body, arms, and leg.
(This dummy does not ship with a stand).

The Body
The body is manufactured from the north American Hardwood, Poplar, and has been professionally kiln dried. All of the wood we use is carefully selected by hand from sustainable sources to ensure that every Wooden Dummy we produce meets the highest standards that you would expect from such a beautiful Jong. After drying, each piece is laminated together using an incredibly strong glue for maximum strength. The slat that goes through the top of the dummy is situated so that it does not interfere with you reaching behind to pull on the dummy during the first set. The trunk weights approx 80-85 lbs.

The Arms
Each arm is made from solid hardwood Ash (the same thing baseball bats are made from) and shaped by hand to ensure the correct taper. The two upper arms are offset in the traditional way, which allows the tips to be made more parallel - or the angles can be altered to create a tight or wide centerline to work through. The middle arm is centered, and each arm is smoothly tapered in the traditional way.

The arms for this dummy have been extended longer than the original ones, which gives a slightly wider workspace between the ends of the arms if you wish it. Remember, the Chinese made these to scale originally. The dummies (and swords and poles) were never meant to be made to one set dimension. We have brought that scalability back to a degree because the Chinese dummies are simply not big enough for the average westerner and they throw off your positioning. If you have ever used one of the original Chinese dummies you know what we mean - Ip Man's actual dummy is tiny and is basically unusable by the average American, Canadian, Brit, German, etc.

The dimensions for this dummy are accurate and inline with the Yip Man lineage. The lengthening of the arm (of about 1 inch) does not affect the use for smaller people as proper positioning would put you closer to the dummy anyway - it only give taller people the ability to properly position themselves as well.

The Leg
The leg is well made and reinforced at the joint. The knee is smooth, not a sharp angle like most knees seen today. When kicking at the knee or above there should never be any case where the leg breaks.

The Finish
Every part of the Wooden Dummy is sanded, stained, and then sealed with a high grade clear lacquer to ensure maximum durability. Our dummies are finished with a beautiful rich stain. Every dummy is produced to a standard that is equal to a quality piece of furniture and looks just as good in the house as it does in the gym.

The Carpenter
When we decided to build our own line of dummies here in the USA the first step was to pick a carpenter to build the dummies. There were several US dummy makers to choose from, but we only wanted the best for you, so we looked closely at their work and history. Many of the carpenters had cracked dummies, dummies that came unglued, or had dummies that were out of proportion. Some of the big name carpenters had these problems as well as a long 'wait time' for the dummies to be made because they built the dummies in their 'spare time'. Issues with laminate dummies cracking, coming unglued, being made out to non-traditional specifications and long delays in delivery were all unacceptable. You make a laminate dummy so you don't have these problems.

The carpenter we eventually chose has been involved with Wing Chun since the 70's. He has made dummies for many famous sifus as well as built the 'signature series' dummies for a couple sifus as well. We studied his work and we found dummies of his that were over 15 years old and still being heavily used in schools. We were very impressed. The dummies looked great still, they had very nice proportions, and there were never any cracks in the dummies - they were all still in perfect condition after 15 years of hard abuse. We think you will be as happy with his work as we are.

EWC Notes
I've had one of these dummies for about 9 years now, and honestly it is my favorite dummy to work on. I think the extra space in the arms is genius. I've seen a lot of very bad dummy designs, and all the traditional ones. This one is great for me. I'm 6'1" (1.82 meters) and have long limbs. I found all the traditional Chinese dummies to be stifling. My structure was always compromised when I tried to fit myself into the arms on traditional dummies used by 5 foot Chinese men.

As for durability - besides the jongs holding up for many years in schools all over the world, mine has traveled the world with me and taken a beating and never cracked or warped in any way. I never have to worry about climate changes like I do with a solid log dummy (which I also have). It has been in a very humid environment with me and been in desert where it is very arid and there are extreme temperature changes daily.

EWC highly recommends this dummy. We hope you will enjoy it as much as we have.