Homemade Mook Jong (wooden dummy)

A few months back I posted a video of me doing what I remember of the wooden dummy form that I was once taught. I received two kinds of comments: 1) Those complaining that I was not doing it right and 2) People e-mailing me and asking how I made the dummy.

Point one first: I was taught that form almost four years ago. Since then I have been studying Taekwondo. In fact I even put a disclaimer on the video stating as much but apparently people on YouTube can’t read. Regardless, I am well aware that I am doing the form from a “hard” TKD perspective. Is it wrong from a technical Wing Chun perspective? Probably. Is it a waste of my time? Doubtful. Could it still be effective? Yes, I think so. (Newsflash Eisenstein but you CAN do TKD techniques on the dummy too.)

Anyhow, here’s the dummy that I lovingly call Mrs. Esterhaus:

Every time I beat on it I think of a former colleague. Mrs. Esterhaus is made of pvc pipe, “L” brackets, scrap wood, and expandable foam that came in a can. It’s covered in 1/8″ foam wrap that’s covered by black duct tape. The whole enterprise is held together with screws, the “L” brackets, and Liquid Nails. The pvc pipe diameters range from 9″ for the core, 5″ for the knee, and 3″ for the arms. Total cost? Well under $100.

I found the plans on the Internet a few years back. Here’s a few more close-up shots of the brackets, wall mounts, etc.

The braces are mounted directly into the wall studs. This is somewhat problematic because I can’t beat on it full-force for fear of bringing the garage down. On the upside, it forces me to gently stick and flow which is the point.

Wood was just too expensive and I did not have the proper tools to work it anyhow. So PVC was a good and cheap solution.

There you have it.

(Note: Judging by the photos I need to dust Mrs. Esterhaus!)

~BCP