Grand Master Nam Anh, 2013
«…the taller and tougher the enemy, the more interesting the fight…as the number of adversaries increases, so does the joy and motivation to engage in battle…»
Grand Master Nguyen Minh
To the uninitiated martial arts enthusiast !
This clever device allowed the birth of the 108 techniques of the wooden dummy of the School of Wing Chun, designed to forge a brave and efficient warrior capable of facing a formidable foe, much taller and much stronger. To be effective, the wooden dummy must clearly exceed the size, the solidity and the weight of a human being. Some may reach 300 kg or more, as the ones used at the Parent School.
In practice, the wooden dummy constitutes a gigantic opponent, tireless and indestructible ! Physical contact with this dense hard wood made harder by the years and the sweat of diligent practitioners makes us grit our teeth, for the fight between human flesh and hardwood is uneven and painful. This daily fight is lost before it even starts, for this invincible colossus breaks our back. Nevertheless, on doesn’t fight it with any hope of winning, but rather as an opportunity to grow and defeat one-self.
Consequently, practicing with a wooden dummy is never a game of caresses designed to satisfy our ego or to impress beginners, for it requires a strict preparation of the physical body for a period of three consecutive years, through multiple preparative stages following the process of energetic evolution : 1) Human energy 2) Earth energy 3) Wood energy 4) Stone energy 5) Metal energy.
In order to bring this process to fruition, it is imperative to help one’s training with the proper potions, lotions, herbs, cataplasms…whether they be against bruises, energetic, or for the Iron Palm. These allow the human body to avoid or limit the health endangering consequences of an apparently ill conceived practice, for at first glance, the body isn’t designed to hit such hard, dense wood. Proper respect for the method and the use of various medications prevent excessive bruising, ligament and tendon injury, fractures or even CVAs caused by blood thrombi. Thus it is necessary and indispensable that such practice be supervised by a master properly accredited by a recognised traditional school.
In the field of Kung Fu, as in others, criminal negligence leading to major injuries is punishable by law and strictly forbidden by the code of ethics. The victims of such professional misconduct, perpetrated by unqualified instructors or unrecognised masters are encouraged to denounce such dangerous practices in order to protect the public.
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