The Future of Dummy Training

Inside Kung-Fu
“The Future of Dummy Training”
By Joseph Simonet
May 2004
Pg 30-35, 66-67

Put 13 dummies together and what do you get? The training system of the future.

The mook jong, or wooden dummy, is among the unique and effective training devices developed for the martial artist. Unlike simple punching bags and makiwara that only allow the practice of offensive striking techniques, the mook jong provides a platform for training both offensive and defensive movements. With a bit of imagination, it also helps the practitioner chain numerous techniques together, accurately simulating the dynamics of a real fight-an even that rarely resembles a one-sided offensive combination on a heavy bag.
Although the mook jong is probably the most advanced method of solo training possible in the martial arts, learning its proper use is best accomplished through hands-on instruction with a qualified teacher. To do this effectively, both the instructor and the student should be able to perform the movements on the dummy simultaneously. In this way, the student can accurately mimic the instructor’s technique in real time.
With two or possibly three dummies mounted side by side, an instructor can effectively teach up to two students at a time. Beyond that, however, the traditional wall-mounted dummy configuration makes real-time mirroring of an instructor’s movements-the most efficient learning method-impractical and ineffective.
In the KI Fighting Concepts curriculum, we focus heavily on mook jong training because we are confident that it is the most advanced and productive method of solo practice. Although the roots of our dummy draining lie in wing chun gung-fu (one of our core systems), through extensive experimentation and development we have adapted the techniques of our other core systems-kenpo, eskrima, pentjak silat, and taijiquan-to the dummy as well. The resulting training method is called “The Art and Science of Mook Jong.” Like the KI Fighting Concepts curriculum, this method is an eclectic, combat-orientated synthesis that blends and cross-references movement at the conceptual level, while maintaining respect for the core classical styles. The “science” of our wooden dummy training identifies the common elements and physical structures of the arts and refines them through repetitive contact training. Based on this foundation, students learn to connect and integrate movement in a non-linear progression. This personalized and, ultimately, spontaneous expression of their martial skill becomes the “art” of the method.
Despite the many advantages offered by our mook jong curriculum, for the reasons noted earlier, we sill couldn’t teach it effectively to large numbers of students. Therefore, we applied the same spirit of innovative traditionalism that characterizes our dummy curriculum to the design of the dummy-learning environment itself. The result is The Octagon.

What It Is
The Octagon is a 25-foot-wide octagonal platform that is home to an array of 13 wooden dummies. The base of the Octagon is a four-inch-thick concrete pad reinforced with #9 bar screen. This pad, which required eight yards of concrete, was poured over a two-inch bed of 5/8-inch gravel to keep moisture from leeching out of the concrete and ensure that the base would be impervious to the extreme weather changes at its location in Lake Chelan, Wash. After the concrete was poured, it was carefully surfaced to create a 1-1/2-inch drainage slope from the center to the outside edges of the platform. It was then coated with a pecan-colored powder and stamped with a late stamp for texture and aesthetic appeal. All edges of the platform were reinforced with 22-1/2-degree steel braces to guarantee the proper angles at the corners of the Octagon and further strengthen the platform.
Most traditional mook jongs use a wooden framework to provide the combination of support and shock absorption necessary for a good “live” dummy. To provide this same feel, yet allow for simpler construction and an unobstructed view, we developed a different mounting method. After determining the proper locations of the 12 other dummies, we used a roto hammer to drill a pattern of holes into the concrete to accept threaded inserts. We then used lag screws to attach three steel right-angle brackets to the base of each dummy. A thick rubber pad was placed over each set of mounting holes in the concrete, each dummy was carefully aligned, and then 5/8-inch steel bolts were screwed through the brackets and pads into the threaded inserts in the concrete. By carefully adjusting the tension of the bolts against the compression of the rubber pads, we tuned each dummy to have just the right about of “give” to move and react like a traditional frame-mounted mook jong.

Pivotal Change
The center dummy of the array was mounted differently. Instead of a static mount, we attached it to a pivoting steel sleeve that was inset into the concrete platform. This arrangement allows the center dummy to pivot 360 degrees, yet be locked down in any position. In this way, I can quickly and easily reposition the dummy to provide different views to the students working the outer dummies.
The first real test of the effectiveness of the Octagon came during my Wind and Rock training camp last July. I took 24 of the 60-plus participants in the camp and paired them on the 12 outer dummies. I then proceeded to teach a variety of dummy movements, drills, and combinations just as I do during private lessons. After one partner of each pair had an opportunity to both follow along with me and practice the movements individually, we repeated the process for the other partner. Throughout the process, I adjusted the position of the center dummy to provide a variety of viewing angles for all the students.
The results were phenomenal. I not only could effectively teach dummy technique to a large number of students in a single session, the group learning dynamic provided by the Octagon reinforced the training material and reduced the performance anxiety that students typically feel when working the dummy alone. Rather than feeling like they were in the spotlight, they felt the support and camaraderie of a group training session. The net result was that they learned faster and had better retention of the information than students who performed one-on-one. This method also validated wooden dummy training for many of the participants and motivated them to incorporate it into the practice of their core styles.

Height Advantage
The Octagon also offers a number of other significant advantages. To accommodate students of different heights, the outer dummies of the Octagon were made different sizes. Initially, students are positioned at a dummy that is comparable to their own height and reach to make learning the movements easier. However, once they become proficient at using the dummy, we move them to a different dummy that is larger or smaller. This forces them to adapt their motions to an “opponent” who is taller or shorter than they are. Rather than forcing a technique to work the same way, they learn to modify their movements on the fly to achieve the desired result. For example, an elbow strike to the head of a shorter dummy might only reach the torso of a taller one. A downward check and strike might, therefore, be replaced by an upward check and strike to compensate for the difference in height.
Initially, students are given time to sort out the necessary changes in their technique. Once they have learned to adapt to both taller and shorter dummies, they proceed to a form of “round robin” training unique to the Octagon. Like a game of musical chairs, the students must quickly move from one dummy to the next to perform either a drill, a portion of a form, or an entire form. By varying the movement pattern through the dummies, they have to spontaneously adapt to the different heights as they move. For a real challenge, I have them begin a form, like our “slam set,” on one dummy. On my command, they stop where they are in the form, move to another dummy, and resume the form. This process is repeated until the form is complete. This type of marathon training is one of the most challenging forms of dummy practice and is the final stage of testing in our mook jong curriculum.
Unlike the traditional wooden wall mount, the mounting system used for the dummies in the Octagon allows a 360-degree range of movement around each dummy. Students can practice a broader range of footwork and angling and can even move behind the dummies to practice chokes and rear takedowns.

Multiple Uses
The array of dummies in the Octagon is also an excellent resource for multiple-attacker training. Advanced students who are already comfortable dealing with a single opponent are first introduced to the basic concepts of fighting multiple attackers. Once they understand the concepts of “stacking” attackers, the use of human shields and obstacles, and the use of hit-and-run tactics, they learn to apply them with power in the Octagon. By varying the student’s starting position and orientation, we can simulate countless realistic attack scenarios.
Another unique advantage of the Octagon platform is that its outdoor location leaves it completely exposed to the elements. This allows students to train in all the weather conditions possible in central Washington, from intense heat to bitter cold. When the snow falls, we do not shovel the Octagon platform clean. Instead, we use the snow and ice that accumulates on the platform as a training tool to teach students how to move, maintain balance, and generate power in realistic environmental conditions. Since many real street attacks occur at night, we do much of our practice on the Octagon during the hours of darkness. This teaches us to rely on touch rather than sight and to apply our sensitivity skills to realistic fighting situations.
Since a number of my private students are law enforcement officers and security professionals, I have also adapted the Octagon to their training needs. But using soft-air pistols that replicate their duty firearms, they can practice integrating empty-hand defensive tactics with close-quarters shooting skills. For example, an officer may engage one or two dummies with empty-hand strikes to buy enough time and distance to draw his weapon. He can then fire at the dummies, which simulate attackers at different rangers and angles more realistically than a traditional shooting range. By attaching wooden panels to the dummies or removing the arms from the dummies themselves, the officers can also incorporate the use of barricades and cover.
For most dedicated martial artists, dummy training represents a significant step in their training evolution that allows them to creatively explore both their offensive and defensive technique through dynamic solo training. Similarly, the Octagon represents a quantum leap in dummy training methodology, enabling a single instructor to not only teach a large group of students, but to lead them in real time through progressive dummy drills and forms. It also opens the door to the creative use the multiple dummies and the realistic environmental training that is impossible with traditional mook jong configurations. Most importantly, it is another manifestation of the KI Fighting Concepts motto, “Where innovation transcends tradition.”

Where are the Women of Wing Chun

Inside Kung-Fu
“Where are the Women of Wing Chun”
By Joseph Simonet
July 2004
Pg 44-48

Although sad to be created by a woman, the art of wing chun has become almost the exclusive domain of mail practitioners.

Wing chun gung-fu is named for Yim Wing Chun, a woman who lived in Yunnan province, China about 400 years ago. According to the history of the style, Yim Wing Chun was engaged to marry a man named Leung Bok Cho. Although Wing Chun was spoken for, a local gang leader took a liking to her and demanded that she break off the relationship with her fiancé and marry him instead. He backed up his demand with threats of violence against her and her family.
Ng Mui, a Buddhist nun who had escaped the destruction of the original Shaolin Temple in Honan, heard of Wing Chun’s plight and offered to help. She suggested that the family send a letter to Wing Chun’s fiancé in Fukien province asking him to break off the engagement. While the family and the gang leader waited for word to come back from the fiancé, Ng Mui began training Wing Chun in Shaolin gung-fu, modifying its methods to suit the needs of a woman and to develop real fighting skill in the shortest possible time.
After a year of training, the response from Wing Chun’s fiancé arrived. But before Wing Chun consented to marry the gang leader, she made a final request. She explained that she had trained in gung-fu and could only marry a man who could defeat her in personal combat. The gang leader eagerly accepted the challenge, only to be soundly defeated by Wing Chun and her devastating new fighting method.
Having won her freedom from the gang leader, Wing Chun continued to study with Ng Mui and codified her teachings into a system of technique that ultimately bore her name. She then married Leung Bok Cho and taught the system to him.

Brief Encounter
Curiously, the passing of wing chun gung-fu from its founder to her husband not only established wing chun as a true martial tradition, it also marked the end of its brief history as a female-dominated style. From that point-and to the present day-wing chun has become more closely associated with male practitioners than its female founders. However, to truly understand the genius of this amazing art, as well as its potential as a modern self-defense system, we should take a hard look at its roots as a fighting art designed by and for females.
Although I am a firm believer in women’s rights, when it comes to physical competition, men have significant advantages over women. Some women’s rights advocates may take exception to this statement, but the fact that most amateur and professional sports in the world today mandate separate competition for men and women strongly supports this assertion. More importantly, if you actually ask most women self-defense students, they will readily admit that they do not consider themselves physical equals to men in a fight. With this in mind, the primary fighting concept of wing chun becomes extremely clear: To win against a larger, stronger opponent, you must fight smarter, not harder. Let’s take a look at how wing chun accomplishes this.
Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of wing chun is its approach to timing. Most traditional martial arts operate on two-step timing-when the opponent attacks, you block, and then you counter. Conversely, wing chun uses the concept of simultaneous block and attack to literally beat an opponent to the punch. As an opponent strikes, the wing chun practitioner typically deflects the attack with one arm while simultaneously striking with the opposite hand. Since the opponent is focused primarily on attacking and is usually anticipating a two-step counter (if any), he is typically totally unprepared to deal with the immediate counterstrike.

Comfortably Uncomfortable
Two other important characteristics of wing chun are its emphasis on centerline orientation and its commitment to fighting at close range. When combined with the concept of simultaneous block and attack, these tactics help the wing chun practitioner operate comfortably in the exact spot where most people are the least comfortable: right inside the body’s traditional defensive perimeter.
If you watch two people squaring off, you’ll notice they instinctively position themselves about two arm’s-lengths apart. From this comfortable distance, they close to a sing-arm’s length to actually deliver blows. Wing chun strives to eliminate this comfort factor by closing the distance and orienting on the opponent’s centerline. When an opponent strikes, rather than backing up, he holds his ground and pivots in place. This dissolves the power of the opponent’s strike, helps him “flank” the opponent’s centerline, and creates a force/counterforce dynamic that generates incredible striking power at close range. Collectively, this “in-your-face” fighting strategy helps wing chun players control distance and forces their opponents to fight on their terms.
One critically important aspect of wing chun that offers a tremendous advantage against larger opponents is its focus on superior anatomical structure. Rather than fighting muscle against, wing chun relies on techniques that place the skeletal structure of the body in the strongest possible alignment. For example, to properly perform wing chun’s bong sao (wing block), the hand is rotated inward until the little finger edge faces straight up. The elbow is raised until it is level with the shoulder and the hand is dropped slightly to angle the forearm both downward and inward. In this position, the bones of the forearm cross, bracing both the elbow and shoulder joints to create an extremely strong wedge-like structure. Once this alignment is achieved, the power of the body can be transmitted effectively to the arm through a quick, explosive rotation of the hips. When these elements are used in concert, the result is an incredibly powerful structure built upon skeletal alignment rather than muscular strength.

Sensing An Opening
Also setting wing chun apart from other arts is its emphasis on developing and using sensitivity ina fight. Through exercises such as chi sao and wing chun’s many trapping techniques, practitioners learn to “feel” an opponent’s intent before they see it. Once contact is made, the wing chun stylist uses hi/her arms like antennae, sensing an opponent’s movements through instantaneous physical perception. This is much faster and more efficient than visual perception and, once again, helps the wing chun player stay a step ahead.
These elements can be used individually to give a fighter an advantage in a fight. However, if we combine them into a synergistic system, the result is an extraordinary fighting science that is structurally and tactically superior to many conventional fighting arts. Ng Mui and Yim Wing Chun created an art that allowed a woman with fewer physical attributes to easily defeat a larger and stronger man.
Since wing chun was developed by women and primarily for women, why has its lineage become so male-dominated? The answer is simple. Men also recognize a good then when they see it. And since men also fear attacks by larger, stronger opponents, wing chun has great relevance to their self-defense needs as well.

Functional For Women
Although there are far fewer female wing chun practitioners today than males, traditional wing chun remains a practical and effective women’s self-defense system. However, in the original spirit of the art-to establish a system that uses structural superiority to overcome greater size and strength-I have modified wing chun’s traditional form to make it even more functional and adaptable to women’s needs. The result is “Extreme Wing Chun.”
The fundamental difference between traditional wing chun technique and that of “Extreme Wing Chun” is the use of the wu (guarding hand) as an active support for both offensive and defensive movements. I borrowed this concept from the serah style of Indonesian pencak silat (as well as some movements of tai chi) to further enhance wing chun’s superior structure and give the practitioner an even better chance of “evening the odds” against a physically superior attacker.
For example, let’s contrast a traditional wing chun tan sao (palm-up block) with the “Exteme Wing Chun” version. Normally, the tan sao relies on the structure of one arm to block while the other hand either guards or strikes. Against a right hook, the wing chun player might pivot left to block with a tan sao while simultaneously striking with a right straight punch.
The “Extreme Wing Chun” tan sao takes this concept a step further. By bracing the wrist of the blocking hand with the palm of the opposite hand, the strength of the basic tan sao structure is easily doubled and allows even women of very slight stature to effectively block full-power hooks thrown by much larger and stronger male opponents. At first glace, you might think this tactic sacrifices the ability to simultaneously attack and defend. However, rather than striking with the right fist to the head or body, the strike is actually delivered with the right elbow to the nerve cluster in the shoulder. This simple technique not only stops an attacker’s punch cold, it combines the offensive and defensive function of the tan sao into a single integrated movement that can almost effortlessly destroy the attacker’s arm and his will to fight.
The supported movements of “Extreme Wing Chun” help martial artists further enhance the already-superior anatomical structures of traditional wing chun by adding the power of both arms to the technique without sacrificing the other advantages of the system. This approach works with all of wing chun’s core techniques, including the bong sao, tan sao, pak sao (slapping block), lop sao (pulling hand) and straight punch. Best of all, it continues the tradition of the art’s founder-developing and refining an art that offers the superior structure, timing, and training methods necessary to fight and win against larger and stronger opponents.
Like all martial arts, Yim Wing Chun’s fighting system transcended the traditional arts of her time to achieve specific self-defense needs. Although the result was another worthy martial tradition, her greats contribution was, in fact, her spirit of innovation and analysis. And that spirit is her true legacy-one that lives on in all women martial artists today and through the continues evolution of the arts such as “Extreme Wing Chun.”

Joseph Simonet can be reached at sifu@kifightingconcepts.com His videos are available at kifightingconcepts.com

Addy Hernandez Profile

Inside Kung-Fu
“Profile Addy Hernandez Taking Charge”
By Dave Cater
November 2002
Pg 136

Talk about your poster girl for high school’s “Most Likely to Succeed” honor! Addy Hernandez was as close to a can’t-miss as you’ll ever find at Chelan High School in Washington.
Homecoming queen. Honor roll. Class president. Cross country runner. Softball player. Martial artist. All while working two jobs to help support her family. Big things were expected of Addy when she started her freshman year at Eastern Washington University.
And she expected big things in return.
“I planned on studying personal training, physical therapy and philosophy,” she remembers, with a smile.
But expectations soon were met with disappointment.
While her body was in a classroom in Cheney, her mind was focused three hours away in an unstructured training hall that more resembled a scene from Walden’s Pond.
A year earlier, Hernandez saw a notice in a local newspaper announcing the promotion of martial arts instructor Joseph Simonet. It took three class before the eclectic master agreed to meet with the high school senior.
“I had to travel up this dirt road,” she recalls. “The sign coming up said, ‘Primitive Road.’ When I got there, he told me to hit him as hard as I could. I went to throw a right punch and then felt myself on the floor looking up. I said, “Cool, okay when do we start?”
Simonet turned to his newest student and simply said, “You’re in.”
That as the beginning of Addy’s year-long love affair with the martial arts.
“I didn’t expect it to affect me that way,” explains Hernandez, who was born in Michuacan, Mexico. “The power the discipline gives you is incredible. It was a fantasy for me to know the martial arts and become proficient and comfortable with them. It changed my whole perspective in life and that was largely due to my teacher.”
She sought the same transformation in college, but there was none to be found.
“When I left the martial arts and went to college,” she notes, “I thought I would find the same kind of teacher and philosophy. But it didn’t take me long to realize the professors and instructors didn’t share the same ideals. I had gone through such an incredible self-seeking journey in martial arts. After a year, I decided to make martial arts a career. Joseph and I became business partners and opened up our KI Fighting Concepts school.”
Hernandez, whose father, Lauriano, moved the family to Washington after the death of her mother, took to her new life with incredible energy and dedication. In just seven years, the 5-foot-3, 118-pound brunette has earned a third-degree black belt in Tracy’s kenpo karate; a fourth-degree in doce pares under master Christopher J. Petrilli; a seond degree in eskrido under grandmaster Cacoy Conete; a third-degree in KI Fighting Concepts (a hugely popular wing chun/pentjak silat/kenpo hybrid); and been certified as a tai chi teacher.
“Usually, fellow martial artists envy my position, because I live in the gym from morning to night.”
That’s no exaggeration. Addy begins each day with a 6 a.m. kickboxing class. That’s followed by a full day of privates, a kids’ class, group classes and more privates. When her martial arts days ends at 9 p.m., her personal day begins with weight training, yoga, Yang tai chi and long-distance running, where she is training for a marathon (26.2 miles).
“I like to take advantage of my youth,” she explains.
Hernandez, who has teamed with Simonet to produce a series of highly successful videotapes for Paladin Press, believes she would have still been successful in life without martial arts. But inside, something would have been missing.
“I think I would have been successful to a point, but without that understanding of myself and that take-charge attitude, I wouldn’t have been as far as I am now with anything I wanted to do,” she admits.

Name: Addy Hernandez
Birth date: June 30, 1976
Birth place: Mexico
Came to America: 1980
Hometown: Lake Chelan, Wash.
Siblings: 3 sisters, one brother
Started Martial Arts: 17
Arts Studied: Yang style tai chi, Kenpo karate, Doce pares, Wing chun, Pentjak silat, Kickboxing, Pankration
Instructor: Joseph Simonet
Height: 5-foot-3
Weight: 118-pounds
Belt Levels: 3rd degree in Tracy’s kenpo karate; 4th in doce pares; 3rd degree in KI Fighting Concepts (wing chun/kenpo/pentjak silat); and certified teacher in tai chi
Current Work: Teaches martial arts full time
Outside Loves: Gardening, pottery, working with bonsai trees, training for a full marathon
Career Goals: To make more martial arts videotapes and to continue studying and teaching martial arts. I also hope to be a voice for martial arts women everywhere.
Facts: Loves children. Also speaks fluent Spanish
10 Years From Now: “I want to establish myself and make a name for myself in the martial arts world. I also want to be the CEO of global e-commerce business.”