woodendummy.co.uk

[monkey man]

I was wondering if anybody could give me their opinion of the wooden dummies at the following site;

www.woodendummy.co.uk

I am looking for a free-standing dummy as I live in rented accomodation and cannot attach a wall mounted dummy. I was initially looking at the Immortal plastic dummy, but came across this site which features a reasonably price wooden one. My initial concern upon first inspection is that the arms do not look as if they will have much 'give' (and there is no mention on the site of replaceable ones), but I am admittedly a little ignorant of particular things/specifications to look out for.

Cheers in advance!

[yuanfen]

I dont think that those arms look too good.

[monkey man]

Originally posted by yuanfen
I dont think that those arms look too good.

That's what I thought. There doesn't seem like there's much allowance for any movement in the arm brackets.

Still, I am looking for a (relatively) cheap, free-standing alternative to a wall-mounted dummy (preferably in the UK). Any other suggestions/opinons?

[Chuk Hung]

Check out Immortal, they make a good alternative to wooden dummies. I am very happy with mine.

http://www.immortal.co.uk/body_dummies.html

Good luck!

[kungfu cowboy]

Yeah, that first one is relatively cheap, but it looks like you are getting what you pay for here. ( Personally, I think a good one need not cost more than 500 US (320 pounds) but apparently for unknown reasons they do) I say save up and go for quality. You will be disappointed with an inferior pile of lumber.

[Atleastimnotyou]

i think the dummy in the origanal question wasn't good. and it's not a matter of "give." the arms weren't in position. I found a place that makes quality dummies, they are expensive, but they are good quality so they will last you the rest of you life. go to www.wing-chun.nu and go under equipment sales. You will find them there. Instead of being made out of one solid peice of wood, they're made in sections and fixed together which makes them stronger and they wont crack. The amish build them and carpentry is what they're known for.

[monkey man]

Originally posted by Atleastimnotyou
i think the dummy in the origanal question wasn't good. and it's not a matter of "give." the arms weren't in position. I found a place that makes quality dummies, they are expensive, but they are good quality so they will last you the rest of you life. go to www.wing-chun.nu and go under equipment sales. You will find them there. Instead of being made out of one solid peice of wood, they're made in sections and fixed together which makes them stronger and they wont crack. The amish build them and carpentry is what they're known for.

I didn't pay too much attention to the position of the arms, but it seems you're right. Still, I'm looking for a free standing dummy and whilst the one in your link looked very nice, it was wall mounted. Do they do a free standing base?

I might well have to go for the plastic Immortal dummy. I'd much rather get a decent wooden one - especially as the Immortal is, IMHO, a bit expensive (especially as I'm a bit of a short-arse at only 5'6 and would have to pay extra to get it tailored to my needs. The first one initially caught my eye because it is height adjustable) - but I haven't found a decent alternative. :(

[Atleastimnotyou]

i forgot you needed one that was free standing. Sorry, i think they are all wall mounted. good luck

[Chuk Hung]

Monkey Man,

The Immortal Dummies' weight is the same as a standard wooden dummy made of oak. You will need two people to pick it up. I too needed a free standing dummy, since my walls do not support bracing for a standard dummy. Also, the only place I have room for a dummy is my basement, and it gets pretty damp down there. The problem with the standard WD, is that the wood contracts with changes in humidity, allowing it to crack and split. I don't have to worry about that with the Immortal Dummy. When it gets dusty, I just wipe it clean with a damp cloth.

Good luck

[woodendummy]

I know that this response is almost 5 years too late but I believe it needs answering. It would have been easier to come straight to the source and ask us questions about the dummies at www.woodendummy.co.uk. But never mind.

We have been trading for about eight years.

Our arms move like all other quality woodendummy arms on the market. This is due to the fact that there is a larger hole in the dummy body than the arm so there is a small amount of movement. They are secured in place using wooden pegs fixed at the rear of the dummy. The arms can be removed in a matter of minutes.

The arms are in the same position as the arms used by countless other martial artists including among others Bruce Lee. To be quite frank I do not think that the people making these comments have put much thought to their answers.

I am an architect and have to deal with the natural characteristics of wood. The reason that wood splits is due to the outer layer of the wood drying quicker than its immediate inner layer of wood. Logically this would then make it smaller than the inner piece and a crack would develope. If however the tension could be removed from the surface of each layer of wood to allow it to expand and contract splitting will not occur. It is true that our dummies are made of solid wood however we have developed a patented solution that enables the layers of wood to move slightly without cracking. This is simply due to three cuts strategically placed in the timber.

If anyone else would like some more information then do not hesitate to contact us at www.woodendummy.co.uk
All the best

woodendummy

[Ben Gash]

Hhm, interesting. Can you do CLF dummies, or are they prohibitively expensive?

[Gooseman]

Dear "Blade" @ Woodendummy.co.uk,
Your dummies look rather smashing to me, but what on earth is Ving Tsuen?
I also found the silhoutted figure on your logo intriguing, are they some sort of high kicking Apache Indian?

As for your view point that that others had not thought about their responses is slightly arrogant of you, you cannot substantiate that, and I sense that you have taken it rather personally.
Other than that keep up the good craft.
Steve G.:p

[Lee Chiang Po]

Why not just make your own? I have built several over the years, but the best one was of plastics. The body was of 8 inch blue plastic pipe like that used in water lines. The arms and leg was of the black plastic 3 inch tubing used for drains. They can be heated and shapped like you want them. The good part about them is that they are relatively stiff, but do have plenty of movement, depending upon just how much power you put against them. They never break or wear out either. I hang mine. I can swivel it some, sort of like when you spin someone to one side or the other. I have 2 large trees in my back yard where I do my workouts, and I suspend the plastic man between the trees. I can make all the noise and racket I want and no one is bothered. I think I might have about 10 bucks and another 4 hours of labor in this thing. And it works as well as any wooden dummy I have ever worked on.

[k gledhill]

Dummy arms should be at equal levels, for a reason. The height of the dummy should be so we have our arms at the same heights as our SLT idea, when we are in our 'stance' , not satnding up in front of it....we train to re-inforce the low elbow positions while alternating the sequences of sections...so why re-inforce a wrong 'lifting the elbow action' simply because the dummy has a high arm on one side ?or is too high to begin with thereby making our elbow come up near our armpit levels BEFORE we even engage the opponent :D... the height should be adjusted for this reason....to correct if you have to use one like this, make the highest arm the level of SLT when in training stance, the lower arm will still not cause you to raise your elbow, even make it stay lower:D even good wrestling coaches will agree with you ;)
The dummys upper arms are made with the rear sections off center % [% seen from the back] so they can be rotated 1 hi -% 1 lo-% thereby making the front portion of the arms 'sit' level in the front like.. o o ...aka most dummys :D
Last thing vt needs is a guy who doesnt understand why they should be a certain level telling us why they are uneven and like it ... ;)
if your spending your life doing something you love why waste it at the final stages using an expensive lopsided training tool to gain a perfect attacking structure ?

just because the builders make 'em like this and we have no better choice but to use it like this , even if the guys name is B Lee, ...doesnt make it correct ;)

look for dummies with even level arms or make them level ..