Wooden Dummy in an Apartment? Help!

[Hungfutkune]

Hi all,
Just wondering if I can get some advice from any of you.
Just starting the Wooden Dummy Form, and would like to buy one for my home to maximize my training time. Unfortunately i live in a 4 storey wood framed apartment building. Since i live on the top floor, I have neighbors living directly below me.

My questions are
1. Do any of you live in an apartment and have a wooden dummy?
if so...
2. do your neighbors complain, and is there a better dummy to get then another.
also...
3. Is there a way to muffle the noise so that i don't get complaints from my neighbor below.

thanks and looking forward to hearing any advise.

[wingchunIan]

buy a frame mounted dummy and secure it to the support structure of your walls. Make sure you have plenty of clearance behind the dummy for it to spring on the horizontal supports. Where the vertical supports touch the floor and the walls try use teco pads or other anti vibration pads as they will prevent vibration travelling into the support structure of your building.
If after those measures your neighbours still complain try practising lightly on the dummy during hours that they are likely to have an issue as this will still help you to train your shapes, angles, sensitivity etc and then practice with full energy only when they are less likely to be annoyed.
Have fun.

[Paddington]

Hungfutkune, I had a similar issue with neighbors when I had my dummy outside and alongside an exterior wall. I was told that they could feel the vibrations two doors down from where I lived.

My solution? I moved the dummy inside and had it against an internal dry wall (no brick and mainly a wooden frame and plaster board). Given the materials of this wall I found that the vibrations would not travel as far as when set against materials that were more connected. But as Ian said, I also went to my neighbors and asked them what times they would be about so that I could better time my training.

[Badnews]

I live in Asia, so small apartment living is the norm in these parts. Having a wall mounted dummy 'caused a lot of distress to my neighbours, and after researching for quite some time i finally found a free standing version which suited my purposes.

The model i bought was similar to this http://www.dragonsports.eu/en/Wooden-Dummy-Mp2-p-11832.html I was initially sceptical of this sort of dummy until i got the chance to try it out. The base actual has some free room internally, so that the dummy is actually "live" allowing feedback and lateral movement when struck. The base use industrial suction cups similar to the type that industrial glass fitters use. They withstand the full pressure of say the po pai section of the dummy form easily, but you'll need a smooth surface to activate them properly.

For sound dampening, one of my sihings years ago showed me that if you wrap a thin layer of packing foam around the internal arms (similar to the type that comes wrapped around a new computer or tv screen), you can effectively take the bite of some of the noise your dummy generates.