Anyone coming from a Chinese martial arts background or training in one of the many of the fighting disciplines, will have at some point come across the ‘Muk Yang Jong’ or ‘wooden dummy’. They were designed to provide a human-like opponent upon which a student would be able to practice different combinations of punches, strikes and kicks without doing serious damage to a real live person!

Upon the central ‘trunk’ of the dummy, you will find several wooden ‘arms’ and ‘leg’ or legs that a practitioner can aim for and defend …