Do It Yourself Log Pipe Pad and Motorcycle Helmet Wooden Man Self Defense Trainer

Having priced the very well crafted Mook Jong wooden man training systems, I decided that I should try to approximate the design using salvaged wood and low cost hardware store materials. What I ended up with was no where near an exact replica, however in terms of applying the concepts, I was glad to have something to train with while not allowing perfect to be the enemy of good enough.

My studies of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do led me to the discovery that, to my knowledge based on my research, Bruce himself never completed the full traditional set of positions and combinations within his lineage of Wing Chun Kung Fu. Rather, he got to a point where he decided to go off the rails and develop more of a free-style approach. I don't have the exact citation for that, so I'd so it could be urban legend, however I exemplify that sentiment in my approach to all types of training and knowledge. In the absence of mentorship from masters, or the budget to afford such mentorship, I am one of many who have had to do to their best to do-it-themselves for a lot of endeavors in life.

With my adaptation of the wooden man training system, I found a section of a cut log that was about as tall as I could manage to move by myself. Then, I went to the hardware store and found pipes and fittings so that I could attach threaded metal pipes to base plates and screw them onto the log. Later I added a motorcycle helmet at the top and focus mitt striking training pads on the sides, and a metal hanger to simulate the lower leg attachment.

For me the intention was to be able to develop an ambidextrous approach to simultaneous blocking, parring, trapping, grappling, and striking. Whereas some martial arts traditions teach a very separated methodology of block, then strike, then block, etc., this helps to develop a flurry of blocks and strikes. Also, the hardness of the surface leads to the development of very tough tissues and a development of a sense of how hard you can push the limits of pain. I'm not qualified to speak on the science of how repeated training leads to bone and muscle conditioning, I will say from experience, the more I trained on this, the more confident I was that I would be the one to prevail in a combat situation where the pain tolerance of a shin on shin or forearm on forearm impact would decide the fight.

There are many other dimensions of value that training with a wooden man yields, such as grip, target acquisition, foot work, and all types of agility and acuity. Probably the most valuable lesson it has taught me is that, it's not often realistic to imagine that swinging a closed fist will solve all of your combative problems, in fact there are many other far more resilient parts of your body to deploy as weapons. A closed fist knuckle strike is one of the weakest and most fragile tools, even if highly trained. Whereas, the forearms, certain ranges around the elbow, the backfist, the hammerfist, and other non-knuckle type weapons are often more ideal to safely deliver full force strikes to hard targets. You'd never learn that hitting soft pads or punching bags alone.