In Enter the Dragon, a karateka (Bob Wall) shatters a wooden board with his punch to intimidate Bruce Lee before a fight. Lee gives his famous retort, “Boards don’t hit back.” A somewhat similar comment was made regarding the animal and TDH strikes on our loyal training dummy, Big Wang, who endures punishment without complaint each week. “The dummy has no arms. A real opponent has arms and will be trying to hit you back.”
Makes sense. Using Big Wang alone will not teach you how to fight, no more than just kicking a heavy bag, striking a Wing Chun wooden man, or punching hand mitts. But no human training partner can be hit full force in the eyes, throat, neck or groin as can Big Wang. Consider: samurai committed seppuku or harakiri (belly splitting) not just for honor, but to avoid becoming live targets for captors eager to experiment on the efficacy of their techniques. Full impact punching, round, front and side kicking a dummy, penetrating into target vital pressure points and getting the “feel” of the human anatomy are advantages of practicing on Big Wang. Big Wang is a valuable training partner for developing speed, power and accuracy.
Evolving Martial Artists also realize that utilizing training equipment does not replace two man training and sparring. The fast, powerful and accurate expression of their fighting techniques against dummies, heavy bags, punching mitts, or bricks is never equivalent to hitting a living, moving, thinking opponent. Sure, Big Wang is tough and takes your most lethal blows, but remember: boards and Big Wang don’t hit back.
Lawrence Tan
Tags: bruce lee, enter the dragon, JKD, karate, kung fu, Martial Arts, wing chun
A war story on this topic (nothing worse than war stories): I was a makiwara addict, bleeding all over the thing, and kicked the hell out of heavy bags. And did the full-contact glovesless sparring. A guy in our dorm was head of the UConn boxing club and suggested a match–in a little room in the basement, an oversized phone booth. No referee, of course. Sixteen-ounce gloves–as soon as I put them on I knew I was out of my element.
Decided to pick off his punches and kick under and over his gloves because his combinations were fast(swinging gate strategy). The upshot? I walked away with bruised ribs from his hook combinations and a bruised toe from middle-kicking his elbows. He left with a spastic trap muscle and a hurt neck from hook kicks I landed.
When it was over I told him that if he wanted to make money he should go on the “full-contact” karate circuit in vogue at the time: 16 oz. gloves and no kicks below the waist. I told him I’d teach him a front-kick and he’d knock out 75% of the guys off-the-bat: karate guys who had been boxing for six months. He didn’t go for it–told me he hated that hook kick!
“Never try to beat a man at his own game.” Bruce Lee? No, P.T. Barnum.