Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is a martial art that is focused on overwhelming an opponent through grappling and control rather than strikes or kicks. The objective of every match is to get your opponent to the ground and then use techniques that apply pressure to joints (e.g., elbow, knee, ankle, etc.) or to the neck (e.g., in order to choke the opponent) to make your opponent concede defeat or submit.
BJJ developed as an off shoot of Judo. In Judo, the goal is to get your opponent to the ground. But once there, the match is effectively over. In the 1920s, the Gracie brothers from Brazil (Helio, George, and Carlos), who were trained in Judo, started to develop specific ground martial arts techniques that evolved into what is currently known as BJJ.
There are strict rules about what is permissible and what is not within a BJJ match. Actions such as hair pulling, or the grabbing of a finger or toe are strictly forbidden. The objective is to isolate, for example, an arm or leg and use joint pressure to force your opponent to submit. Another technique involves getting behind your opponent, e.g., getting your opponent on their back and choking them. This is a very difficult sport and the techniques take years to learn. It typically takes about 8-10 years to become a black belt.
The attacks that are most feared in BJJ are known as leg locks as they can lead to significant injuries. Leg lock submissions are considered the most complex and highest tier of submissions in BJJ. These attacks target the knees, ankles, and feet. The difficulty in learning leg locks is that after a few minutes of drilling, the knees and ankles can become tender. Even gentle practice, i.e., placing a minimum amount of pressure on the area of a sparring partner, will, over the course of several minutes, cause soreness. This is especially true for the knee; it is not meant to move in any other direction other than back and forth. This makes training and progressing in applying leg locks a long and painful process. Moreover, leg locks are complicated, difficult to teach, and hard to drill. When done incorrectly, a leg lock may cause injury to a practice partner.
Various versions of dummies that can be used to practice martial arts exist. Dummies used for punching exist for the punching techniques in some martial arts. However, these types of dummies are not useful in BJJ because of the submission-focused nature of the art.
Other martial arts dummies are commercially available that can be used for BJJ because they can be laid on the ground to practice submission positions. However, these commercially available dummies are typically plush (i.e., have no skeleton or internal support structure) with minimal form and offer no resistance or realisic feel.
Other types of dummies that are commercially available include crash test dummies, dummies used to train first responders (e.g., firefighters, paramedics), and dummies used for combat training. Some of these dummies can be filled with water to simulate the body weight of a real human, and most versions have movable arms and legs that simulate the arm and leg movements of the human body. However, the ankles and feet of these dummies do not move, and the bodies are usually made of hard plastic.
One can also make a home-made BJJ training dummy. For example, a BJJ training dummy can be homemade with lengths of 1″×1″ wood strung together with yellow nylon rope to form a skeleton. This make-shift skeleton can be surrounded by a mixture of rags and plastic bags for padding, and then held together with duct tape. However, dummies made in this nature are not realistic in feel and weight and have limited longevity.
A training dummy comprising a waist portion, a first leg coupled to the waist portion, a second leg coupled to the waist portion, a first foot coupled to the first leg, and a second foot coupled to the second leg. The first foot and/or the second foot comprises a front foot portion, a back foot portion, and a rod assembly coupling the front foot portion to the back foot portion. The front foot portion is configured to move with respect to the back foot portion.
For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, reference is now made to the following brief description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts.
It should be understood at the outset that although illustrative implementations of one or more embodiments are illustrated below, the dummy may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not yet in existence. The disclosure should in no way be limited to the illustrative implementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents.
As used herein, the term “leg lock” includes any joint manipulation or pain inflicted on the legs that causes your opponent to give up or tap out. While there are many ways to attack the legs, the vast majority of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) leg locks fall within four categories: knee bar, straight ankle lock, heel hook, and toe hold.
Knee Bars.
BJJ knee bars focus on hyper extending the knee of the opponent. This is done by controlling both the hip and the heel of your opponent, using your hip as a fulcrum on top of the knee cap and arching your back. This action puts pressure on the back of the knee and if done correctly can tear the opponent's anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Straight Ankle Lock.
Rather than attacking a joint, the BJJ straight ankle lock attacks the Achilles tendon. The straight ankle lock can be considered a pain submission because the straight ankle lock does not put a joint in jeopardy of injury. To accomplish this technique, the calf of an opponent is controlled by trapping the opponent's foot in the attacker's armpit. Next, the attacker slides their forearm along the opponent's calf until the Achilles tendon is reached. Once the attacker's forearm is locked in position, the attacker squeezes their arm tight and leans back.
Heel Hook.
The heel hook is one of the most popular BJJ leg lock techniques, but is also one of the most difficult to master. This submission uses an opponent's heel to rotate the opponent's knee while the attacker's legs prevent the opponent's hips from rotating and following their knee. This torques the knee clockwise, which puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the ligaments. The technique can easily tear both the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and the ACL very quickly as very little pressure is needed to rotate the knee.
Toe Hold.
The BJJ toe hold technique forces an over rotation of the foot and ankle by using the attacker's forearm to act as a fulcrum on the inside of the opponent's ankle as the attacker's other hand rotates the opponents toes towards their groin. The ligaments on the outside of the ankle that run down to the toes are strained, which causes a significant amount of pain for the opponent. This can be considered more of a pain submission rather than a true joint submission.
As noted above, available martial art training dummies fail to provide realistic articulation, weight, and movement of the lower half of a human being. To resolve this problem, disclosed herein is a martial art training dummy that provides a more realistic articulation, weight, and movement of the lower half of human. Because of the disclosed martial art training dummy, practicing BJJ is safer without sacrificing the actual forces needed in the submission positions for, in particular, leg locks.
The disclosed martial arts dummy provides 1) a knee that does not over-extend, 2) an area to learn where the attacker can place legs and arms to apply pressure for a straight ankle lock, 3) the correct articulation of both knee and ankle to recreate the heel hook, and 4) the rotating foot motion necessary to practice a toe hold. Because of one or more of these features, the disclosed martial arts dummy allows a student of any level to drill leg locks without the possibility of injuring anyone and at their own pace.
As shown in
In an embodiment, the skeleton 400 can be formed of a hard material that is resistant to bending under applied pressure, such as a metal or metal alloy.
The soft tissue 501 can be made of thermoplastic elastomers (e.g., comprising silicon, polyurethane, a polyurethane blend, polyethylene, or a combination thereof). These exemplary polymers are not meant to limit the scope of material that can be used for the soft tissue 501.
The soft tissue 502 can be made of thermoplastic elastomers (e.g., comprising silicon, polyurethane, a polyurethane blend, polyethylene, or a combination thereof). In some aspects, the material of soft tissue 502 has a hardness greater than a hardness of the material from which the soft tissue 501 is made and less than a hardness of the material from which the skeleton 400 is made.
The skin 503 can be made of polyethylene, silicon, an open cell foam, or a combination thereof.
Each leg 200 has an upper leg 201 and a lower leg 202. The upper leg 201 of each leg 200 is connected to the waist portion 100 by a hip joint 101. The upper leg 201 of each leg 200 is connected to the lower leg 202 of each leg 200 by a knee assembly 103. Each lower leg 202 of each leg 200 is connected to the foot 300 by an ankle assembly 108.
Each hip joint 101 connects to the waist portion 100 and to an upper leg 201 of each leg 200. Each hip joint 101 can be configured to provide motion between the waist portion 100 and each leg 200. Each hip joint 101 has minimal axial rotation (+/−10°) with respect to a longitudinal axis of the upper leg 201, while having the following ranges of motion:
The bottom of each upper leg 201 has a first compressible pad 102 that is contoured to the shape of the lower portion of a hamstring muscle to simulate soft tissue at a first point of contact. The compressible pad 102 can be formed of silicon or like material, as solid polymer or foam polymer.
The knee assembly 103 can be a machined metal block as shown in
The top of the lower leg 202 of each leg 200 has a second compressible pad 104 contoured to the shape of a human calf muscle to simulate soft tissue at a second point of contact. The second compressible pad 104 can be formed of silicon or like material, as solid polymer or foam polymer.
The bottom of the lower leg 202 of each leg 200 has a third compressible pad 105 to simulate the soft tissue at a third point of contact. The third compressible pad 105 can be formed of silicon or like material, as solid polymer or foam polymer. In some embodiments, the second compressible pad 104 and the third compressible pad 105 can be combined as one compressible pad.
The upper section of the heel of each foot 300 has a compressible layer 106 around the ankle assembly 108 to simulate softness of the tendon on the back of a human foot. The compressible layer 106 can be formed of silicon or like material, as solid polymer or foam polymer.
The lower section of the heel of each foot 300 has a fourth compressible pad 107 to simulate the feel of a human heel.
The ankle assembly 108 can be a block of machined metal. The ankle assembly 108 can have a limited bending angle with side neoprene washers to simulate axial rotation of a human knee. The ankle assembly 108 has the following ranges of motion:
The foot 300 comprises a first portion 301, a second portion 302, and a rod assembly 109. The rod assembly 109 is configured to allow the first portion 301 of the foot 300 to move relative to the second portion 302 of the foot 300. The longitudinal axis L1 of the rod in the rod assembly 109 and the plane P1 for the bottom of the foot 300 are shown in
The compressible pad 102 and compressible pad 104 are included in the legs 200 so that when the upper leg 201 bends against the lower leg 202 via the knee assembly 103, the compressible pad 102 and compressible pad 104 face one another. If the practitioner using the dummy has a body part between the compressible pad 102 and the compressible pad 104, instead of crushing the practitioner's body part, the compressible pad 102 and the compressible pad 104 of the disclosed dummy are configured to compress without applying a crushing force to the practitioner's body part.
The thigh cushion 215 in
The lower leg section soft gel 317 in
A rod assembly 109 in
While
In some embodiments, the rod 416 have the shape of a solid cylinder or otherwise a solid prism (triangular rod, square rod, pentagonal rod, hexagonal rod, and so on). Alternatively, the shape of the rod 416 can be a hollow cylinder (e.g., tube shape) or hollow prism (e.g., polygonal tube).
In certain embodiments, the rod 416 can be formed of a polymer material. The polymer material can be configured to elongate under tensile load, rotate under torsional force, and bend; and configured to be in the cylindrical or prism shape when no load is applied. The polymer can be formed from one or more polymerization processes that produce homopolymer or copolymer from any monomer unit such as, for example but not limited to, ethylene, propylene, butene, pentene, butadiene, hexene, styrene, any other known monomer useful for forming the flexible rod, and combinations thereof. Examples of suitable polymer materials from which the rod 416 can be made include polyethylene (linear low density, low density, medium density, high density, or combinations thereof), polypropylene, polystyrene, nylon, polycarbonate, acetal material, acrylonitrile, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, acrylic material, polybenzimidazole, polyethylene terephthalate, polyether ether ketone, phenolic laminates, polyvinylidene fluoride, polytetrafluoroethylene, or combinations thereof.
In aspects where the rod 416 has end 602 secured to the first portion 301 and opposite end 604 secured to the second portion 302 of the foot 300 as shown in
The longitudinal axis L1 of
In certain embodiments, the rod 416 can have a diameter in the range of 0.25 inch to 1.5 inches (0.635 cm to 3.81 cm); alternatively, in the range of 0.5 inch to 1.25 inches (1.27 cm to 3.175 cm); alternatively, about 1 inch (about 2.54 cm).
In certain embodiments, the rod 416 can have a length in the range of 0.5 inch to 6 inches (1.27 cm to 15.24 cm); alternatively, in the range of 0.75 inch to 4 inches (1.90 cm to 10.16 cm); alternatively, in the range of about 1 inch to about 4 inches (2.54 cm to 10.16 cm).
Any embodiment of the lower half of the martial arts dummy disclosed herein can be used in combination with any upper half (e.g., torso, arms, hands, neck, head) of a dummy or mannequin, in order to form a full martial arts dummy.
While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed dummy may be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is not to be limited to the details given herein. For example, the various elements or components may be combined or integrated in another form or certain features may be omitted or not implemented.
Also, techniques, systems, subsystems, and methods described and illustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may be combined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, or methods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Other items shown or discussed as directly coupled or communicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicating through some interface, device, or intermediate component, whether electrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes, substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in the art and could be made without departing from the spirit and scope disclosed herein.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/134,489, filed Jan. 6, 2021, and titled “Martial Arts Training Dummy,” which is incorporated by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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63134489 | Jan 2021 | US |