Importance of board breaking

Teach a beginner to relax while in a controlled environment while in some pain. Then after they can demo the ability to stay cool n meditate on the bed we walk up onto the students stomach and stand on them to test their breath synchronization. once they do this well we place cinder blocks on the stomach then break them with the sledge hammer this is done to demo the ability to synchronize your breath = breath out to take the incoming blow, the belly must push forward to keep the blocks supported. The last block is the hardest. To lay on the bed and meditate is a skill taught to the white belt or beginner, before taking the 1st degree black belt test I was required to do the cinder block breaking on the nails. This coincides with striking the stomach with the 2x4s and forearms with 2X2s. Using the Ki to protect the body and to get power in blows is taught here. These exercises along with others (yoga/chi gung) fall under that category of Iron Shirt and Iron fist training. One demo my teacher used to do was have me lay on the nails, place an orange on my belly, and slice it in half with his katana while wearing a blind fold. To be funny when he first would walk up on me with the blind fold on he would wave the blade next to my face then I would push it away and he would make the cut.
 
WaterGal said:
You may want to look into the tongue-and-groove kind, which are cheaper. They don't hold up well in the dojang getting broken like 30x a week, but if it's just for your personal use at home, I think it should be fine.

Edit: Also, that whole confidence thing! People think a solid wood board is going to be more difficult, because unlike the plastic one, it doesn't have a line down the middle where you can see it breaks apart. So they get a little bit afraid of the wooden board and hold back, and then have a hard time breaking it....
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I think maybe that line helps with the "the board is already broken" thought.
 
SenseiHitman said:
Teach a beginner to relax while in a controlled environment while in some pain. Then after they can demo the ability to stay cool n meditate on the bed we walk up onto the students stomach and stand on them to test their breath synchronization. once they do this well we place cinder blocks on the stomach then break them with the sledge hammer this is done to demo the ability to synchronize your breath = breath out to take the incoming blow, the belly must push forward to keep the blocks supported. The last block is the hardest. To lay on the bed and meditate is a skill taught to the white belt or beginner, before taking the 1st degree black belt test I was required to do the cinder block breaking on the nails. This coincides with striking the stomach with the 2x4s and forearms with 2X2s. Using the Ki to protect the body and to get power in blows is taught here. These exercises along with others (yoga/chi gung) fall under that category of Iron Shirt and Iron fist training. One demo my teacher used to do was have me lay on the nails, place an orange on my belly, and slice it in half with his katana while wearing a blind fold. To be funny when he first would walk up on me with the blind fold on he would wave the blade next to my face then I would push it away and he would make the cut.
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IMO, there are much better ways to develop these same abilities. Ways that are less showy, and much more applicable to both defensive situations and life in general.
 
SenseiHitman said:
Proper bone alignment, applying torque and body weight and using the natural weapons of the body correctly lead to some awesome skills. Every healthy karate man should have a variety of breaking skills he can demo to prove his insight into the leverage applied in the given technique. This makes it clear that if given the chance the karate practitioner can finish the opponent with one blow. If one is to have any real chance against a weapon one needs to be able to kill with one blow. (along with a few other skills) There should be a bed a nails a sledge hammer and plenty of 2X4s and cinder blocks and pine boards in any well stocked karate dojo for such training. I do not consider breaking to be an advanced art. From my stance it is an intermediate skill that is important for those who wish to be advanced martial artist.
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Nah... breaking is just an inefficient way to make kindling. Can I break? Sure. Can breaking be useful for developing confidence? Absolutely. But it proves very little in truth. So the pronouncement from on high that "every karate man should have " breaks to demonstrate is silly.

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These exercise give the beginner confidence. They are not difficult for someone who was skill. Body conditioning for self defense requires the student to have control of the breath when striking and being struck in real time, these skills do not. I will admit, I only require these practices when teaching Kempo because they were required of me. I do not teach these practices when I teach Jujitsu. On a side note, I have found that may so called karate gurus cant do these simple parlor tricks when I try to teach them how due to the inability to control their breath. All the real karate gurus were able to learn these tricks in a few short weeks due to the fact they already had control of their breathing. What does this all add up to? Being able to do the tricks does not mean you have any great martial art skill. but if you can't do them you have a lot of work ahead of you.
 
SenseiHitman said:
Teach a beginner to relax while in a controlled environment while in some pain. Then after they can demo the ability to stay cool n meditate on the bed we walk up onto the students stomach and stand on them to test their breath synchronization. once they do this well we place cinder blocks on the stomach then break them with the sledge hammer this is done to demo the ability to synchronize your breath = breath out to take the incoming blow, the belly must push forward to keep the blocks supported. The last block is the hardest. To lay on the bed and meditate is a skill taught to the white belt or beginner, before taking the 1st degree black belt test I was required to do the cinder block breaking on the nails. This coincides with striking the stomach with the 2x4s and forearms with 2X2s. Using the Ki to protect the body and to get power in blows is taught here. These exercises along with others (yoga/chi gung) fall under that category of Iron Shirt and Iron fist training. One demo my teacher used to do was have me lay on the nails, place an orange on my belly, and slice it in half with his katana while wearing a blind fold. To be funny when he first would walk up on me with the blind fold on he would wave the blade next to my face then I would push it away and he would make the cut.
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Don't really see how any of that is beneficial. And if you really trust your instructor with cutting on your stomach... have him try it with a rump roast. Then say hi to Dirty Dog or his colleagues when you get to the ER. When you know why there's is such a difference between a fruit or vegetable and meat, you'll be on the way to understanding cutting...

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We did that for fun people laugh when they see it. Yes it is a simple trick. Don't take life to seriously it's not like you are going to live through it.
 
So just an update: I practiced breaking yesterday again to prepare for my belt test next Saturday. I was able to overcome the mental block and blast through all four boards. Thank you for everyone's advice, I now feel confident going into testing next Saturday.
 
Flatfish said:
]
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In your "ouch" video, it looks like the supporting blocks aren't out enough to the edges of the block you're trying to break, especially the one on the left (our left, not yours). You also appear to hit it off center, to our left. Combine those two, and the amount of force needed is significantly higher.

It kind of reminded me of the other night in our dojo...

A bunch of people were breaking in preparation for a tournament (I wasn't). A lady couldn't get through 6 boards with a knife hand strike. I was standing at the right spot at the right time and noticed she was a few inches off center, and her hand was rotated almost 45 degrees on impact twice. She corrected it, and went through like a hot knife through butter.
 
A curousity question for the breaking gurus...

About how many pine boards equals a concrete block?
 
Azulx said:
So just an update: I practiced breaking yesterday again to prepare for my belt test next Saturday. I was able to overcome the mental block and blast through all four boards. Thank you for everyone's advice, I now feel confident going into testing next Saturday.
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Go gettum', kiddo, you're going to do fine.
Best of luck and have fun testing.
 
In my region, midwest, board breaking has become more of a method of advertising. Let a kid break a thin board and they will be hooked.
 
Kenposcholar said:
In my region, midwest, board breaking has become more of a method of advertising. Let a kid break a thin board and they will be hooked.
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Absolutely, here in NC as well. The "advertising boards" are about 1/4 inch thick... and yes the kids love it. All the boards in our school are 3/4 inches thick. For the smaller kids the boards might be cut narrower that for the older older ones but still the same thickness.
 
JR 137 said:
In your "ouch" video, it looks like the supporting blocks aren't out enough to the edges of the block you're trying to break, especially the one on the left (our left, not yours). You also appear to hit it off center, to our left. Combine those two, and the amount of force needed is significantly higher.
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I had not noticed the supporting blocks not being set right but I did notice hitting off center when watching the vid and I also hit it with my hand too flat.......Like I said we never practice that kind of stuff and I asked for the block so it's only me who's to blame...btw that wrist still hurts like the Dickens.

I can also confirm that 5 boards with spacers are a whole lot easier than that block.
 
JR 137 said:
A curousity question for the breaking gurus...

About how many pine boards equals a concrete block?
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As usual, the answer is... it depends...
Not all blocks are the same. My local shop sells "light" and "heavy" blocks. The light ones are the classic cinderblock pavers. The heavy ones are pure cement. Big difference. I've done 10 light pavers, but never more than 2 of the heavy.
I do prefer pavers, rather than wood, simply because the pavers are more consistent. Something as simple as the humidity can have a big impact on the flexibility (and therefore breakability) of wood. I can leave pavers in the back of the truck, in the rain, and it won't change their breaking characteristics.

RTKDCMB said:
I would say about five (no spacers) with the grain and one against the grain.
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Spacers do not really make breaks easier. They serve as protection to the striking surface of your body if the break fails.
If you slam your hand into a pile of wood with no spacers and the break fails, your hand goes from full speed to zero pretty much instantly. And breaks.
Now do the same thing with the same pile of wood, but with spacers. The hand will decelerate somewhat slower, which keeps you out of the hand surgeons office.
My hands have always told me that spacers didn't make any difference in the difficulty of the break. So I talked to my stepson about it. He's a mechanical engineer. His current project is aimed at improving structural stability and impact resistance for locomotives. Which basically means he crashes trains for a living, but also means he's got some idea how impact energies work. :)
He did say that the spacers would alter the effective cross sectional area, and that if the spacers are thick enough it will eventually become a series of discrete breaks, rather than a single break. But that requires you to strike through ALL the objects. The way I've always done it, you basically smack the top one and your hand pretty much stops there, as it is in my avatar. He tells me that the actual difference in the energy required to break the stack will be pretty minimal.

Kenposcholar said:
In my region, midwest, board breaking has become more of a method of advertising. Let a kid break a thin board and they will be hooked.
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You're probably right. I guess we suck at marketing... all our students break the same boards.
 
At least you didn't do this...


I've watched that one soooo many times. Never gets old.

Sorry... I tried to quote Flatfish's last post, but I messed up and editing won't let me insert the quote.
 
JR 137 said:
At least you didn't do this...


I've watched that one soooo many times. Never gets old.

Sorry... I tried to quote Flatfish's last post, but I messed up and editing won't let me insert the quote.
Click to expand...

Epic
 
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If you could start over would you choose to learn first a grappling art or a stand-up art.

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