Need breaking tips

[Twin Fist]

ok, I have to do some breaks for my upcomming test.

it is public knowledge that i think breaking is mostly silly as hell.

that aside, i need some tips on what sort of breaks to do.

anyone that uses the words "jumping" or "spinning" will be smacked upside the head.

I am thinking simple, and no chance of breaking any bones

any ideas?

 

[Sukerkin]

What kind of breaking are you facing, John?

If it is 'boards' rather than 'blocks' then I'd suggest that the simple, straightforward, punch break is probably the best i.e. someone holds the board for you at about chest height and you just punch through it by imagining the target to be some inches behind the face of the board.

As long as you don't by mischance get a 'knotty one' (as we used to call them) that refuses to admit that you hit through it, then it should be okay.

 

[Twin Fist]

boards, i refuse to do slabs.

I gotta do a total of 6, but nothing less than 2 on any technique other than speed breaks

 

[chrispillertkd]

Do 6 boards with a side piercing kick. Simple, but effective.

Alternately, do 3 with a back piercing kick and 3 with a knife-hand or reverse knife-hand strike.

Pax,

Chris

 

[Revenant777]

The safest/easiest for me are palm heel, hammer fist, and ax kick. Front, side, roundhouse, and back-pivot kicks are not bad if you can hit your target and use the correct striking point (I find roundhouse kick particularly hard because I am not used to hitting with the ball of my foot. If you are immune to pain I once saw a former Muay Thai guy break with his shin at a tournament).

If you need to make the technique a little more challenging without adding acrobatics you could try using an easy technique but using lots of boards or doing a speed break. I've also seen people who do not like flying/acrobatic kicks do several basic kicks but not put their foot down in between.

Last but not least you could just do something corny like a one inch punch (Kill Bill style) or break with your head.

Remember to kiap when you break, in addition to the technical reasons for doing it, it makes the break look more exciting.

 

[seasoned]

Front kick is always a good one because of the bending back of the toes. I think of the front kick as a punch only with my foot. I say this because you need to go straight through like the punch, and not slide up the board because your knee wasn’t high enough.

 

[terryl965]

Push kick, axe kick and any type of side kick also the palm and hammer fist are the easies and are always good for power.

 

[exile]

Three 1" board knifehand strike.

Three 1" board side kick.

There's your six right there, 3 and 3. No risk to your hand (as long as you keep the impact point where it should be relative to your wristbone—and I've never heard of anyone damaging the latter on a knifehand strike, not anyone who had any business performing one, anyway) or to your foot (the heel may well be the best-padded part of any of our limbs).

 

[Twin Fist]

good thinking

 

[searcher]

Not all 6 at once? In one stack?

I like to get it over with and go palm heel through the 6. I wish I were fortunate enough to not have to break pavers, but no such luck. The pavers are not that bad, but I am not a fan of breaking. Except for demos.

 

[Twin Fist]

part of the problem is, I have a fundamental problem with using spacers.

and cement slabs are just silly to me.

 

[granfire]

elbow strike (it's actually the forearm) and side kick, boring waist high....

 

[mozzandherb]

I would suggest just trying some power kicks like a stepping side kick, or turning back kick. And I also agree with an elbow strike being a good technique for breaking, it hurts much less than any hand strike

 

[BrandonLucas]

I used this once for a demo at a testing, and it actually works pretty well, and doesn't hurt at all....unless you're a sissy, of course...haha...

Stand in a front stance, and have 2 boards set up behind you, 2 boards in front of you, and 2 boards to the side, about chest high for all of them, with the 2 boards to the side facing the ceiling.

Break the 2 boards behind you with an elbow strike, just like you are chambering a punch, and then immediately break the 2 boards in front of you with a reverse punch. After those 2 breaks, turn to the boards to the side, and just to a simple axe kick.

All in all, you're not looking at a whole lot of energy expended to break the boards, because all of those strikes are pretty powerful and straightforward.

Silly or not, I enjoy breaking. Makes a bad day feel so much better...the feeling of boards or bricks being destroyed by my hands and feet...and the fact that they don't hit back, like Bruce Lee said. All that, and I pretty much just like breaking stuff anyway.

 

[Kacey]

I agree - side kick is quite easy to break with, as long as you use the heel end of the footsword, and so is downward knife hand.

 

[chrispillertkd]

part of the problem is, I have a fundamental problem with using spacers.

Spacers = no good in ITF Taekwon-Do. I'm more impressed by someone breaking 3 boards or tiles with no spacers than someone breaking a huge stack with them.

and cement slabs are just silly to me.

Silly? Nah, especially when you've got a non-spaced stack of them in front of you. More like annoying than silly, in my experience.

Pax,

Chris

 

[Twin Fist]

here is what i am going with:

ridgehand through 2

side kick through 3

hammerfist through 5

how does that sound? Terry? Daniel?

 

[Manny]

Well I do power breaking usin 1 inch pine boards and this was my last breakings on my last examn.

One board with a punch (fist), two board with side kick and the last two boards using a spining back kick. Very simple but efective, you can put some drama in your breaking, I yell KIAIIIII!!!! very loud to stunt the crowd waching me and upong impact another KIAIIII!!!

Manny

 

[granfire]

Spacers = no good in ITF Taekwon-Do. I'm more impressed by someone breaking 3 boards or tiles with no spacers than someone breaking a huge stack with them.



Silly? Nah, especially when you've got a non-spaced stack of them in front of you. More like annoying than silly, in my experience.

Pax,

Chris

Only people in the know realize it's easier with spacers. laymen see the number of objects in the pile! :angel:

 

[Marginal]

here is what i am going with:

ridgehand through 2

side kick through 3

hammerfist through 5

how does that sound? Terry? Daniel?

Those breaks should all go like butter.