Smash glass bottles with your fist!

[Buka]

Yes, I would agree any break using bottles usually has a trick in it somewhere.
Board/block breaks, not so much. A lot of power being created to make some of those breaks.

Yeah, there's power for sure. But it's still hitting it in the right place, in the right way, at the proper angle. We've all been there. There's the approach, the psyche up, the focus of the strike as you concentrate and bring your hand to the target and back to position several times and then BLAM!!!!!

It was always a lot of fun breaking stuff, everyone seemed to get a kick out of it. Kind of sucked when something didn't break and the impact power was absorbed by your hand or other body part.

Poor bricks, never did nothin' to nobody.

 

[Buka]

Back in the eighties we were in South Africa with a U.S team. The weeks leading up to competition we were touring doing demos for various groups. Billy Blanks would always do a lot of breaking demos, he could break just about anything, really fun to watch. When we were in Sun City they asked him what materials he would need, he asked for the standard boards and cement slabs.

But I don't trust anybody, anywhere. The breaking materials were delivered a couple hours before a demo. I took one of cement slabs and smashed it against the side of a tree. It cracked but didn't break. I smashed it again to discover that the slab, as well as all the others, were reinforced with rebar. I inquired as to who provided the materials. It was the guys on the South African team. The son's O' beaches.

This lead to a rather nasty attitude by my team. When we fought their team we were all disqualified for excessive and violent contact. Their term, not mine.

F em'.

 

[dvcochran]

Back in the eighties we were in South Africa with a U.S team. The weeks leading up to competition we were touring doing demos for various groups. Billy Blanks would always do a lot of breaking demos, he could break just about anything, really fun to watch. When we were in Sun City they asked him what materials he would need, he asked for the standard boards and cement slabs.

But I don't trust anybody, anywhere. The breaking materials were delivered a couple hours before a demo. I took one of cement slabs and smashed it against the side of a tree. It cracked but didn't break. I smashed it again to discover that the slab, as well as all the others, were reinforced with rebar. I inquired as to who provided the materials. It was the guys on the South African team. The son's O' beaches.

This lead to a rather nasty attitude by my team. When we fought their team we were all disqualified for excessive and violent contact. Their term, not mine.

F em'.

I suppose it would be hard to board the plane with a load of cement blocks.

 

[Buka]

I suppose it would be hard to board the plane with a load of cement blocks.

But then there's this -at one of the hotels we stayed at in Johannesburg, there was a gun store going out of business on the bottom floor. They had the most beautiful inventory of pistols I've ever seen, pearl handled old colts, silver inlay everything on a huge assortment of guns. Beautiful, rare stuff, and cheap, it was one of those "Everything must go sales. And we had a ton of cash from doing seminars.

But while we were there Ronald Regan bombed Libya. We figured there was no way in hell we were going to get a bunch of guns into the U.S.

When we landed in New York, all decked out in red, white and blue, carrying huge red, white and blue equipment bags - they just opened the gates and said "Welcome home fellas."

We looked at each other wanting to cry thinking about what we could have brought home.

 

[dvcochran]

But then there's this -at one of the hotels we stayed at in Johannesburg, there was a gun store going out of business on the bottom floor. They had the most beautiful inventory of pistols I've ever seen, pearl handled old colts, silver inlay everything on a huge assortment of guns. Beautiful, rare stuff, and cheap, it was one of those "Everything must go sales. And we had a ton of cash from doing seminars.

But while we were there Ronald Regan bombed Libya. We figured there was no way in hell we were going to get a bunch of guns into the U.S.

When we landed in New York, all decked out in red, white and blue, carrying huge red, white and blue equipment bags - they just opened the gates and said "Welcome home fellas."

We looked at each other wanting to cry thinking about what we could have brought home.

Along a similar line; a company I worked for a long time had plants worldwide which I traveled to regularly. We had three plants across Canada. Back in the 90's I had built an automated line and had it shipped to Mississauga. A piece of tooling had to be re-made and was late shipping. I decided to take a chance and carry it on the plane as I went up to commission the line. Remember, this was in the 90's. It was in a wooden box wrapped Vax paper with oil dry spread around it. It weighed 92lbs and the oil dry kept falling out of the box. You should have seen me carrying it into the airport trying to act like it was not very heavy. I went to the counter and said it was a carry on. The girl tried to pick it up and gave me 'that look'. I was a frequent flyer so they knew my face. She called over a man working the check in and said "it is very heavy". He picked it up and said "Damn!" Sat it on the conveyor, turned back and said follow me. I watched as the ran it through the x-ray and had to laugh. It lit up like a Christmas tree. He asked me what it was and I explained the situation. He said 'why carry-on? I said I figured it would never make it through the check bag line and I was concerned what would happen to it. He thought about it for a second and said "well it is way to heavy for business class" and upgraded me to first class!
Good times.

 

[Buka]

Along a similar line; a company I worked for a long time had plants worldwide which I traveled to regularly. We had three plants across Canada. Back in the 90's I had built an automated line and had it shipped to Mississauga. A piece of tooling had to be re-made and was late shipping. I decided to take a chance and carry it on the plane as I went up to commission the line. Remember, this was in the 90's. It was in a wooden box wrapped Vax paper with oil dry spread around it. It weighed 92lbs and the oil dry kept falling out of the box. You should have seen me carrying it into the airport trying to act like it was not very heavy. I went to the counter and said it was a carry on. The girl tried to pick it up and gave me 'that look'. I was a frequent flyer so they knew my face. She called over a man working the check in and said "it is very heavy". He picked it up and said "Damn!" Sat it on the conveyor, turned back and said follow me. I watched as the ran it through the x-ray and had to laugh. It lit up like a Christmas tree. He asked me what it was and I explained the situation. He said 'why carry-on? I said I figured it would never make it through the check bag line and I was concerned what would happen to it. He thought about it for a second and said "well it is way to heavy for business class" and upgraded me to first class!
Good times.

That's awesome!

I have a similar story from the eighties. But if I don't clean the house right now my wife will kill me. Be back later.

 

[Buka]

Same South African trip I recently spoke about - I had mentioned that black South Africans were not allowed to practice Martial Arts, did so in secret, and we went and helped them out.

An African Tribal Elder, a Chief, got wind of it, came to us and presented Billy Blanks with a ceremonial spear that had been in the Elders family for generations. He made Billy promise one thing - that he would not let it out of his hands until Billy was safely home. Billy was deeply moved and swore that to him.

When we board the plane there's a problem - the spear being in the cabin is against airline rules. But the story was told and calls were made to whomever it was you called in these situations - they okayed it. No worries, off we go go for a twenty something hour flight back to the states.

But when we get to New York, ready to fly to Boston, now it's American laws and regulations and that spear ain't going nowhere, it has to go into the cargo hold. But Billy had given his word to a Chief. Ooh boy, things got dicey. Billy politely stood fast, and when he suggested "I guess you're going to have to send me back to Africa", I damn near peed myself, what a great line. The State Department was called, things went back and forth. They okayed it, the airlines made an exception, and Billy flew back with a sharp spear next to him on the floor of the aisle. I was sitting beside him the whole time. It was kind of cool.

And that's the spear..

 

[dvcochran]

Same South African trip I recently spoke about - I had mentioned that black South Africans were not allowed to practice Martial Arts, did so in secret, and we went and helped them out.

An African Tribal Elder, a Chief, got wind of it, came to us and presented Billy Blanks with a ceremonial spear that had been in the Elders family for generations. He made Billy promise one thing - that he would not let it out of his hands until Billy was safely home. Billy was deeply moved and swore that to him.

When we board the plane there's a problem - the spear being in the cabin is against airline rules. But the story was told and calls were made to whomever it was you called in these situations - they okayed it. No worries, off we go go for a twenty something hour flight back to the states.

But when we get to New York, ready to fly to Boston, now it's American laws and regulations and that spear ain't going nowhere, it has to go into the cargo hold. But Billy had given his word to a Chief. Ooh boy, things got dicey. Billy politely stood fast, and when he suggested "I guess you're going to have to send me back to Africa", I damn near peed myself, what a great line. The State Department was called, things went back and forth. They okayed it, the airlines made an exception, and Billy flew back with a sharp spear next to him on the floor of the aisle. I was sitting beside him the whole time. It was kind of cool.

And that's the spear..

View attachment 22716

Very, very cool.

 

[_Simon_]

Same South African trip I recently spoke about - I had mentioned that black South Africans were not allowed to practice Martial Arts, did so in secret, and we went and helped them out.

An African Tribal Elder, a Chief, got wind of it, came to us and presented Billy Blanks with a ceremonial spear that had been in the Elders family for generations. He made Billy promise one thing - that he would not let it out of his hands until Billy was safely home. Billy was deeply moved and swore that to him.

When we board the plane there's a problem - the spear being in the cabin is against airline rules. But the story was told and calls were made to whomever it was you called in these situations - they okayed it. No worries, off we go go for a twenty something hour flight back to the states.

But when we get to New York, ready to fly to Boston, now it's American laws and regulations and that spear ain't going nowhere, it has to go into the cargo hold. But Billy had given his word to a Chief. Ooh boy, things got dicey. Billy politely stood fast, and when he suggested "I guess you're going to have to send me back to Africa", I damn near peed myself, what a great line. The State Department was called, things went back and forth. They okayed it, the airlines made an exception, and Billy flew back with a sharp spear next to him on the floor of the aisle. I was sitting beside him the whole time. It was kind of cool.

And that's the spear..

View attachment 22716

That is so darn cool haha! Love it!

Hey @Buka, in South Africa did you ever meet or train with Sensei Stan Schmidt, or Sensei Keith Geyer? They be pioneers in the Shotokan karate world , in the 80s they would been really been cookin!

 

[Buka]

That is so darn cool haha! Love it!

Hey @Buka, in South Africa did you ever meet or train with Sensei Stan Schmidt, or Sensei Keith Geyer? They be pioneers in the Shotokan karate world , in the 80s they would been really been cookin!

Yes, several of us spent an evening training with Sensei Schmidt at his dojo. Really nice man. I liked him more than anyone else I met there.

Edit: You know what was weird about that, Simon? We were fortunate to meet and train with a lot of people there. One of my favorite Martial Arts books is Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams. He mentions Sensei Schmidt's dojo in that book. I didn't realize that until the end of that night. It was kind of surreal to me.

 

[_Simon_]

Yes, several of us spent an evening training with Sensei Schmidt at his dojo. Really nice man. I liked him more than anyone else I met there.

Edit: You know what was weird about that, Simon? We were fortunate to meet and train with a lot of people there. One of my favorite Martial Arts books is Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams. He mentions Sensei Schmidt's dojo in that book. I didn't realize that until the end of that night. It was kind of surreal to me.

That is awesome you trained with him (RIP)... and darn cool about the book mentioning him too! He seemed like such a nice and respectful man from an interview I just read of him recently.

Also, that book is now on my to-buy list haha... it sounds right up my alley.

 

[donald1]

Congratulations... you made a mess... now go on... clean it up! Animal... come in to see everyone all a sudden starts smashing bottles and stuff. Ain't no Jackie Chan...

 

[punisher73]

Flashy gimmick to demonstrate some legit stuff.

If you "push" your technique, then the bottle won't break, so it can teach you good "snap" to your punch.

That being said, you could use candle training to accomplish the same thing. Or, how we used to break boards, hand them from the ceiling using a "file clip" and then break the board with your punch. Again, if you snap the punch properly it will break otherwise the board is just pushed off the clip and falls to the floor.

 

[RTKDCMB]

I can find no compelling reason whatsoever to try this.