What are they breaking here?

[IcemanSK]

These look like roofing tiles. Are they baked?

Is this a more common break in Korea than concrete?

 

[tshadowchaser]

They do look like roofing tiles but I doubt that they where baked.

 

[IcemanSK]

They do look like roofing tiles but I doubt that they where baked.

I assume one can get these at Home Depot. Anyone break these in demos? The smashing them into powder looks great!

 

[terryl965]

Yes they are roofing tile and when they have that much powder coning from them that means either baked or left in a very humid and warm place for a long time to get the moisture out of them.

 

[searcher]

Terry is right. They are typically made of clay and they get very brittle. Though they look great for a demo they are not a good test for breaking. The other items I see them breaking are 3/4 inch flooring tiles. They are not to bad for breaking demos, but I feel it is better to be breaking concrete.

It is a great advantage to cook bricks, pavers, and tiles, but I don't recommend cooking pine boards. As you cook them the resin actually hardens the board and makes it more difficult to break. Thsi may be more info then you werelooking for, but I thought I would share some thoughts.

 

[Dave Leverich]

Did I mention I love breaking? heh

That was a fun reel there, good ideas with the roofing tiles. I'll have to keep an eye out next time at Home Depot for things to smash

If Last Fearner's around (or anyone else who knows), is that Kyukpa a specific form, or simply breaking? I've been an avid fan of breaking concrete since I got my first degree.

 

[Kacey]

We use concrete roofing tiles - but we use the flat ones, not the rounded ones. These are often not available at home improvement stores - I usually buy them at a materials yard, sometimes a lumber yard, the kind contractors use, and they can be hard to find.

 

[exile]

Terry is right. They are typically made of clay and they get very brittle. Though they look great for a demo they are not a good test for breaking. The other items I see them breaking are 3/4 inch flooring tiles. They are not to bad for breaking demos, but I feel it is better to be breaking concrete.

It is a great advantage to cook bricks, pavers, and tiles, but I don't recommend cooking pine boards. As you cook them the resin actually hardens the board and makes it more difficult to break. Thsi may be more info then you werelooking for, but I thought I would share some thoughts.

No, it's much appreciated, thanks for the info, searcher. I have to say, after breaking my hand a couple of years ago doing a three-inch stack punching board break, I just can't seem to bring myself to any punching breaks any more, and I kind of winced every time one of the breakers drove his fist down tio that pile of tiles....

We use concrete roofing tiles - but we use the flat ones, not the rounded ones. These are often not available at home improvement stores - I usually buy them at a materials yard, sometimes a lumber yard, the kind contractors use, and they can be hard to find.

Do you ever do punching breaks on concrete tiles, Kacey? If so, do you ever worry about damaging your hands on them? I think I'm just too scared of rebreaking my hand to ever try with something as unforgiving as concrete...

 

[Laurentkd]

No, it's much appreciated, thanks for the info, searcher. I have to say, after breaking my hand a couple of years ago doing a three-inch stack punching board break, I just can't seem to bring myself to any punching breaks any more, and I kind of winced every time one of the breakers drove his fist down tio that pile of tiles....quote]


Breaking with a fist always seemed too risky to me. I'll break a couple boards with a punch, and I am sure I could do more, but if I broke my hand I would be out for a long time, and most likely it would not heal correctly. It just doesn't seem worth the risk to me. Just like I would use a palm heel to an attacker's head rather than a punch. Am I overly cautious, maybe I am not giving my hand bones enough credit (although they are VERY small, even though I am full grown)?

 

[exile]

Breaking with a fist always seemed too risky to me. I'll break a couple boards with a punch, and I am sure I could do more, but if I broke my hand I would be out for a long time, and most likely it would not heal correctly. It just doesn't seem worth the risk to me. Just like I would use a palm heel to an attacker's head rather than a punch. Am I overly cautious, maybe I am not giving my hand bones enough credit (although they are VERY small, even though I am full grown)?

I've come to the same conclusion, Lauren: the palm-heel strike is the trump card. Not only is it safer than a punch, but correctly done it packs just as much of a wallop and it's more versatile: a punch to a hard boney target is asking for trouble, but you can use a palm-heel strike effectively on both hard and soft targets and do a ton of damage. PHSs into a heavy bag is a great conditioning and power-generation exercise. The amount of force you can deliver to a small area use a PHS is scary. And if you do have small bones, then really a PHS is a much more reliable and safe way to deliver a high-impact hand strike that your oppo will be very unhappy being on the receiving end of...

 

[Kacey]

Do you ever do punching breaks on concrete tiles, Kacey? If so, do you ever worry about damaging your hands on them? I think I'm just too scared of rebreaking my hand to ever try with something as unforgiving as concrete...

I usually stick with downward knifehand strikes, using the outer edge of my hand - but I have done punch breaks to boards. If I can get my JVC camera to talk politely to my Dell computer (they don't like each other) I'll load some video from one of my seniors, who tested for VI Dan a few weeks ago - he did an awesome short strike punch (from 1 fists length away) to several cement tiles (the big flat ones, that are 12 x 18 or so, and an inch thick), and I caught it on tape.

 

[TKDmel]

Has anyone here ever done a spearhand/fingertip speed break? I'm trying to think of some breaks for my test that are more unique than just the old standbys of knifehand,punch, or ridgehand. Done them before.

 

[IcemanSK]

Has anyone here ever done a spearhand/fingertip speed break? I'm trying to think of some breaks for my test that are more unique than just the old standbys of knifehand,punch, or ridgehand. Done them before.

Here's great demo of it.

 

[IcemanSK]

A better clip of it.

And another.

 

[Kacey]

Has anyone here ever done a spearhand/fingertip speed break? I'm trying to think of some breaks for my test that are more unique than just the old standbys of knifehand,punch, or ridgehand. Done them before.

I've seen it done...once, by a man named Floyd Griffin, as part of his VII Dan test. I've also seen it fail, very spectacularly, including compound fractures of the finger bones... nasty. I don't recommend it at all.

 

[searcher]

Exile, I feel for you on breaking your hand. Years ago I broke my pinky metacarpal doing a hammerfist. It took forever to heal and as a result I do most of my breaking with a palm. I have been considering getting some help with iron palm. I want to take my breaking to another level of conditioning. teh problem is the limited resources available in my area. I am almost to thepoint of buying a video and training kit to try it on my own.

 

[IcemanSK]

I've seen it done...once, by a man named Floyd Griffin, as part of his VII Dan test. I've also seen it fail, very spectacularly, including compound fractures of the finger bones... nasty. I don't recommend it at all.

I agree with Kacey on this one. It looks cool, but if it doesn't go well....A double ooch for sure!

 

[exile]

I usually stick with downward knifehand strikes, using the outer edge of my hand - but I have done punch breaks to boards. If I can get my JVC camera to talk politely to my Dell computer (they don't like each other) I'll load some video from one of my seniors, who tested for VI Dan a few weeks ago - he did an awesome short strike punch (from 1 fists length away) to several cement tiles (the big flat ones, that are 12 x 18 or so, and an inch thick), and I caught it on tape.

Kudos to him, Kacey—but I think I'll stick, like you, to downward knifehands for my breaking, especially for concrete. I might be able to bring myself to do a punch break to a single one inch board, but I'm fairly sure I won't try anything thicker than that. Would love to see the break you described your student doing, even if I'm too chicken to ever attempt the same thing myself.

Exile, I feel for you on breaking your hand. Years ago I broke my pinky metacarpal doing a hammerfist. It took forever to heal and as a result I do most of my breaking with a palm. I have been considering getting some help with iron palm. I want to take my breaking to another level of conditioning. teh problem is the limited resources available in my area. I am almost to thepoint of buying a video and training kit to try it on my own.

Sorry to hear about your injury, searcher—and hammerfists are considered one of the safer breaks. I suspect that like me, you misaligned your fist in performing what was for you an otherwise familiar and unproblematic break. These little errors... and then your hand is never quite right again.

Conditioning is a big part of it, and so is attention to very small details, as I've learned the hard way... along with a lot of other people, I suspect...

 

[searcher]

The whole thing happened because I dipped in with my knuckle. There was a little dent at the break point on the wood. I was amazed that it did not shatter.

With my conditioning I am wanting to get to the point where I can palm break a stack of 10 concrete pavers. I am at five with no spacers right now. If that work out I will go on to power breaking with my elbow. I am sureit will take a good amount of conditioning to prepare for that.