I was wondering if different CMA schools do board breaking. Is it as common as it is in karate or TKD?
Its definately not as common as in TKD and Karate…
We dont do it here, i belive very few kung fu places do.
Boards shakes head don’t hit back.
Sorry, had to get that in first 
Board breaking is nothing more than a attempted display of self achived false acomplishment and nothing more. It is a cheap way to make one feel like they are strong or powerful by the ability to break things with their bare hands. However pine boards dried and cut with the grain can be broken by a child of 9 or 10 with no training at all for they are not a true test of anything other than the use of fire wood. I once met a guy 4 th degree who told me he could break a 10 inch board with a palm strike. Being an iron palm guy and realizing that his breaks were nothing more than a stage act I said if you can break 10 , 1inch boards for a total of 10 inches than it would be easier to break 2 inches right? he said I guess so , I then said OK break this 2x4 he said no I cant I said why , he said its not the same… I said your right it should be easier to break just 2 inches of wood as opposed to 10 inches he said but I have to have spacers… I rest my case next youll talk about ice breaking which is almost as easy… want to impress someone? crush a coconut with a hammer fist
Useless?
Boardbreaking can teach at least one thing besides just looking cool (yes, you can make it easier or harder). It can teach a student to not focus on the obstacle to break but behind, etc. to generate more power, keep speed up, etc. However, after doing just that…it isn’t as neat to the breaker anymore. It may help with confidence and not false confidence if you have a good instructor…yes, you can break the board maybe even fast, live opponents are different.
I’ve broken a few boards (on the ground, being held, throwing it up in the air for a speed break, etc.) but it really isnt’ that much fun anymore, sigh.
Peace …or flame on, whatever makes you happy.
What is your problem, ED? You can’t just go throwing your opinions around like that. It makes you look ignorant. Since this is now a debate on wether board breaking is useless or not let me first say that all you have is an opinion and that masters and grandmasters all over the world do not share your opinion.
9 and 10 year olds can break these boards? I don’t know what kind of boards they are using but grown men can’t break the ones we break, which is the standard board most places break, not on their first try anyway. It takes training. So if this is a stage act, then who cares because it took a lot of training to do it.
As for being a means of showing off, according to that logic, anything related to training is showing off. And that can be true. Sparring can be showing off, forms can be showing off. But just like board breaking can be showing off, it also is often not. Someone testing in karate breaks their board in front of a few instructors is not showing off.
Confidence booster? I would feel more confident about myself if I could break a board that I wasn’t able to before. But confident about being able to fight on the street? Is that what you meant? No you shouldn’t feel more confident about yourself in that way just because you can break a board. Nor if you can do your form well or even spar well. So what does that have to do with board breaking?
Mr Nunchaku
Actually, he can throw around his opinions if he wants, just like you can. It is a kung fu forum - a place for people to debate and discuss aspects of Chinese MA. He has every right to voice his opinion whether they are correct or not.
I think board breaking is ok. AND if some people feel its a good confidence boost then so be it. Everyone gets tere confidence from somewhere and some people just happen to get it after breaking a thick thing wood with their bare body..there is nothing wrong with that. After is is ONLY part of a artial art, and not a very big part I might add, so there no need to get so *****y about it.
Tae Li;)
Board breaking is a good exercise to fine tune your mental concentration. And, yes, boards do hit back. Newton’s Third Law says so.
Originally posted by Mr Nunchaku
What is your problem, ED? You can’t just go throwing your opinions around like that. It makes you look ignorant.
This forum is friggin BASED on peoples opinions and ideas man, so yeah, he can throw around his opinions all he wants, and saying that he can’t makes YOU ignorant.
Originally posted by Tae Li
[B]I think board breaking is ok. AND if some people feel its a good confidence boost then so be it. Everyone gets tere confidence from somewhere and some people just happen to get it after breaking a thick thing wood with their bare body..there is nothing wrong with that. After is is ONLY part of a artial art, and not a very big part I might add, so there no need to get so *****y about it.
Tae Li;) [/B]
im correcting my own spelling…After all,it is only PART of the martial art, and not a very big part. There. That sounds much better.
I remember the first time I broke a board. I was supposed to use the back part of my hand (where the pinky finger is located). I did not realize this and used my knuckles and broke it in half on the first try. I watched a 10 year old (blue belt) try to break one smaller and took him about 9 tries before he did it. I did it mainly because I use to punch stuff when I was young and so my hands slowly lost nerves. It still hurts, but not as much.
“yes, boards do hit back. Newton’s Third Law says so.”
-I gotta admit that pretty much throws a spanner in the works now dont it!
I wouldnt say board breaking was useless but not a really high level skill either. Ive done proper boards and there not to hard to break but not easy either. Baked boards like the ones used in many demonstrations will snap if you stare at them wrong. Breaking bricks is a better skill in some ways though still not really telling of fighting skill. I mean real red bricks not the crummy ones that are yellow in colour and crumble.
Real breaking is a proper skill, iron palm has it and some traditional kung fu has it. Coconut breaking is a part of many chinese systems. A coconut is round and if its placed strait on the ground the impact must be perfect to break. If its off even slightly the coconut just spins. Same can be said for a hanging coconut.
I think breaking shouldnt really be focused on to much though, in a fight your target does not stay still, so training to constantly hit a static target will eventualy bring problems.
I was wondering about the coconut breaking thing. Is there a weak point somewhere on the shell that if struck properly initiates shell-fracture? Since it’s not a perfect sphere there must be a stress point that once struck would render the results a breaker desires…right?
I think its mainly to do with the angle of the force.
It has to penetrate directly though the centre, when done properly the coconut litteraly explodes not simply snaps. Its difficault to be able to pick the exact balance or centre of the thing, even harder when its resting on the ground.
That said i cant speak with to much authority on the subject as errr ive never actualy done it:p I know that the skill however is very advanced and tends to be a masters skill.
Okay, I see. You’re saying that as you hit and deform the shell with a strike it generates internal pressure inside and that’s what shatters the shell. Makes sense, actually.
Sorry if I came on too strongly, ED. But all I was asking is if kung fu schools do board breaking or not. And you talked like you had proved something about board breaking, and I just wanted to make sure you know that I’m not trying to impress anybody or anything like that. Again, I apologize.
Breaking has a very important purpose. It’s a test of your IRON PALM skills. Thats the only way you would show improvement save for trying to punch through someones ribcage Ouch It takes a lot of skill to perform and if a 9 or 10 year old can break it it’s not really strong wood. I can break any peice of dryrotted wood without any traning and i have. Its a part of many Kung Fu styles and not just Karate or TKD. Would you call Ku Yu Cheong unskilled.
Leonidas
“Would you call Ku Yu Cheong unskilled?”
Im surprised bricks didnt cotton on to the fact they were gonna die and simply shatter at the sight of him;)
That is one palm to avoid…
Board breaking can show flaws in your technique. The better you execute your technique the easier the break, right? Some schools add more and more material to the break at higher belts. Anxiety or fear while breaking can be an obstacle to success! Now should we equate breaking with the ability to fight (NO!). It is just one of many ways to measure success. The confidence gained from breaking is a tool which could help improve your MA.