Board breaking

Wow. Without further context, you must be an awful person to have spectating in demonstrations. I don't mean that as a dig at you personally but for the person trying to promote their club, to have someone do that to them...not cool.

Not a surprise is it? You never trust a stranger deliberately providing objects.

Perfect example was an old tale of a sword swallower who took challenges from the audience. One person handed him his umbrella. The sword swallower took it, his throat applied enough pressure to cause the umbrella to open up, the "prongs" (for want of a better term) punctured the lining of his throat which meant he couldn't remove it and he suffocated.

Granted it's an extreme and different example, but the basic principle stands. For all he might've known, you "could" have provided a wood effect bat that had a metal core for the sake of showing him up (as an example). :dunno:

Aside from those breaks that are considered particularly challenging and the training it would take to perform them, no?

Mas Oyama slicing the top off a beer bottle always impressed me personally.

I don't entirely disagree with the point you're making but that is really, really bad logic.

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I remember a documentary in which Tetsuhiro Hokama was doing board breaking with the kids and ridiculously flimsy wood boards. He explained the point was more to remind the children that the techniques they are performing can pack a punch and can hurt, so they should be more mindful about not using it "just because".

I read another article as well that explained from one persons' view about how board breaking was introduced briefly for a grading or two only and that was it. The people hoping to grade wouldn't be allowed to practice beforehand and wouldn't bother again after, but it forced them to face their anxiety and apply the techniques properly.

Both of the above examples make a lot of sense to me. I admit, not all breakings are equal and most done as demonstrations are obviously just there to appeal to the masses' imagination. But I would never say that it doesn't have a place personally. And the effort it takes to train the skills to do the ones Redcoat posted (EDIT: or any non-bogus one, for that matter)...simply incredibly impressive in my opinion.

 

Nope. You selected the re-breakable board in the first place. Hmmn, selecting a board "designed to break" :whistle:

Promoting your club is one thing, to demonstrate breaking as if you have some type of superhuman/superior ability is another

Never trust a stranger doing a breaking demo as it is pre-selected parlor trick

Goes to show, that he didn't know the difference of a sword and a umbrella. I'm talking bringing wood. They are breaking wood

Apples to oranges

College students and other people at parties do it. Even University Professors [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQSVHL4Qwe0"]Physics of Board Breaking - YouTube[/ame]

Wasn't he the man who "allegedly" killed a charging bull ? :dunno:

So if breaking has real skill and caution, why teach it to kids? Wouldn't it made more sense to instruct kids of this "deadly practice" at a later age?

I can agree to this. Read below

You seem to not read my "entire posts"

 

A few years back I took a re-breakable board into my Karate club and we all had pop at it.
One of the teenage girls really wanted to try it but lacked the confidence to do it in front of everyone. Despite taking part in sparring, pad work, etc.
So I moved the board to be a "part" break and with some prompting she broke it with a palm strike.
You could almost see her expand in confidence from that one achievement.
It was great.
So while I admit breaking isn't the be all or end all and there are countless other ways of training that are more valuable it can be a useful tool.

 

It can defiantly be a confidence boOster. My kids the youngest being 4, and a friend of my wife's who has no training all really get empowered when they break the re breakable boards I have. I have a re breakable brick. That is a bit harder to break but the sweet spot still makes it easier than one would think.
I

 

Nope. A re-breakable board may appear less intimidating, hence promoting false confidence in skill

 

I don't know if that's evil or genius or both. That's a great use of breaks though in my opinion. Your using the break to test their technique not honing a technique specificaly for breaking, to me that sounds like a far more functional method. If breaks are used sparingly in a manner like that then I can see the point in them as a martial arts training tool.

As soon as you start altering techniques to improve your breaking then I think it starts loosing its martial aspect and becomes a hobby that's slightly different in nature. If people enjoy doing back flips and breaking boards while upside down 10ft in the air then all power to them but I don't think that has any practical applications. If it lacks practical application then it's not 'martial', that does not mean the process is worthless. If they enjoy doing it and people enjoy watching it then great, if it has the effect of helping to build confidence and get people inspired then why not.

 

You are talking out of your ****.
Re-breakable boards, IMHO, are MORE intimidating because they punish the slightest inaccuracy.
I've seen wooden boards break even though targetting was off because there was still enough power to overcome that.
The harder re-breakable boards don't break unless you are within an inch either side of the line in the middle (give or take).

 

True you do need to be on target with a re breakable board. I have also found the more a re breakable is used the easier it is to break because the joint start to ware out. Most of the kids at my school know this and prefer to use them over wood

 

True. Guess it depends on the context of why the break is taking place and how it is being demonstrated.

A lot of the time yes, I'd agree with that.

You're missing the point. You don't just trust a stranger handing you an object they've brought.

Yup, not going to disagree with that. Doesn't mean that there aren't breaking demos that actually deserve respect for being difficult though.

I don't believe it was charging but yeah, he had a reputation for wrestling bulls and being able to break off their horns (and in one supposed circumstance, kill it).

(skip to 1:04):

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vAaBi9oXs0"]Kyokushin Karate Legends : Sosai Oyama - YouTube[/ame]

Not the breaking itself, the technique that broke the boards required caution and awareness.

Oh I read them. Don't entirely agree with everything you've put but can't fault you on a lot of it either.

 

Sorry MM, i usually enjoy your keen insight into all things martial. The above statement tells me you have never broken a board, most definitely not a plastic one.

Baza

 

If only I could like your post more than once, completely agree with you

 

Nope. All first time breakers I've seen, when given the choice between wood or re-breakable, all opt for the re-breakable

Agree

Nope. It promotes confidence

I have broken boards, concrete, bricks, and re-breakable boards. The main thing I like about re-breakable is not having to go to the lumber yards often

 

i'm on the side that says that board breaking just isn't useful. to me, and i've broken boards, it's just a marketing gimmick.

 

I think "useful" is contextual; if breaking boards serves your needs, then it's useful. Example: BJJ doesn't serve my needs at all. Therefore it isn't useful. But there are a whole bunch of you pyjama wearing hug fanatics on here who would argue otherwise (ya bunch of hippies). I don't think it's fair to dismiss something off-hand just because it doesn't fit your parameters.

 

Well, before you can get accuracy, you need to have the confidence you can do it FIRST

 

That's not strictly true though, is it?