Breaking Boards Is Cool!

Believe it or not, some people, especially kids, take martial arts so they can break boards. Breaking boards is always a crowd pleaser during tournaments and exhibitions, and it even fascinates those not interested in martial arts. Remember the boys in elementary school who would break pencils with a “karate chop” to show off for the girls until the teacher had to take them away? Face it, breaking boards is cool!

Parents usually ask: “Do you really think he should break boards?” “Isn’t it dangerous?” “Won’t she get hurt?” Remember, no instructor will benefit from a student getting hurt, and no school will stay in business if the students leave due to injuries. The instructors will make sure the student is ready, prepared and schooled in the proper techniques for breaking boards.

Not even Bruce Lee started out breaking one-inch boards at his first martial arts class. It takes time to condition your body and learn the proper way to break a board. First, your hands or feet need to be conditioned or toughened. A makiwara board - padded, heavy canvas board - will help callus the striking areas such as the feet, elbows and knuckles. This helps keep those areas from getting cut and diffuses, or spreads, the force of the hit. Before breaking one-inch boards, a student will be taught the use of force, positioning and speed, which can turn a sparring jab into a board-breaking chop. Also, the student will learn to break only those things that can be broken. The boards will have the grain running parallel to the hit and concrete blocks are more brittle than clay bricks, this allows the vibrations of the hit to weaken the material and ultimately break them.

Our bodies are amazing things, and our bones are meant to last a lifetime without breaking. Think about running and all your weight pounding on your feet and knees. Your bones and their coverings of skin, muscle, tendons etc. can handle many times more force than concrete or pine boards. It’s taking that force and learning the speed and technique to pull away quickly that makes it work. Once a martial artist has mastered breaking, the next challenge can be to add flips, leaps or jumps and hit with the accuracy to break the board and thrill the audience. The next time you watch an exhibition, cheer loudly, because it took a lot of hard work and commitment to get there.