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I'm not even impressed with most people who can break concrete slabs, either. Have you ever seen how LONG those concrete slabs are? A 10 year old could break concrete slabs...just so long as you tell him to strike the center.


And most TKDers who break "wood" are breaking PINE. PINE is the weakest wood in the world(aside from balsa wood). I someone were able to break an OAK slab...I'd be impressed.

lol. my instructer told me this story the other day. he was at a competition and a guy was making a big deal about how good a breaker he was. so my instructer left and came back with a piece of plywood. the guy just laughed at him, went to break it and smashed every bone in his hand! blaugh
the thing is all of the materials that people use in breaking competitions and shows are extreemly week in one way or an other. i was flipping through the channel the other day and saw some people trying to break bars of cast iron. granted iron is harder than concrete but its also very brittle. so if you can break several blocks of concrete a bar of cast iron should only be only slightly more difficult.

rofl

Boards don't hit back
-Bruce Lee

people who say they can do breaking annoy me as well. they think they can fight cuz they break something. but what they rent taking into account is the sheer amount of force they are exerting ( not to mention how slow the strikes are). if someone truely tried to hit you with a breaking technique is is almost laughably easy to side step it and strike them. plus they tire themselves out too quickly. there are only a FEW people that do breaking that i respect. the main one is Brian Lee. he was my old TKD instructer. the only reason i respect his breaking skill is cuz he has broken a cocoanut (think thats how its spelled). there is a technique to it. and i respect those who dedicate themselves to that art. but in the end its not practical.

Breaking wood isn't really all that difficult, but someone actually interested in self-improvement makes it more difficult for themselves. Try breaking 2 inch thick boards instead, and stacking them together.
Even if you say the spaces make it SOOOO much easier, you still have to be able to carry the force through the break or your break is crap.
And there is no grain to concrete, and once the space between the breaking materials gets past a certain point, it is no longer a benefit to the break, it only makes it harder.

Maybe if the 10yr old weighed 100 pounds he could generate the force necessary to break a concrete slab. Also, it is not just practitioners of TaeKwonDo that use pine for demonstration breaks, so stop with all the stereotyping. My school breaks with oak, because it's more of an individual test of technique and skill, though a heavier person still definitely has an advantage.


I am curious to know if either of you whom I quoted from could actually perform the breaks you advocate. ^_^
Pics or it didn't happen. ;D

To me it all comes down to Iron Body most people that train in such thing break just to show they can but after that it's not real usefull. When people break they line up their shots they take carfull aim in a fight you wont have that time so it's not that great to bother with it if you can walk up to a stack or what ever and strike it without standing there making shure you are properly positioned and crap befor you strike then you are good and ready. I have no dout in my mind that if I steped in and punched a guy in the face I could break bones but that is if he dose not move fast enough to get in my way to slow me down. If for some reason he starts to back away that will lesson the impact or if I am forced to pull my punch and throw with my other hand then I may not have the same amount of force. With my kicks I know if I have the chance I could kill some one I once had someone sneak up behind me I knew who it was and was just playing around I did a back kick into the guys stomach knocking him on his a** I didn't think I hit him that hard but from what I was told I lifted him off the ground. I wear steel toed boots always I can kick over my head if I hit someone I know they would not be in good shape. My main targets are the inside of the legs the knee if I can I go for the shin bone you take their legs out there done.

In my Wing Chun class once you become an advanced stoodent they start making you focuse on specific targets. Weak points lower flowting ribs, knees and other joints, places were bones are easy to break and body cavities that when hit can cause damage to organs and such. We like to move so we are faceing the side of our enemy this makes it easy to fight. They can only reach us with one arm and leg if we have contact it's hard for them to turn to face us if I hit a guy in the jaw wile he was facing the other way it is posiple to dislocate the jaw I also can hit deadly areas that are on the sides and back of the head very easy. Moving to one side is something Bagwa dose I would like to meet a Bagwa teacher some day or get some videos to see how they move and attack I have seen few real good videos.