how do you dry boards for breaking?

[bluekey88]

Boards don't hit people...guys holding boards hit people.

 

[CDKJudoka]

Boards don't hit people...guys holding boards hit people.

Yes, they use the boards to feint, and then hit them with chi balls from their feet.

 

[elder999]

Boards don't hit people...guys holding boards hit people.

Boards don't kill-caved in skulls and severed spines kill....:lfao:

 

[JadeDragon3]

1 - Go to Lowe's or Home Depot
2 - Buy lumber appropriate for demo
3 - Go to demo site & cut to appropriate dimensions in public
4 - Make sure your technique is up to snuff before Step 3 is agreed on & Steps 1 & 2 are completed.
5 - Break boards without hesitation.
6 - BE HONEST ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!

I agree with this.....be honest about it.
I mean come on, most board breaking demos are done with half inch pine boards. Why do you need to dry them? If ya can't break half inch pine boards then there's a problem.....LOL. Even drying out patio tiles for breaking seems ridiculous to me. I will admitt though that bricks and patio tiles that are wet are a ***** to break.

 

[cdunn]

I agree with this.....be honest about it.
I mean come on, most board breaking demos are done with half inch pine boards. Why do you need to dry them? If ya can't break half inch pine boards then there's a problem.....LOL. Even drying out patio tiles for breaking seems ridiculous to me. I will admitt though that bricks and patio tiles that are wet are a ***** to break.

We bought a bunch of "1 inch" boards (aka real 3/4") from whatever lumber yard once to stock for a tournament, and everyone had to use them. They were green enough that when you held them, your hands got sticky from the sap. They were very unforgiving - There was a board floating around somewhere that had some teen girl's fistprint embedded in it. It was a good day, we kept the leftovers for testing.

 

[tellner]

One of the most impressive breaking demos I ever saw was courtesy of Bill de Thoaurs. Many years back my first Silat teacher took me to see him when he did a seminar in Central Oregon. After the lunch break he asked me to go get a rock from the parking lot. Central Oregon is well-supplied with rocks. I got a round hard stone a little small than my two fists.

He put it in his left palm and gave it a whipping, loose-wristed smack with his right hand. The rock shattered.

That's infinitely more impressive than any number of pine boards, cinder blocks or ceramic tile.

 

[IcemanSK]

I've never heard of anyone admitting to drying out boards for breaking.


Never done it. Never needed to.

 

[Brandon Fisher]

One of the most impressive breaking demos I ever saw was courtesy of Bill de Thoaurs. Many years back my first Silat teacher took me to see him when he did a seminar in Central Oregon. After the lunch break he asked me to go get a rock from the parking lot. Central Oregon is well-supplied with rocks. I got a round hard stone a little small than my two fists.

He put it in his left palm and gave it a whipping, loose-wristed smack with his right hand. The rock shattered.

That's infinitely more impressive than any number of pine boards, cinder blocks or ceramic tile.

WOW!! I saw C.S. Kim do something similar but not limp handed. I agree someone that can do that is very impressive.

 

[exile]

WOW!! I saw C.S. Kim do something similar but not limp handed. I agree someone that can do that is very impressive.

I agree. I cannot imagine anything more difficult in the 'breaking' category than cracking a compact, irregularly shaped stone.

The thing to remember, though, is that breaking may be impressive, but its ultimate benefit isn't to impress, but to quantify your skill at delivering striking impact accurately. It's a way to measure your progress in a particular direction. A board you break is a unit of impact-delivery skill, that's all. You can chart your progress in this area, just as in other areas, by increasing your numbers. Increasing your bench press from 275 to 300 reflects a significant increase in your upper body strength. Increasing the height of the bar on the poles you're trying to vault over reflects an increase in your explosive leg-strength, balance and flexibility skills. Increasing the angle of your side kick reflects an increase in strength and flexibility in your hip flexor/quadruceps muscle system. It's all a measure of increase in some skill and/or physical capability. That's really all board-breaking measures, and my hunch is, it really does reflect an improvement in the specific things required to break a board: accuracy, focus, power.

 

[Brandon Fisher]

I agree I used to be able to break the bottom board of the stack 4 boards high no spacers but haven't been able to do that for a long time and even then it was inconsistent at best. I remember when I couldn't break 1 board now to what I can though I have never tried more then 5 at a time so I really don't know how much I could do if I really trained with tameshiwari.

 

[geezer]

Next question Flying Circus of Physics time:

Do you put spacers between the bricks?

I tried it both ways. The best thing I ever came up with was stacking three or four bricks or pavers and then breaking only one of the ones in the middle. I'd let a volunteer pick the one to break to show that it wasn't a trick...which of course it was, and no I'm not revealing how I did it. But it sure wasn't skill! Anyway I only performed it a few times for friends. That's because bricks cost money, and if I really had to break a bunch of 'em, I'd buy a hammer!!!

 

[Laurentkd]

I tried it both ways. The best thing I ever came up with was stacking three or four bricks or pavers and then breaking only one of the ones in the middle. I'd let a volunteer pick the one to break to show that it wasn't a trick...which of course it was, and no I'm not revealing how I did it. But it sure wasn't skill! Anyway I only performed it a few times for friends. That's because bricks cost money, and if I really had to break a bunch of 'em, I'd buy a hammer!!!

awww come on!

 

[tellner]

awww come on!

A good magician never tells the secrets.

 

[exile]

A good magician never tells the secrets.

You betcha they don't. That trick that Geezer mentioned is one that I've seen people refer to in other threads where breaking came up. Yes, there's definitely a method to it, and no, they're not going to reveal it.

But once again (if it's any consolation, Lauren), by the time we get to this kind of parlor trick use of breaking, we're way far away from any practical use of breaking as both a measure of, and a training tool for, effective impact delivery. Think of it as parallel to the difference between swordsmanship and sword-swallowing...

 

[geezer]

You betcha they don't. That trick that Geezer mentioned is one that I've seen people refer to in other threads where breaking came up. Yes, there's definitely a method to it, and no, they're not going to reveal it.

But once again (if it's any consolation, Lauren), by the time we get to this kind of parlor trick use of breaking, we're way far away from any practical use of breaking as both a measure of, and a training tool for, effective impact delivery. Think of it as parallel to the difference between swordsmanship and sword-swallowing...

You are absolutely right. But it was really fun figuring out how to do it. This was back in the '80s when I was still in grad-school studying art. Along with a couple of friends I worked up a whole Martial Arts Magic routine. I felt like the "Amazing Randi" of the martial arts! Then a fellow grad student (who never practiced martial arts in his life) came into the sculpture studio and burst my bubble by laying down on a bed of nails we had just made... and made it look like a comfy cot. Oh well, artists are like that.

 

[foggymorning162]

If your competing in a tournament and win with dried out or sliced boards against someone with legit boards..... did you really win?

 

[Kacey]

I agree with this.....be honest about it.
I mean come on, most board breaking demos are done with half inch pine boards. Why do you need to dry them? If ya can't break half inch pine boards then there's a problem.....LOL. Even drying out patio tiles for breaking seems ridiculous to me. I will admitt though that bricks and patio tiles that are wet are a ***** to break.

I agree. Fixing boards is dishonest... although we use 1" boards, not 1/2" boards, so it's a little harder. I admit to picking planks that will be cut into boards carefully - avoiding large knots and really sappy wood - but there's no prep work done other than slicing them into 12" sections. The same thing goes for tiles; they go straight from the building supply company to the supply stack.

But since you mention 1/2" boards and how easy they are to break.... I saw a demonstration once where they were using what must have been balsa wood - nothing else would fly 30' (that's feet, not inches) into the air - and the people demonstrating missed at least 3/4 of the breaks they attempted. One of my coworkers was in that class... she managed to break her foot a few weeks later attempting to break one of those same boards; I've never figured out how, except that the technique I saw was incredibly bad.

If your competing in a tournament and win with dried out or sliced boards against someone with legit boards..... did you really win?

Not in my book, no. If you can't win legitimately, then the win is meaningless.

 

[exile]

You are absolutely right. But it was really fun figuring out how to do it. This was back in the '80s when I was still in grad-school studying art. Along with a couple of friends I worked up a whole Martial Arts Magic routine. I felt like the "Amazing Randi" of the martial arts! Then a fellow grad student (who never practiced martial arts in his life) came into the sculpture studio and burst my bubble by laying down on a bed of nails we had just made... and made it look like a comfy cot. Oh well, artists are like that.

I can think of one way to do it... but out of respect for your diligence in ferreting out the method you use, I won't say anything further here ...