Power break

[Manny]

On july 16 I have to go to a Martial Arts's exhibition at a sport center, there will be karate do, aikido and maybe a couple more martial arts exhibitions, I have to perform one or two power board breakings, as you know I am a little heavy to fly to the skies and perform 3 or 4 kicks at once so I am limied to do my board breakin on the floor.

The power breaks I usually do are side kicks and back kicks (ti chaguis) and I am doing lately ax kicks (chigo chagui) but I feel they are a littly simplistic and want to do something else, what can you advise me, if you put some videos here I will apreciate it alot.

Manny

 

[granfire]

Simple isn't bad when you stack up lumber.
At one demo one of the are instructors broke a stack of concrete blocks, I think he had 6, but it might have been just 4.
There is a trick to selecting and preparing the blocks tho...(as well as putting an elbow pad on )

Also a nice hand technique can be impressive. Most people have hit something with a fist or so, knowing how much it hurts, so doing a hammer fist or a palm strike can be pretty cool, or a knife hand.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Doing demos for a martial Art crowd is different than for the General Public. The MA crowd will appreciate certain diffculties the public won't.
As always be sure you can break however many you are using. No one is impressed if you fail to bereak 7 boards. An MA crowd will know spacers make it easier and won't be impressed by hammer fist and palm breaks.

For one testing I stood on one leg with the leg closest to the boards chambered for the sidekick. Stood like that for a second or 2 then kicked. Showed the power came from technique rather than mass.

For the General public just step into it.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Check these out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDLCPKraJ0A&feature=related

 

[Manny]

Doing demos for a martial Art crowd is different than for the General Public. The MA crowd will appreciate certain diffculties the public won't.
As always be sure you can break however many you are using. No one is impressed if you fail to bereak 7 boards. An MA crowd will know spacers make it easier and won't be impressed by hammer fist and palm breaks.

For one testing I stood on one leg with the leg closest to the boards chambered for the sidekick. Stood like that for a second or 2 then kicked. Showed the power came from technique rather than mass.

For the General public just step into it.

Definetively I will use only one 1" tick board per kick, I know I will break it and know two boards are not dificult but trying to break more baords in an enviorment I don't know I would rather break one inche tick board than fail to penetrate three of them.

So I will perform one ax kick (one board) and one turning back kick (two boards) and that's all maybe a karate chop (one board) to finish.

Manny

 

[andyjeffries]

Definetively I will use only one 1" tick board per kick, I know I will break it and know two boards are not dificult but trying to break more baords in an enviorment I don't know I would rather break one inche tick board than fail to penetrate three of them.

I wouldn't call one board a "power break" though.

Why not do a stack of roof tiles or something similar? A folded towel on top makes fairly safe but impressive looking.

 

[Manny]

I wouldn't call one board a "power break" though.

Why not do a stack of roof tiles or something similar? A folded towel on top makes fairly safe but impressive looking.

You are right, one inch board it's nota power break so I will try to practice with the spining side kick two or three and see how it's going, I have several one inch thick to play aropund.

Tiles mmmm I've never break those I don't know a thing about how dificult is this, I don't know how dense is the material of tiles I would try to locate some and see.

Manny

 

[granfire]

considering your size, 2 inch should not be a problem
(no, not a fat joke, I trained with a couple of guys in the 6 foot range and sturdy build but not over weight, they killed 2 inch wood with no problem!)

The plastic rebreakables we use, the black one is consistent with 2 inches of pine.


I have faith in you!

 

[Dirty Dog]

I have to agree with those who have said that 1" is not exactly a power break. If you want to do 1-2 boards at a time, then consider doing multiple station breaks. Speed breaks are also good. My favorite is 1" with a ridge hand or 2" with a spinning hook kick. For my last test (Cho Dan Bo) I did 2" with a knee strike, 2" with a rear elbow strike, 2" with a side kick (using my left leg, since I prefer my right) and then 4" with a spinning back kick. The last was the only one I would call a power break. At our last test (I was not testing) I did 5" with a forward elbow (horizontal strike). At a recent school demo I did 6" with an elbow (downward strike).
Our school does not use spacer, but for a demo you might consider them since they make the break easier. You and I are in the same age bracket (I'll be 50 this October), so it's certainly not a young mans breaking game.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Manny,
You are a great guy with a great heart. But a martial art exhibition demo with a single board side kick? FWIW in our org. Green belt requirement is a 2 board Side Kick. and a single board Knife hand.

 

[Cyriacus]

Well, if you're only comfortable with a low number of boards, what if you used Two boards, the size of which you specified before, then do a multiple-target board break?

As in, have several pairs of them held up around you, allowing you to demonstrate multiple techniques in a short space of time, with the free-hanging aspect of the boards, as well as the increased need for speed balancing out the fact your only using two? Makes sense to me, anyway.

 

[Manny]

Afraid? yes, this is a big time infront of a big crowd, that's the fear, yes I know I can break more then two or three inch of pine wood with a right kick, the problem is I don't know if we are going to work over a mat for example or in bare concrete floor, also don't know about the space. What I can do is to do a little practice inside dojang and try to break as many boards as posible and see how it's working. Anothet thing to have in mind is the board holders would be teens with almost no experience on it and in the past these guys made me repeat the breaks once or twice because they couldn't held 3 or 4 boards and resist my kicks flinching and absorving most of the power/energy deliverd to the boards. We don't have any portable board holder.

So as you may get the picture failing is not an option I must perfom clean and flawlesly.

Manny

 

[rlobrecht]

You need experienced holders if you're going to do a demo. They should practice just as much as you do. One thing I read on another board breaking thread was to have the holders look away or close their eyes, so they don't flinch.

Rick

 

[Earl Weiss]

Looking away / closing eyes has the added nbenefit of not allowing the stray splinter to strike the eye.

Better yet, make a portable boardholder. Use it in class and wherever.

 

[terrylamar]

For single boards, try a speed break. Hold the board up and drop it, then strike. To really impress, pick up the larger of the broken pieces and speed break it.