TKD bracking

[tsdtony]

Y is breaking so important to tkd.What do you think this acheaves.

[Sam]

Good focus, power technique and conditioning

But nothing about application of technique....

Thats pretty much it - teaches you to hit stuff hard fast and in the right place with a solid attacking tool [correct fist shape etc.] and makes sure you have hard hands / feet....

I wouldnt say it is important to TKD; only some styles and only some schools within those styles .... i find it help ful for conditioning and measuring the impact of techniques [and giving myself an aim for improvement in this], but wouldny say it helps something like self defense as with breaking you have time to focus and hit a specific static target...

[TKDguy]

its mostly for show, BUT, I have seen somebody break 7 normal, (not gimicked) bricks and break every single one of them.. a 12x12x1 inch pine board symbolizes a rib so if you can break the board you can break a rib or two, or three or so...

andrew

[CloudDragon]

I think importance is relative to the school. I have been in schools where breaking is practiced at least once a month, and it is a major part of testing. In other schools breaking was never practiced, just explained the class before testing and we just went and broke the boards. The weird thing is that both schools did equally well in their board breaks in testing.

[Sam]

It also depends on what you focus on when you break... and what sort of boards you use - rebreakable or none - they all give different benefits

[ninjanurse]

I have been in schools that break at every belt level, and schools that only break at black belt level. I don't particularly like breaking but I do it as required for testing.

[Keldog]

Breaking is VERY important to any martial art.

Firstly, it is a way to test your skill. If you haven't learned the proper way to perform a sidekick and learned accuracy, you will most likely not be able to break a single board.

The most important is learning confidence. I've seen way too many people (especially children) afraid to strike a board.

What is the martial arts known for? Self defense. How will you defend yourself if you are afraid to strike?

[Sabumnim]

It shows focus and the ability to transfer power.

I have seen Grandmaster Rhee break bricks with his fingers, that was amazing. It would be naive to consider it situation training, braking is just for conditioning and focus cos I have never been attacked by a house or tree.

[Belasko]

In our school we start requiring breaking w/ our second test usually. The purpose for it is to demonstrate power in exhibitions/demonstrations and also to build confidence in the techniques. As was said before, if you are afraid to hit the board (which is common) then you will never break it because you won't follow the technique through to completion.

[Sam]

It also helps mentally - being able to hit something solid like boards does take quite a bit of drive mentally specially if youve not broken before or are attempting a break harder than ones youve done before.