Breaking & Conditioning

[DWx]

I know a lot of styles don't do breaking and that it is mainly the Eastern MA styles that place a focus on it but I think it can be quite a useful training tool sometimes.

What sort of breaking and conditioning do you do? Is it a requirement?

Reason I ask is because at my home school we're expect to do some sort of breaking from green belt upwards (5th gup). The kids have the easier "kiddie" boards and adults break however many of the normal boards is appropriate or bricks or whatever. We have to do it for gradings but my instructor will never make anyone break if he sees a problem with technique. Anyway at the uni club I'm training at some of the guys were doing breaks yesterday in preparation for a grading and they were trying to do front punches on one board. If I was the instructor I would have stopped them as they've clearly never done any conditioning on their hands (think baby soft skin), they couldn't make a tight enough fist for it as the fingers were more prominent than the knuckles and they were bending their wrists. Yet they were allowed to attempt it. I think only one person broke first time and all of them came away with bloody hands. Is this typical and am I just being way too over cautious with it?

[bushido_man96]

We have board breaking required at the brown belt levels, but we don't do any kind of conditioning for it.

I think board breaking is a good way to demonstrate power in technique.

[joesteph]

Board breaking with the elbow was required for me to go to 7th Gup, and with the side kick to 6th Gup. (There are ten gup levels before 1st Dan.) I feel I could use practice at board-breaking; I have practically none as of now.

It is an attraction for many different students. I did speak with my teacher, as I'd thought of a "board-breaking party," even suggesting that I'd be willing to pay for a number of boards (like throwing a karate bash). She wasn't opposed to it, but suggested that she'd remember this for a fundraiser for a cause down the road.

[bushido_man96]

I think that actually taking some class time to prep and practice board breaking is important in building success in breaking. Our school does not do breaking in class; only at testings and demos. I am not a fan of this at all. I think it should be practiced, just like any other aspect of Martial Arts.

[hx35543]

My school does breaking, but not a lot of preparation goes in to it. The only one we kind of prep. for is breaking with a punch. For that, we do knuckle push-ups to strengthen the hand and wrist. Other than that you are just kind of expected to be able to do it.

To me, both technique and power go hand in hand when it comes to breaking. And don't forget to concentrate on what your doing. Any half-hearted attempt will simply hurt more.

I just got finished with a roundhouse break on my last belt test. I hit it twice, one low and one high. The third time was the charm. I hit it hard all three times (the first one was low and on an instructors fingers) but my aim was off. This is where technique and accuracy come in.To hit a big target is easy. To hit a smaller one with the same power takes skill. AND YES, MY FOOT STILL HURTS!

[Scott_LIFE180]

My school does breaking as well. We start it quite early in the training, even those just beginning are taught how to break boards. We have started (in the past) with a 4"x10" board 3/4" thick using a palmhand strike. Yes this is considered a very easy break, but it instills additional confidence and boosts self esteem. I remember the first time I broke a board, I was on an emotional high for several days and was very excited. Our school's senior instructor has thought about putting breaking in the tests for every belt level and I personally agree with him on the issue.

[tallgeese]

We don't utilize it. I think power can be evaluated and demonstrated on bags, shields, ect. Conditioning should occur just so you're actually ready to hit a live object. Sparring is good for this with mma gloves on, as is bag work.

That being said, I"ve broken a board or two at demos and such. It can be a bit of fun. I do think that if you're going to do it you should spend time practicing it prior.

[The BB of C]

My schools have always been boards but I've been trying to do bricks.

[Kuma]

It's required for belt testing once you start hitting around 5th kyu as well for us. There's a big emphasis on it test-wise, and also in knockdown tournaments you'll usually be expected to do some breaking as well in the big ones. I think the Japanese Kyokushin karateka are the biggest into it, with the others being so-so to little if any for the majority.

[Truestar]

We have a breaking "stripe" that we use for each belt level.

We've separated the breaks into a points system, we currently have two rebreakable boards. For instance, a front snap on the green board (the easier one) is 1 point, whereas a front snap on the blue board (harder) is 2 points.

Using this system we do condition for breaks in class. Students hit a bag, and we have a kicking wall set up where we place a single mat and hit that.

For our testing from blue belt and up, everyday is spent conditioning for the final day where wood and patio blocks are broken.

Speaking of breaking, I've conditioned my arm to the point now where I blew through 3 - 1 inch blocks today with my elbow at a demonstration. It didn't sting at all afterward and there's no major swelling on my arm. I can thank the ease of the break to conditioning for it in class.