I broke my first board today!

[sensei8]

Oh, I definitely see the possibility of breaking an aluminum bat. Aluminum has a certain breaking point, especially when impacted at high speeds. Still, sounds a bit painful for me, and I do a lot of shin conditioning.

This Hanshi struck this aluminum bat 3 times before it finally bent or broke.

[bushido_man96]

That just sounds crazy to me.

[DWx]

No disrespect meant but sounds like he had thick shins and a thick skull

[JiuJitsuNation]

um ouch! Somehow I think a whole demo of me choking bricks and locking up bats just wouldn't have the same effect! lol What is it with you people and beating up on inanimate objects!

[DWx]

um ouch! Somehow I think a whole demo of me choking bricks and locking up bats just wouldn't have the same effect! lol What is it with you people and beating up on inanimate objects!

haha funny you should say that.. I've always wondered if any of you guys had ever attempted armbar-ing a pole or something and seeing if you could bent it. Think it was Rickson Gracie that armbarred a crash test dummy on Fight Science...

[isshinryu5toforever]

um ouch! Somehow I think a whole demo of me choking bricks and locking up bats just wouldn't have the same effect! lol What is it with you people and beating up on inanimate objects!

haha funny you should say that.. I've always wondered if any of you guys had ever attempted armbar-ing a pole or something and seeing if you could bent it. Think it was Rickson Gracie that armbarred a crash test dummy on Fight Science...

A lot of old stories say that Masahiko Kimura practiced his throws on a tree. With how crazy he was about Judo, and how crazy good he was at Judo, I wouldn't doubt it.

[isshinryu5toforever]

um ouch! Somehow I think a whole demo of me choking bricks and locking up bats just wouldn't have the same effect! lol What is it with you people and beating up on inanimate objects!

It does seem kind of silly, but it's a good test of spirit and body mechanics. You have to have the spirit to hit the thing. An aluminum bat takes a whole lot of courage I'm not sure I have haha. Strike - body mechanics = possible hospital visit if the item is hard.

[bushido_man96]

Yeah, I think I'm good with just beating on wood. I've got a little brother who is considerably larger than I, and he liked to beat on multiple slabs of innocent concrete from time to time. Impressive, for sure. But what a mess to clean up!

[cejames]

And this means exactly what?

[isshinryu5toforever]

If you're going to postulate that question, then what does anything mean? Breaking is meant to test focus, speed, and power. I'm sure even you've been asked to break a board or two. It means that you can break a board without hurting yourself. It's a step to being able to hit a live person without hurting yourself. Just a test really. No reason to discount someone's accomplishment just because you don't believe in it.

People cut bamboo in half with swords. When are they going to need that? It's still an accomplishment in focus, technique, and not destroying a $5,000 sword.

Like I said though, in that vein, what is the point of anything we do? What are our goals? If the goal is self-defense, then there are definitely faster ways to reach that goal than an East Asian martial art. If it's spiritual enlightenment of some kind, then gaining transmission at a Buddhist temple would be a better course of action than any martial arts training. If it's being a better person, well, martial arts doesn't exactly help a person stop being a jerk.