Like splinters through the hourglass...

These are the bain of our fries.

My fingers are a bit sore still from Tuesday night. I've broken boards in myriad ways with my hands (I've done various kicks and elbow strikes through boards as well, but today we care about the hands). Knife hand, ridge hand, front and back punch, palm heel strike, hammer fist, back fist, and chop strike are all ways I've put my hands through a piece of wood. The wood doesn't hit back, and if the holder doesn't screw up, neither does it move, but it is totally unforgiving. If you do the technique wrong, the board will let you know. It does this through the simple expedient of not breaking and leaving your hand hurting like a motherfucker. If you do the technique correctly, the board may as well not be there, since you'll go through it with nothing more than a light stinging sensation that'll be gone in a couple minutes, and that's if you feel it at all.

There's one break I haven't managed with either of my hands. I've tried it twice, and both times I merely managed to hurt myself. The technique in question is a spear hand strike. It's a fairly simple technique. Your palm is vertical, your fingers are straight out in front and rigid, and you thrust straight out. The normal target areas for a strike like this would be solar plexus or throat. In order for this to work with a board, you have to hit the target perfectly; dead center, and absolutely perpendicular to the plane of the board. You also have to twist your torso and put your full body weight into the strike or you won't have the power and speed necessary to actually break the board even if you manage to get the placement and angle right.

Both times I've tried this, I've missed the center of the board. In the process of throwing my hip forward as I twist, I've kept my arm perpendicular to my shoulders (which are now rotating, like they should be), instead of the target. The impact is primarily the tips of the middle and ring fingers, with the index and pinky bracing them from the top and bottom. Since I'm hitting the board off the perpendicular, my fingers are skittering slightly and then collapsing, but not before I manage to bruise the fingertips.

I think I may have to practice this on the thinner boards the kids use for hand techniques (They do kicking techniques using the same boards we do, but injuring a still developing hand can lead to permanent damage, so they are only allowed to do certain techniques on the boards with their hands, and they use thinner boards for them).

It's a real bitch to type with bruised fingertips. Just so you know.

Like splinters through the hourglass...

These are the bain of our fries.

My fingers are a bit sore still from Tuesday night. I've broken boards in myriad ways with my hands (I've done various kicks and elbow strikes through boards as well, but today we care about the hands). Knife hand, ridge hand, front and back punch, palm heel strike, hammer fist, back fist, and chop strike are all ways I've put my hands through a piece of wood. The wood doesn't hit back, and if the holder doesn't screw up, neither does it move, but it is totally unforgiving. If you do the technique wrong, the board will let you know. It does this through the simple expedient of not breaking and leaving your hand hurting like a motherfucker. If you do the technique correctly, the board may as well not be there, since you'll go through it with nothing more than a light stinging sensation that'll be gone in a couple minutes, and that's if you feel it at all.

There's one break I haven't managed with either of my hands. I've tried it twice, and both times I merely managed to hurt myself. The technique in question is a spear hand strike. It's a fairly simple technique. Your palm is vertical, your fingers are straight out in front and rigid, and you thrust straight out. The normal target areas for a strike like this would be solar plexus or throat. In order for this to work with a board, you have to hit the target perfectly; dead center, and absolutely perpendicular to the plane of the board. You also have to twist your torso and put your full body weight into the strike or you won't have the power and speed necessary to actually break the board even if you manage to get the placement and angle right.

Both times I've tried this, I've missed the center of the board. In the process of throwing my hip forward as I twist, I've kept my arm perpendicular to my shoulders (which are now rotating, like they should be), instead of the target. The impact is primarily the tips of the middle and ring fingers, with the index and pinky bracing them from the top and bottom. Since I'm hitting the board off the perpendicular, my fingers are skittering slightly and then collapsing, but not before I manage to bruise the fingertips.

I think I may have to practice this on the thinner boards the kids use for hand techniques (They do kicking techniques using the same boards we do, but injuring a still developing hand can lead to permanent damage, so they are only allowed to do certain techniques on the boards with their hands, and they use thinner boards for them).

It's a real bitch to type with bruised fingertips. Just so you know.

Like splinters through the hourglass...

These are the bain of our fries.

My fingers are a bit sore still from Tuesday night. I've broken boards in myriad ways with my hands (I've done various kicks and elbow strikes through boards as well, but today we care about the hands). Knife hand, ridge hand, front and back punch, palm heel strike, hammer fist, back fist, and chop strike are all ways I've put my hands through a piece of wood. The wood doesn't hit back, and if the holder doesn't screw up, neither does it move, but it is totally unforgiving. If you do the technique wrong, the board will let you know. It does this through the simple expedient of not breaking and leaving your hand hurting like a motherfucker. If you do the technique correctly, the board may as well not be there, since you'll go through it with nothing more than a light stinging sensation that'll be gone in a couple minutes, and that's if you feel it at all.

There's one break I haven't managed with either of my hands. I've tried it twice, and both times I merely managed to hurt myself. The technique in question is a spear hand strike. It's a fairly simple technique. Your palm is vertical, your fingers are straight out in front and rigid, and you thrust straight out. The normal target areas for a strike like this would be solar plexus or throat. In order for this to work with a board, you have to hit the target perfectly; dead center, and absolutely perpendicular to the plane of the board. You also have to twist your torso and put your full body weight into the strike or you won't have the power and speed necessary to actually break the board even if you manage to get the placement and angle right.

Both times I've tried this, I've missed the center of the board. In the process of throwing my hip forward as I twist, I've kept my arm perpendicular to my shoulders (which are now rotating, like they should be), instead of the target. The impact is primarily the tips of the middle and ring fingers, with the index and pinky bracing them from the top and bottom. Since I'm hitting the board off the perpendicular, my fingers are skittering slightly and then collapsing, but not before I manage to bruise the fingertips.

I think I may have to practice this on the thinner boards the kids use for hand techniques (They do kicking techniques using the same boards we do, but injuring a still developing hand can lead to permanent damage, so they are only allowed to do certain techniques on the boards with their hands, and they use thinner boards for them).

It's a real bitch to type with bruised fingertips. Just so you know.