![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Our normal board breaking involves a one inch thick board, approximately ten inches square. We do all our open and closed hand techniques, and the various kicks as a matter of course (we ARE students of TKD, after all).
Last night, just to be different, we had to do a hand technique, open or closed, our choice, through two boards. Now, just so you all know, this is not a simple linear progression of difficulty; two boards is not just twice as hard. The first time I went through two boards was with a kick, and I was surprised how much more force was required.
So, last night I decided to go with a simple back punch. It's not flashy, it's not cool, and it's not the easiest technique I could have done (hammer fist or palm heel strike would have been easier). I punched through that pair of boards, on the first attempt, as if it were merely a single board. I didn't expect that.
I think treating it like a speed break was the key there (a speed break is punching a board in freefall or only being held on one edge; it's not braced so if you don't hit it hard and fast enough, and in the center, you just hurt yourself and the board lands whole across the room).
Of course, these days when I do a single board break with a punch, I usually break it in three pieces, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that I went through two so easily.
Last night, just to be different, we had to do a hand technique, open or closed, our choice, through two boards. Now, just so you all know, this is not a simple linear progression of difficulty; two boards is not just twice as hard. The first time I went through two boards was with a kick, and I was surprised how much more force was required.
So, last night I decided to go with a simple back punch. It's not flashy, it's not cool, and it's not the easiest technique I could have done (hammer fist or palm heel strike would have been easier). I punched through that pair of boards, on the first attempt, as if it were merely a single board. I didn't expect that.
I think treating it like a speed break was the key there (a speed break is punching a board in freefall or only being held on one edge; it's not braced so if you don't hit it hard and fast enough, and in the center, you just hurt yourself and the board lands whole across the room).
Of course, these days when I do a single board break with a punch, I usually break it in three pieces, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that I went through two so easily.
