Category Archives: Martial Arts
Internal vs. External Striking
I’ll pretty much leave the explanation of this one to the video itself. Master Blair is again discussing board breaking, but this time he talks about the differences between internal and external striking. He talks about leveraging your own body to create energy and, in his example, uses the internal shockwave method to break a stack of boards through a series of hand pads.
This one is really cool. Check it out!
Boards Break because Boards Bend
I’ve been studying with Grandmaster Forrest G. Blair, 8th Dan, Tae Kwon Do Moo Duk Kwan for about 6 1/2 years. During that time, our school has never gone to a tournament, nor do we spend an inordinate amount of time breaking boards. As a matter of fact, I think we’ve broken boards twice.
The truth? Board breaking was designed at some point to prove that you had power. What kind of power? The power to break ribs, perhaps. The truth, however, is that you don’t need to constantly break boards to prove you have power. And, as with most other processes, there is a great reason why boards break. They break because they bend – and they’ll always break at the weakest point.
There’s really no reason for anyone, especially the children, to run around risking their little bones and underdeveloped growth plates by doing special stunts to break boards. This proves nothing. I don’t understand why so many schools and styles make this such a pivotal part of their training.
Regardless, below is the first video Master Blair made about board breaking from an external perspective. He explains why boards break and then demonstrates and unsupported break (which is pretty cool). Check it out!
