Question 080: Breaking

Reply

As you have probably noticed, the size and strength of the breaker have little to do with successful breaks. Many times, small people perform spectacular breaks, while large people go away broken.

Any hammer fist and knife hand strikes, insure that the striking area (padded outside edge of palm) is foremost when you make contact with the board. This helps ensure that the pisiform and the end of the ulna (the two small ball shaped protrusions on the outside of the wrist) do not strike the board. This may be accomplished by using a very slight angling of the wrist, a change in the angle of the strike by adjusting the way the arm and body move during the strike, or by changing the angle that the boards are being held:

• If the wrist bends during a strike, it may be injured. If one or both of the two wrist bones hit the board, it will hurt.
• Do not perform practice swings before a break. Just set up the boards and break them. All practicing should have been done in the months preceding the break. When you perform slow motion practice swings, especially ones that stop at the surface of the board, you are just setting yourself up for a slow strike that stops at the surface of the board.
• Toughening of the striking area though the use of repeated light strikes (forging) helps prevent pain. However, too much toughening may cause other problem.