| Remember,
training is not recommended at all for those
under 16 years of age. Those individuals
under 18 years of age must get permission
from a parent or guardian before starting
training. Always consult a physician before
beginning any exercise program. Train at
your own risk. These training methods only
reflect personal experience, and Wesler's
Karate, Inc. cannot be held responsible
for any injury resulting from attempting
to train in these techniques.
BOARDS
| STICKS | BLOCKS
| OTHER | CHEATS
The
materials used in tameshiwari is the topic
most often neglected by books and articles
involving breaking. Only through working
with the materials available to me in stores
have I become familiar with the variations.
Here I will describe the properties of the
materials most readily available for retail.
WOOD
BOARDS- Boards are the entry level material
for breaking. The standard cut is 12 inches
wide and 10 inches high. The standard wood
used is white pine. Avoid wood with knots
that run along the board. Small round knots
are not too troublesome. If you are looking
for a challenge, try some hard woods, but
don't be surprised if people aren't impressed
with you having trouble with one or two
boards. Also, wood cut into boards much
ahead of breaking time tend to dry out and
crack on their own.
Everyone
tells you to break the board along the grain
but few get into detail about the varying
grain widths of boards. Since you are merely
splitting the board along the grain, a wider
grain is naturally better (easier) for breaking.
However, you should take note of the type
of grain in relation to the cut. If you
see grain only running vertically in bands,
it is a easier cut since you are going to
split the board along one of the grain bands.
If you see wider, flat bands (often v-shaped)
in the center portion of the board, you
will have a harder time since the cut is
more difficult for breaking and you must
actually break through some grain structure.
With
single boards, this difference is negligible,
but when breaking large stacks, it can add
up to make a significant difference. *Try
punching, chopping, and slapping through
five or more boards without spacers. Set
a stack of ten with spacers for the knife
hand.
WOODEN
STICKS/PLANKS- By this, I mean any sort
of wood that you are attempting to break
against the grain. In this case, grain that
runs in bands along the length of the wood
is not desirable. The opposite of board
breaking, here you want a grain that runs
wide and flat. When you look at the end
of the stick (such as a 1"x2"
plank) the grain should run horizontally
or at least diagonally. If the grain is
vertical, you are going to have a harder
time. This also applies to breaking wooden
baseball bats.
*Start
with a 1"x1.5" pine stick cut
to a length of 18". Increase the thickness
and decrease the length for a greater challenge.
I find the knifehand best suited to this
technique.
PATIO
BLOCK- After getting comfortable with
wood breaking, this is a good introduction
to brick breaking. Patio blocks are common
in brickyards, garden stores, and big chain
hardware stores. Home Depot has them almost
all the time and these are the most consistent
in strength. Though actually slightly smaller,
their dimensions are listed as 8x16x2".
They are made of cement with a small amount
of reinforcement aggregate. This refers
to the additional rock chips and pebbles
mixed into the block to further strengthen
it. These blocks most often come in gray
and red. They can be flat on both sides
or the bottom can have small gripping ridges.
The color makes no difference, thought the
additional ridges may make it very slightly
stronger. These blocks can easily support
your weight plus a couple of your friends,
so don't be disappointed if you find them
difficult to break. Patio blocks are good
for their consistency in difficulty, although
a wet or frozen block is harder to break.
They are usually left in the rain in brickyards
so let them dry out a few days after you
buy them. This applies for any sort of manufactured
block or brick. Do not attempt to dry them
in the oven, as this constitutes tampering.
One
patio block equals about five strong boards
and easily supports much more than my weight
at 190lbs (pictured above). Whereas boards
can cost $2 a piece, patio blocks are about
80 cents a piece. Try any technique you
wish, but believe it or not, the iron palm
works the best. Work up to two or three
blocks without spacers. If you can break
two or three, your doing well.
REINFORCED
PATIO BLOCK- Watch out for these newer
patio blocks. There are blocks that look
similar to standard patio blocks but are
several times stronger. They are listed
as the same product, so you must be familiar
with their appearance. Break one of these
open and you will find a lot more filler
consisting of rather large granite chips
or other material. If you drop a block on
the floor and it does not break, you probably
have one of these.
I
recommend breaking one slab at a time with
iron palm. Proceed to two if you dare.
OTHER
MATERIALS- There are several different
other kinds of breaking materials, each
with its own considerations. Ignorance of
the characteristics of materials can lead
to embarrassing failed demonstrations, discouragement
in training, and susceptibility to breaking
frauds. Other materials include ice, stones,
cinder blocks, tiles, clay bricks, coconuts,
etc. If you would like to order a more in
depth description of breaking materials
complete with illustrations
click
here.
METHODS
OF CHEATING (FRAUD)- Some iron palm
purists consider the use of spacers as cheating.
I do not. Spacers produce a different kind
of challenge requiring penetrating force
and the fact of the matter is that iron
palm slapping simply does not work well
on spacer breaks. I can chop through 10
scalloped blocks with half inch spacers
but I cannot slap through more than two.
On the other hand, I can slap through four
or five without spacers, but cannot chop
through more than two or three. You have
to understand the challenge offered by each
method.
Holding
bricks up above the support for breaking
is cheating. This creates a slamming effect
with the support block. You are no longer
breaking the brick yourself, merely smacking
it against another object. This same theory
applies to holding up two bricks with a
space between them or standing two blocks
together with a slight space so that you
can strike one, causing them to slam together
and break on impact. If you do not explain
the difference of the method to the audience,
it is fraud.
While
patio blocks are fairly stable, red bricks
and some other blocks will weaken if left
in the sun. Baking bricks has the same effect
and is completely fraudulent. Bricks can
also vary greatly in hardness due to the
manufacturing process. Bricks bought from
a yard from the same pile can vary due to
sand content as well as exposure to the
elements. Generally, lighter colored bricks
are easier to break.
|
