Along the way of our Kung Fu training a common question always seems to come up, "What's the point of this?" or "Why is this even part our curriculum?. A lot of times we fail to recognize the value of something or it's purpose especially when it seems like a never ending fail or we can't "see the forest through the trees", so to speak. If we can't see the mechanism or inner workings of something that seems so basic, and we don't see and feel instant results, it suddenly becomes stupid, pointless, and maybe even antiquated. If we adopt this mindset, we miss the intricacy and miss the opportunity to apply a hidden tool to it's fullest potential.
Have you ever wondered what's the point of board breaking? Why do we start breaking boards at white belt? How does breaking a board serve my Kung Fu, my instructors, and personal progress and understanding of Kung Fu? Why is a sequential break a requirement in order to become a Black Belt? Why does it have to be a public requirement? There is much more to it than just punching or kicking a board in half and I wanted to share a few points and cover a few of these questions from my own perspective.
What's the point? and why do we start at white belt? Board breaking provides a window for instructors to observe students on an individual basis to measure progress and understanding of sound technique with definition and just how they are applying it. Basically this gives an instructor the ability to troubleshoot all aspects of a students Kung Fu and help them pin point troubled areas which in turn will give them something to work on and grow with a better understanding of Kung Fu. Once they are promoted to the next belt level and they are asked to break a board, again this provides a window to a students progress and see just where they are at and are they learning. Yes, a high level instructor can see that much as they observe a student punch or kick a board because you are actually applying your Kung Fu to something. At a white Belt level a student is also beginning to learn and slowly apply the cornerstone of all Kung Fu, the six harmonies.
Once a student reaches the level of Sihing and is preparing to grade to become a Black Belt, a public sequential board break is required. The sequential board breaking requirement can summarize a number of important key factors to a students skill set and provide much information for the instructors. Not to mention this provides an opportunity to show personal creativity and discovery in relation to the student themselves. Things such as grounded stances, flow with definition and sound technique, accuracy while in motion, target distancing, progress to the understanding and application of the six harmonies and mental fortitude while under duress. By this I mean publicly or if attacked making this an excellent mental focus exercise as well. I don't think there is any better way to test this or for your instructors to see if you can keep your cool and still apply Kung Fu to the level of a black belt than a public board break. This as opposed to being thrown in the middle of 4 people that want to beat the crap out of you and see how you do.
So as you can see there is a great tool that is given to us to work on many aspects of our Kung Fu. I have learned much over the years breaking boards and of course not breaking them but to me this is a very valuable tool that should not be overlooked. In fact one of the very few rare moments I have felt the void was during a public board break. The last thing I remembered was my foot going through the first board and the only thing that brought me out of it was when I kicked the holders hand on the fourth board, cool stuff. I've also have been using boards this past summer to improve my technique and to try to get a better understanding of the six harmonies. I have been trying to break boards by having them simply dangle from a small clamp. I have had way more fails than success, but when I did, I never felt a thing and the board shattered. When I failed the board flew across the garage and my hand hurt. The good news is I could tell what was wrong and they usually always went straight. Once I get the hand techniques down, I'll move to kicks.
Boards can really mess with your head and make things swollen, but what they can give back is pretty amazing. See you at the Kwoon
