Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Board Break Pictures

Board breaking seems to be an important part of Tae Kwon Do. Besides being really dramatic, it takes focus, correct technique, and self-confidence to break a 1x12 (or for the kids, a 1x8) pine board.

Breaking is last at the promotion tests here. Everyone goes to the back of the dojang, and we're called up in groups to break. Each belt breaks in a particular way--as a white belt, I broke with a step side kick. It may take a person several tries to get the board broken, and the rest of the crowd cheers you on. Applause erupts when someone breaks.

We didn't get any photos of board breaking from the exam, but here are a few from an earlier class.


Robbie has just broken a board with a reverse kick in this picture.


I didn't actually get Eli breaking, but here he is holding his board. As you can see, he was thrilled.


Even skinny moms can break boards!

We talked our teacher, Mr. Houtz, into showing us a black belt break that day. He did this front snap kick speed break, which was awesome. As you can see, the board is only held at the bottom, so the kick has to be very fast and powerful. The broken top of the board spiraled back after he kicked it, and he caught it in his right hand! "I've never done that before," he told us.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That black belt break looks really impressive!
Ewa