Heath Doolin - Is that the same Master Pan who was in the movie “Iron and Silk?”
I remember those callouses. Great Movie. Highly recommended.
And I agree…a wonderful demonstration of his power and speed.
Johnny…this is a variation of the “Iron” masteries. Literally, its “Iron Stomach”. Training of this is hard to watch as you see these guys hit them with full force bamboo poles over and over to toughen up the abdoms. I saw a tape show first week students training in Iron stomach come out with their bellies abosolutely black with bruises. However training of them over time makes them like iron. And it is possible to have someone hit them with a trident while they clench and it would bounce off. Hell, in the same tape as that trident demo there is another along the tape showing a young monk take the weight end of a freaking log that must be 75 pounds swung into him with a good amount of force and him take it with only one step.
Like I said, its a balance of “Iron” masteries and their own KE energy. Its why I think Shaolin fighting skill is some of the most brutal in training, but one of the most rewarding to those that can accomplish it.
Thanks for the response, bro. When breaking, or training to break, are you exercising in a manner that you consider directly applicable to practical combat? Or are you developing attributes that will apply to your combat?
I understand the benefit of drilling to improve all of the “skills” you identify. But my eye is always towards making those drills most directly applicable to actual self defense situations/needs. Does tameshiwari require special training? Let’s assume (hypothetically, of course) that I am able to throw a jab/straight punch with pretty good technique, power, speed, focus, calm, and balance. And I am comfortable striking various targets with my fist, open hand, or fingers from various angles. Would I need to train in some specific manner to translate my striking ability to breaking?
I certainly appreciate the benefit of an overwhelming single direct attack, but also appreciate that it is harder to pull off against an uncooperative opponent than a stationary object. So, given limited time and energy to train, I try to focus my efforts on exercises that have the most directly practical figthing applications.
Of course, I do not wish to downplay the importance of fun in training. I consider the likelihood that someone will attack me with two medium-length weapons, and I will defend myself with the same, rather remote. But I still like playing with sticks!
Personally, I view training like a circular chain. When I train breaking I am training kata, fighting, general fitness, and spirit, because each of the skills I mentioned are directly involved in the improvement of each of these areas. And so vice versa for each.
Breaking is a methodology for me to exercise full power which, yes, in my opinion is directly related to delivering a full power strike in fighting. But this is because personally I train and teach self protection, which of course includes hand to hand fighting. So when I break it is fighting I have on my mind. Similarly when I do kata, it may be a prearranged set of motions but I try to deliver eachas I would a real blow.
What you train is important, nobody is ever going to become an expert fighter with doing some fighter, but how you train is far more important (visualization, strong spirit, dedication to the goal, etc).
Dinsdale… I don’t know if it would apply, but some friends and I were fooling around, hitting each other in the arm and what not, and I head butted one of them in the sternum… knocked the wind out of him, left an impressive bruise on his sternum, and basically he stopped playing. My brother thought it was pretty cool, and asked me to head butt him in the head… well, I thought about it, did a Ki Jo Chaki and THUNK…
He didn’t quite loose consciousness, but he did get unresponsive for a minute. I had a little red spot on my forehead right at the hairline.
I’ve always wondered if I nailed somebody in the face just how much damage it would do.
I have trained in Chito-Ryu karate and other forms for over twenty years, the techniques used to break boards / concrete serve an important function, especially to novice students. I have had relatively new students break a number of boards on their first attempt and it serves to build confidence and give one a sense of achievment.
When doing demonstrations we always did quite a bit of breaking, it is an impressive sight to see a person punch through a significant number of boards or brick and is a demonstration that the person doing the breaking has acquired a number of skills such as proper striking technique, speed, focus, and confidence.
We once did a demonstration where I took turns breaking boards with another student. I was five foot nine (and still am) and all of 130 pounds while my partner was six one and 230 pounds. We both held green belts at the time. We took turns breaking stacks of 1 inch boards and on each turn the number of boards was increased. We started at 6 and kept working our way up, my partner failed in his attempt to break 18 while I continued to go on to break a stack of 23 boards. On 24 I broke 23 and only fractured #24.
The point we were trying to make here was that size had very little to do with ability.
Something I always considered more impressive was the ability to extinguish a candle with a reverse punch, one does not touch the flame but brings the punch within 1/2 an inch of the flame. the punch must be delivered with great speed and precision to put out the candle.
Martial arts really are 90% mental and 10% physical.
Most of the questions have been answered, but I thought I’s throw in my $.02.
I never use spacers when breaking concrete or wood. Once you get more than 4-5 stacked, I find wood much more difficult than concrete. I find unsupported breaks with wood easy (I used to just drop them or have an assistant toss them in the air) but you have to be very careful to keep the fragments directed away from the audience. I have done unsuported concrete (single block) once with a palm heel. I never tried unsupported concrete, but now I’m curious.
As to why? Well, Glitch covered it pretty well. Let me add just one thing: confidence. For any technique to be effective, the artist must have full confidence. If you worry about hurting your hand or breaking a finger, you will pull your punch. Actually, most people pull their punches without realizing it for that very reason. Breaking trains you to let the full power of your technique loose, without fearing that you will hurt your hand/foot/head/etc.
Oh, and might I add: 23 1" boards? As a green belt? Impressive. What did you use for spacers? Most that I have seen were about a half inch thick, which means you were striking through almost 3 feet of board+space. What technique were you using?
Oh, and on a side note. I loved Iron and Silk and have a great deal of respect for the accomplishments and skill of Master Pan Qing Fu. Nevertheless, I take some of the claims which have grown up around him with a grain of salt. Those are some mean looking callouses, though.
That should read: I never tried unsupported concrete standing on a table.
Ugh. I should also add that I got scored pretty well by fragments on the one unsupported concrete break I did, and I used a roofing tile that was a bit thinner than a standard block. It was still a kick.
sigh Now I’m getting nostalgic for the days when I actualy trained seriously.
Tristan, we train headbutts all the time. Some buddies of mine in Indiana has t-shirts made up that say “Happy Headbutts!”
A very simple drill is if you are closing on someone, put a thumb in each of his eyes, slide your fingers around to the back of his head, then bring your hairline to the bridge of his nose. From there, is is smooth to slip into elbows, knees, or any number of takedowns.
Other targets are the cheek, the temple, or the jaw from below.
Of course these techs should only be simulated on your training partner.
Since I only saw it mentioned in passing by Glitch, I will add that some ( many perhaps ) of these county fair and local park-level exhibitions are performed with bricks that have been “cooked” in an oven. This significanty increases the fragility of the material and makes them far easier to break. Of course this IS considered cheating 
.
- Tamerlane
Why break at all? Because I had to, to pass my belt tests. I found that working on my strikes with a partner holding a pad was much more efficient than doing breaks, for focus and balance. But, to each their own. I’m the only one in the family who hasn’t made first Dan yet. With a broken vertibrae now, it’s likely I never shall.
Both kids, and wife, are musicians. They do NOT spar. This is a part of our life, not the driving force. They do not ever risk a broken finger or hand, their musical world has to co-exist with their MA world. They love the MA, and excel at it.
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