I’ve studied and practiced martial arts formally for 7 years. I’ve also participated in several exhibitions and done demonstrations which including blindfolded board breaking, form demonstrations, and weapon exhibition. I’ve also appeared in a low budget independent film created by graduates of UCSD. I’ve also learned a few good ins and outs when it come to martial arts training.
Starter Equipment
Basic training could be summed up by a few items - martial arts uniform, martial arts shoes (helps with balance and is good for hygiene), a punching bag, and sparring gear.
For sparring gear, one should always wear a chest protector, headgear, a mouthpiece, and a cup (groin protector). Many schools also use shin guards and arm guards, which are padded to prevent further injury as well as to soften blows done from the fists or from the feet. Well most sparring matches are kept clean and supervised, a lot of the time these occasionally “slips” happen, and the last thing you want is a bloody jaw or an injured groin.
Many weapons are used in martial arts, they vary from different styles and can be used for demonstration purposes, and sparring purposes as well.
Board breaking is also a popular method used in martial arts training.
Board Breaking
Board Breaking is a martial arts skill, usually used in demonstrations, testing, training, etc. The striking surface is usually a hand or a foot, but may also be a fingertip, toe, head, elbow, knuckle, or knee. The most common object is a piece of wood. However, it is also common to break bricks or cinder blocks. It is less common to break other objects which include items like blocks of ice. Not all styles of martial arts place equal emphasis on breaking.
Many styles where striking and kicking is less important deemphasize it. Grappling, throwing, weaponry and ground fighting styles, of course, place less emphasis on breaking. Traditional Japanese martial art schools place little, if any, emphasis on board-breaking, although the art of breaking objects was known as tameshiwari.
Competition can be based on artistic impression, number of items broken in a given amount of time, number of items broken with a single strike, or time to break a number of items. There are several certified breaking categories in various journals of world records such as the Guinness Book.
In a demonstration, a martial artist exhibits his or her skill by executing an impromptu or choreographed sequence of breaks for an audience. Martial arts schools sometimes demonstrate challenging breaks in order to gain publicity and inspire enrollment or attendance.
During promotion testing, many styles of martial arts require that students demonstrate their skills by executing breaks; the difficulty of a required break depends on the rank for which the student is testing. Failure to execute a required break is often sufficient grounds for failure of a promotion test.
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