Why Do Martial Artists Break Boards?

I started planning our Spring Break Camp this week.  As I was working on a theme for the camp, I thought about what I could do that would be fun for the kids.  Board breaking is one of the most fun aspects of Martial Arts.  
    I remember when I first started training, I watched as the higher ranks broke boards in preparation for their upcoming belt test or at public demonstrations and was amazed at their prowess and thought, I can’t wait to do that!
    When I finally achieved the minimum rank to be allowed to break, I thought, this is going to be easy because I’ve been doing everything the right way for a long time, I’ve won many trophies and passed all of my testings. As a result, I struggled with board breaking because I underestimated the accuracy, speed and penetration needed to excel.  I failed to practice as much as I should throughout the cycle and didn’t break my boards at testing. During the next 8 weeks I broke boards on a daily basis and honed my skills to the point it became easy.  To this day, I see the results of that practice.  I am glad I put in the time and effort to make it happen.
    Martial artists break boards for several reasons, most of which are practical for self defense training. First, no one likes to be hit with the full force of an accurate, technically correct hand strike or kick, as it can cause severe injury to the participants, so boards are used instead. Your sparring partner will be thankful that you perform that technique on the board instead of them!
    Additionally, it's a great way to see the amazing power that can be generated by correct technique. There’s not much that compares to the satisfaction of hearing and feeling the board breaking under the force of your technique.  You know when you hear that sound, that you have done it correctly.
    Also, accuracy is everything in tournament competition and especially a real self defense situation. Boards are almost impossible to break with an inaccurate technique, so, it is a great way to test your skill with full speed and full power.  If it doesn’t smash, then you know you need to go back to the bag, and work on your technique a little more.
     There are many other benefits to breaking boards, but most of them do it simply because they can!  So, that will be our theme for this year’s Spring Break Camp.  We will break lots of boards and have lots fun doing it!  We will have something for all ages and levels. If you are working the week of spring break, give your kids something to do where they will improve their TaeKwonDo skills, increase their self-defense ability, build their confidence and have a blast doing it!  http://www.southaustintkd.com/spring-break-camp.html