Kindergardeners and Board Breaking

[BridgeTKD]

I teach a TKD class where we have a dozen or so 5 and 6 year-olds. For belt testing & fun we break 1" thick pine boards. I've always gone to the local lumbar store and bought 12" wide boards and cut them to size.

Some of my little ones are still very little and can not generate enough force to break even a 6" board. I don't like rebreakable boards because the kids think its real cool to take home the broken board.

My question is: Is there a easier to break wood than pine that you can get in a 12" wide board (where the grain goes the right direction). If so where can I get it (in USA).

Thanks,
Brad

[estranged13]

cut a 1 by 12 down to 4 inches instead of 6

[Tittan]

I really don't think kids that young should break anything at all. Their bones aren't grown, their knuckles are weak and they might damage themselves so they'll never be fully grown (the bones that is).

Apart from that, your method of getting boards is brilliant

[Nightstrike]

yea, I would tend to agree with tittan.

[Slindsay]

Err, should I be worried that I struggle to break a 1" thick pine board? Allow me to rephrase, I am worried that I struggle to break a 1" thich pine board and I dont know anyone in my class who doesnt!

Maybe it's a different sort of pine?

[Ikken Hisatsu]

you should be worried. I've seen kids break boards like that with little difficulty (and no I dont condone it, this is at public demos etc)

[NRees]

You're lucky I'm not a U.S resident, so I can't report you. But I find what you have posted to be appalling. At our school's demos, our instructor only breaks a 12" * 12" * 1" board, and he's a IV degree. So for you to expect 5 or 6 year olds to complete any break, let alone one of this magnittude is ridiculous.

I wonder if you are aware of the medical complications that can arise from such breaking activities ? For more information on the implications of what you are doing look at this site: http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/926048658.html . And for more results on the subject: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...h+Plates&meta=

[Capt Ann]

At our school, the smaller kids (like my son, who just turned 7 this week) break 1/2 inch thick boards (and I think that 1/2 inch thick boards are really only 3/8 inch thick, because of the loss from the saw). Boards should be dry white pine. Using a thin board gives the kids confidence, and gets them past the usual 'first-timer' misteak of stopping AT the board, instead of going THROUGH it. I've never seen a child injured breaking a board this thin (you can snap them in your hand, while holding them, if you want). As the children get older, more skilled, and more confident, they graduate to 1-inch thick board strips (starting at 4 inches wide, then moving up). Also, no one (adult or child) begins breaking techniques until they reach yellow belt.

Anyway, I'm not saying this is the *only* way for kids to break boards, or that it is the *best* way. It is *a* way, and it seems to work well at our school.

[oni_sensei]

Originally Posted by NRees

You're lucky I'm not a U.S resident, so I can't report you. But I find what you have posted to be appalling. At our school's demos, our instructor only breaks a 12" * 12" * 1" board, and he's a IV degree. So for you to expect 5 or 6 year olds to complete any break, let alone one of this magnittude is ridiculous.

I wonder if you are aware of the medical complications that can arise from such breaking activities ? For more information on the implications of what you are doing look at this site: http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/926048658.html . And for more results on the subject: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...h+Plates&meta=

I agree with what you're saying about medical complications and the expectations of someone of that age, HOWEVER, if your instructor is a fourth degree black belt, he should be breaking 4,5 or even 6 1" boards, not just one, anyone grown person from the crowd could come up and break that with a couple of minutes of guidance. A 1" board isn't exactly something of great difficulty or magnitude at all, even for children aged 5 or 6.

That said though, I don't condone destruction training for students that young for medical reasons, but breaking a half-inch board with a side or front kick does help boost their confidence.

[cybermonk]

Originally Posted by oni_sensei

I agree with what you're saying about medical complications and the expectations of someone of that age, HOWEVER, if your instructor is a fourth degree black belt, he should be breaking 4,5 or even 6 1" boards, not just one, anyone grown person from the crowd could come up and break that with a couple of minutes of guidance. A 1" board isn't exactly something of great difficulty or magnitude at all, even for children aged 5 or 6.

I dont know much about board breaking but some time ago I had a friend pick up a board outside of a tkd place, 1" more or less and break it in his head joking around. Hes never done much board breaking so if your instructor does this as a routine and he has such a high rank I think he should be able to do much more than that.

[#1 Stutta]

You could always try balsa instead of pine.

[BridgeTKD]

Nathan Rees II Degree Black Belt,
In the US, lumbar yards cut boards so many inches wide by so many inches long, by so many inches thick. I cut the boards in 6, 9, 12 inch cuts off a 10 foot board so they end up looking like
http://www.awma.com/index.cfm/action...t_id/10182.htm

The boards are actually 5 3/4 (wide) x 8 3/4 (long) x 3/4 (thick) after cuts which allows for the blade. So If you misunderstood the size of the board from my original post I appologize. I didn't mean to say the kindergardeners were attempting to break 12" thick boards.

After the boards are cut, I let them cure for a couple of months. Lumbar yards soak them in light oil and this curing makes the boards more brittle. An average adult male with average strength can break the 6" board in their hands. The 5-yrs-olds (including my son) easily broke the boards (without injury) last test with hammerfist.

I am fully aware of the medical implications that you speak and have a much much deeper understanding of growthplates than that webpage. With proper training the force that needs to be generated to break the board is far less than you think. Breaking is all about speed and technique, not smashing your bodypart thru the board. I don't mean to sound like I'm flaming anyone, but suggesting I should be "reported" for child abuse, I take serious issue with. Really, have you ever seen 5 & 6 year olds play. Take a bicycle and jump off a curb and do a face plant into the sidewalk. After a few tears-hugs and a cookie, they are doing it again or something else equally smart. The breaking Im talking about is under supervision and with proper instruction.

My question to the group is if anyone knew of a easier to break type of wood besides pine. Stronger than balsa, lol #1 Stutta. We actually tried balsa, it bends to easy and actually is a pain to "break", I couldn't find a good size for breaking also. I also couldnt find 1/2 thick boards either.

p.s. the kids are green-belts (>yellow), and we only break for tests. Its for confidence and fun

[NRees]

BridgeTKD:
I did misunderstand the size of the board, but I took it to be an actual 1 inch thick board like we use, not one cut down to size. If the boards are only 6" wide then it's understandable that it's possible for the children to break them, but I still don't like the idea of children breaking. At our club, and generally in our organisation breaking begins at 13+.

With regards to the comments of my instructor breaking 1 board. This is at demo's and everyone who does a break uses 1 * 1" board. Only because it's very difficult to hold more than one board properly, and we don't use our breaking stand on demos. We do however practice using re-breakable boards in class. Check out http://www.taekwondo-uk.co.uk/gallery.php?cat=clubvids to see some breaking videos (The 2nd video on that page is me ).

Hope that clears some stuff up.

[NRees]

Originally Posted by BridgeTKD

I don't mean to sound like I'm flaming anyone, but suggesting I should be "reported" for child abuse, I take serious issue with....

My appologies, that statement was in regards to 5/6 year olds breaking a 1inch thick board thats 12"(height) by 12"(width), not the smaller and much thinner boards that you mentioned in your latter post.

[estranged13]

i'll say it again when i was 5 i was breaking 1 by 12's cut to 4 " length its as easy as cutting paper