Taekwondo 태권도Taekwondo Preschool

When you reach senior belt you are expected to guide the junior belts when they are beginning Taekwondo such as showing by example. To advance from one rank to the next, students typically complete promotion tests in which they demonstrate their proficiency in the various aspects of the art before a panel of judges or their teacher. View Taekwondo belt levels »

Classifications of Breaks

Breaking ( 격파 gyeokpa ) is the discipline of destroying inanimate materials such as wooden boards, bats, ice or bricks is a feature common to several Asian martial arts including taekwondo. In breaking competitions, the idea is to demonstrate power, speed and technique. The preferred object is commonly wooden boards of varying thicknesses, advanced students break several boards stacked one on top of the other.

There are generally 3 classifications of breaks: speed breaks, power breaks, and soft breaks. There is a 4th, lesser-known, classification known as the impulse break.

Training Safety Precautions

There are safety concerns with taekwondo breaking ( 격파 gyeokpa ), so one should seek out a certified Master Instructor ( 사범님 sabeomnim ). There are many small bones of the foot ( 발 bal ) and hand ( 손 son ) which need to be very carefully and slowly conditioned for safety. Repeated damage to the extensor capsules of the knuckles can lead to long term problems with dexterity.

* Please see a certified Master Instructor ( 사범님 sabeomnim ) for training. Proper guidance and instructions are needed to ensure safe training.

Speed Break

Speed breaks are breaks where the striking object is not held in place. The only way to break the object is to strike the surface with sufficient speed at a focused point of impact. Sometimes a board to be broken is held lightly between two fingers by a person; an advanced black belt ( 단 dan ) test may involve an attempt to break a board as it falls through the air. Regardless of the strength of the taekwondo practitioner, the board will only break if it is struck with sufficient velocity.

Examples of Speed Break

Another type of "Speed Break" is that which involves breaking a number of objects over a given amount of time. A common time span is 1 minute, but this can vary depending on the material and venue. In competition it is very common for a speed breaking category to limit the time to 8–10 seconds, enabling more taekwondo competitors to participate. Records and specifics are kept track of by leading martial arts breaking organizations such as the USBA/WBA (United States and World Breaking Associations).

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Power Break

Power breaks are breaks where the striking object is supported. Either the break will employ human holders for horizontal, angular, or upward vertical strikes, or the break will require that the objects be stacked for downward vertical strikes. For a stacked break the object is placed on sturdy supporting objects, such as concrete blocks, that are placed on the ground.

Many color belt ( 급 geup ) ranking (before black belt) promotion tests have power breaks - it is substantially easier for an inexperienced person to muster sufficient energy to break a wooden board with a power break. The vast majority of these employ human board holders. Often a stronger or more powerful striker may substitute some strength for technique and successfully accomplish the break. Most records that are catalogued are for power breaks. It is very common for black belt ( 단 dan ) promotion tests to use concrete bricks, ice blocks, or several boards stacked on top of supporting objects for challenging downward strikes.

Examples of Power Break

Jumping Back Thrust Kick ( 뛰어 뒤차기 ttwieo-dwi-chagi )

Taped boards are sometimes used to lessen the amount of human influence from the holders for a break. It is very difficult to hold a stack of boards more than 4 inches steadily enough for the challenging break. Therefore, some taekwondo strikers will tape a stack of boards together to make a "brick" for their holders to hold. Usually however, breaks at promotion tests and events are done without taped boards.

Both the speed and power breaks deliver the energy required to overcome the tensor and flexion forces of the board through mass displacement, where the kinetic energy is given by 1/2 m*v2. That is, either the speed of the striking implement (hand/foot/etc) has to be high enough, or the striker must be strong enough to increase effective mass brought into the break (i.e. his or her body weight) to exceed the brick/board's threshold. For single boards, it is generally easy (as in the casual person has a sufficient reserve of mass) to reach this threshold through a power break.

Soft Break

The third method, soft breaks, also known as "ki" breaks involve the use of palm heel ( 바탕손 batangson ) strikes only. The material is usually supported, horizontally, on two ends. The breaker raises their hand ( 손 son ) and lets the palm strike fall, by the use of gravity alone and no muscle power, onto the material. The material is broken by energy transfer all the way through, in a direct line from the palm to the material. It is also through a wider area of impact and usually causes more damage than other strikes.

Examples of Soft Break

Palm Heel Forward Strike ( 바탕손 앞치기 batangson-ap-chigi )

This break is akin to striking a person with a slap. A palm heel ( 바탕손 batangson ) strike can cause much more internal damage while a punch, or similar strike, causes more external damage. Also, a soft strike may leave a red mark while most impact strikes leave more. Any person of any age, such as elderly people up to 80 and 90 years of age, can do this break and never seriously injure themselves. The most serious injury may be a palm ( 손바닥 sonbadak ) that tingles if the break is not successful. Breaks of more than one piece of material, done with no spacers, with this method are also attainable by people of any age or gender.

Impulse Break

Though fundamentally different, the 4th kind of break — the impulse break — is often confused with a speed break, because the striking implement can (but need not) reach a high speed. But that is where the similarity ends. The energy transmission from an impulse break derives not from mass displacement, but from wave transmission (as an ocean wave hits a beach). The mass of the hand/foot/etc does not travel much further than necessary to deliver the wave—this results in an extremely brief contact with the brick or board face (as opposed to going "through it"), and the wave itself causes the striking surface to flex and buckle. The less flexible the striking surface, the more likely to break.

* Please see a certified Master Instructor ( 사범님 sabeomnim ) for training. Proper guidance and instructions are needed to ensure safe training.

Breaking ( 격파 gyeokpa )

Promotion Tests Requirement

Students often undergo periodic testing and grading by their own Master Instructor ( 사범님 sabeomnim ) in order to advance to a higher level of recognized achievement such as a different belt color. They need to demonstrate their proficiency in the various aspects of the art such as the execution of patterns ( 품새 poomse ), which combine various techniques in specific sequences. Starting with coloured belts taekwondo students must learn breaking ( 격파 gyeokpa ). As they progress through the ranks, the breaks they perform increase in difficulty as do the number of boards. For more information on Promotion Tests »

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Use in Demonstrations

To promote taekwondo for its emphasis on high kicking and fast hand techniques, taekwondo schools perform at tournaments, community events, shopping malls, parks, and tv shows. Demonstrations vary from school to school, but may include such elements as the execution of poomse ( 품새 poomse ), which combine various techniques in specific sequences; the breaking of boards to demonstrate the ability to use techniques with both power and control; sparring ( 겨루기 gyeorugi ) and self-defense ( 호신술 hosinsool ) to demonstrate the practical application and control of techniques; physical fitness usually with push-ups and sit-ups. For more information on Demonstrations »

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Did you know?

Impact Surface Area

Various surfaces of the body may be engaged as the blocking and striking surface depending on which area of the body is being targeted. This leads to a large array of blocking and striking positions. More information on Impact Surface Areas »

Surface	Korean	Description	Tutorial
Fist ( 주먹 jumeok ) - is an action where a hand has the fingers curled into the palm and the thumb retracted, displaying the knuckles.	주먹 jumeok	A fist ( 주먹 jumeok ) is an action where a hand has the fingers curled into the palm and the thumb retracted, displaying the knuckles. The act of creating a fist is known as 'making a fist' or 'clenching a fist'.	Tutorial »
Hammer Fist ( 메주먹 mejumeok ) - is an action where a hand has the fingers curled into the palm and the thumb retracted, using the bottom of the hand as the striking surface.	메주먹 mejumeok	A Hammer Fist is an action where a hand has the fingers curled into the palm and the thumb retracted, using the bottom of the hand as the striking surface. The act of creating a fist ( 주먹 jumeok ) is known as 'making a fist' or 'clenching a fist'.	Tutorial »
Hand Blade ( 손날 sonnal ) - striking surface extends with the muscle at the side of the hand located between the base of the small finger and the wrist.	손날 sonnal	By tucking the thumb into the palm, a striking surface called the knife hand or hand blade ( 손날 sonnal ) is formed. The striking surface extends with the muscle at the side of the hand located between the base of the small finger and the wrist.	Tutorial »
Ridgehand ( 손날등 sonnal-deung ) - reverse knife-hand is formed, extending a few inches along the inside of the hand below the first knuckle of the index finger.	손날등 sonnal-deung	By tucking the thumb into the palm, a striking surface called the ridgehand ( 손날등 sonnal-deung ), or reverse knife-hand is formed, extending a few inches along the inside of the hand below the first knuckle of the index finger.	Tutorial »

RESOURCES
This article uses material from the Wikipedia articles "Hand", "Fist (hand)", "Knife Hand", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Quiz

Question. What is the name of Taegeuk #8 in Korean?

Taegeuk 태극 (in World Taekwondo (WT)) refers to a set of poomse 품새 used to create a foundation for the teaching of taekwondo. A poomse or form is a detailed pattern of defense-and-attack motions and techniques used in traditional martial arts. Each taegeuk form symbolizes a specific state thought to be indicative of the belt the student currently holds, and is represented in World Taekwondo (WT) by trigrams similar to those found in the four corners of the South Korean flag.

Question. What is the korean terminology for Back Stance?

Back stance is specifically focused on shifting weight to the back leg, as it offers much more control, and makes it easier to kick off the front leg. To perform this stance, the body faces to the side, with the front foot facing forward and the front leg bent. The back leg is bent slightly and the foot is turned outwards perpendicular to the front foot making the letter "L" for this stance.

Question. What is the korean terminology for Self-Defense?

Self-Defense is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. Self-defense techniques and recommended behavior under the threat of violence is systematically taught in self-defense classes. It forms one of the main principles of the taekwondo art.

Question. What is the name of Taegeuk #7 in Korean?

Breaking ( 격파 gyeokpa ) is the discipline of destroying inanimate objects such as wooden boards, bats, ice or cement bricks. The preferred object is commonly wooden boards of varying thicknesses, advanced students break several boards stacked one on top of the other. View Breaking ( 격파 gyeokpa ) »