Single Finger Martial Arts Breaking Techniques Reveal The Highest Ability
The most difficult of the Martial Arts Breaking Techniques, many hard core martial artists believe, is the single finger break. This is a break wherein you use only the outstretched, first digit to break...whatever you can break. Obviously, this requires patient and dedicated training, and there is a lot of risk to it.
The history of this strike is most interesting. There used to be over fifty martial artists on Taiwan, all capable of breaking at least a single inch of pine board with a straight finger, and I have heard that, because of a scarcity of material, these artists used to break bricks with their single digit. The reason there were so many on Taiwan is because the communist Chinese killed martial artists during their great Cultural Revolution, and so may fled to the island republic.
Interestingly, there weren't enough students of the caliber needed to perpetuate this ability on that small island, and the technique is rarely heard of. You need a large population to find the few who are capable. Still, the ability to thrust a finger through a board signifies the highest ability.
I first heard of the single finger break when I began Karate at the Kang Duk Won. The lower belts would jab their fingers into sand for a bit of time, and, finally, around the time of Brown Belt,they would break a board with a spear hand. By the time of black belt and they would start doing push ups on fewer fingers until they could do the technique with two digits.
One day one of the higher belts, name of Ted, decided to break two boards with a spear hand. He set up the break, focused his energy, and, broke his fingers. Being rather typical of the students at the Kang Duk Won, he finished the break, with a bit of energetic anger, with his other hand.
My instructor, however, was the best when it came to this technique. One day one of the fellows held out a piece of plywood, it was only an eighth of an inch thick, but the deal is...plywood is crisscrossed. There is no grain in plywood, and you don't want to break it unless you want to break your fingers.
It was all a joke, until Bob (my instructor) sunk weight, twisted hips, and his finger snapped forward. The student holding the board didn't feel anything, was not pushed away, but when he looked at the board he found that Bob had made a hole in it. Just a hole, like a bullet might make, and a feeling of incredible power leaving the room.
So, there are a lot of breaking techniques, but this is one of the most significant. If you can break a board with a single finger, or leave a hole in it, you are the top. But I always advise people to spend a lot of time and training before attempting this ultimate martial arts breaking technique of breaking a board with a single finger.
The history of this strike is most interesting. There used to be over fifty martial artists on Taiwan, all capable of breaking at least a single inch of pine board with a straight finger, and I have heard that, because of a scarcity of material, these artists used to break bricks with their single digit. The reason there were so many on Taiwan is because the communist Chinese killed martial artists during their great Cultural Revolution, and so may fled to the island republic.
Interestingly, there weren't enough students of the caliber needed to perpetuate this ability on that small island, and the technique is rarely heard of. You need a large population to find the few who are capable. Still, the ability to thrust a finger through a board signifies the highest ability.
I first heard of the single finger break when I began Karate at the Kang Duk Won. The lower belts would jab their fingers into sand for a bit of time, and, finally, around the time of Brown Belt,they would break a board with a spear hand. By the time of black belt and they would start doing push ups on fewer fingers until they could do the technique with two digits.
One day one of the higher belts, name of Ted, decided to break two boards with a spear hand. He set up the break, focused his energy, and, broke his fingers. Being rather typical of the students at the Kang Duk Won, he finished the break, with a bit of energetic anger, with his other hand.
My instructor, however, was the best when it came to this technique. One day one of the fellows held out a piece of plywood, it was only an eighth of an inch thick, but the deal is...plywood is crisscrossed. There is no grain in plywood, and you don't want to break it unless you want to break your fingers.
It was all a joke, until Bob (my instructor) sunk weight, twisted hips, and his finger snapped forward. The student holding the board didn't feel anything, was not pushed away, but when he looked at the board he found that Bob had made a hole in it. Just a hole, like a bullet might make, and a feeling of incredible power leaving the room.
So, there are a lot of breaking techniques, but this is one of the most significant. If you can break a board with a single finger, or leave a hole in it, you are the top. But I always advise people to spend a lot of time and training before attempting this ultimate martial arts breaking technique of breaking a board with a single finger.