TaeKwon-Do: Break A Board With The Front Elbow
VideoJug's European champion Taekwondo Black Belt Dans Carlos Martín and Maxi Montiel demonstrate complete mastery of their art by taking you on a course of board breaking basics using your front elbow.
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Step 1:
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Preparation
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The Front Elbow is one of the most foolproof tools for executing a break, as it has a lot of support from the muscles of the forearm. It is an immensely powerful strike.
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But before trying it out, you must physically prepare yourself to avoid any kind of injury.
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The first thing to do is make sure you position your arm correctly. Make a horizontal fist and keep your arm parallel to the floor. You should be making contact with the muscle and bone immediately below the elbow bone.
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To train the elbow, use a bag or focus pads as this will improve your power. This will also get you warmed up.
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Step 2:
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Practice
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Before attempting an actual break, take some time to practice your focus. It cannot be overstressed how important this is to the final break.
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Using plastic training boards is almost like the real thing but you can break them as many times as you like, and put back together again!
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Just make sure that, when breaking a board, the person or people who hold the board have a firm grip and don't move an inch! It is their arms that need to absorb the strike's impact.
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Step 3:
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The break
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Carlos is going to demonstrate the power of this particular break by breaking not one, but two boards.
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Start by asking a fellow master or student to hold the boards.
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Set the board to the appropriate height. Just under the solar plexus is best. This is where the power and energy comes from.
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Start from the basic ready position - this is balanced with your feet firmly on the ground and 70 per cent of your weight on your back supporting leg and with your arms and hands up in the guard position.
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And now you need to activate complete and total concentration.
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But before you try and break the board, just take a little time to measure the exact distance you need. Get it wrong, and the board stays in one piece.
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Return to the ready position one final time and focus on your small target area. This should be just a few centimetres squared.
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Now combine your focus, concentration and speed to break the board.
