TaeKwon-Do: Break A Board With The Front Kick
Be like our expert the TaeKwondo Black Belt Dans and perfect The Front Kick. Master the art with VideoJug's help!
Step 1: Preparation
Before executing any break, it's important to physically prepare yourself to avoid any kind of injury.
With the front kick break, the weapon of attack is the metatarsals, so pull your toes tightly back and strike the target with the ball of your foot.
Get into the habit of using a heavy bag during training. Over time this will strengthen your kicking muscles.
You can also harden the ball of your foot by repeatedly striking a hard board. 100 times each session should do it.
Step 2: Practice
Before attempting an actual break, take some time to practice your focus. It cannot be overstressed how important this is to the final break.
Using plastic training boards is almost like the real thing, but you can break them as many times as you like, and put them back together again!
Just as for the real break, the board should be held tightly at a slight angle - tilted towards the breaker - around waist height, or it might not break at all.
Make sure that the person holding the board stands in a low stance. This is for balance and allows the board-holder to absorb some of the impact - vital for a clean break.
Step 3: The break
Ask a fellow master or student to hold the board and set it to the appropriate height.
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.
Now you need to activate complete and total concentration.
Just take a little time to measure the exact distance you need. Get it wrong, and the board stays in one piece.
Return to the ready position one final time and focus on your small target area. This should be just a few centimetres squared.
Now combine your focus, concentration and speed to break the board.
