In Taekwondo, you will have to break wooden boards in order to show your power and accuracy. For each belt test, you will have to break one or more boards with the kicking and/or punching techniques that you are being tested on.
Here are some tips & information to help you with your next Taekwondo breaking test.
Tips for Taekwondo Breaking Success
- In order to break your board, you need to kick/punch THROUGH the board. Don’t stop/slow down when you hit the board (or it will hurt more and you will not break the board). Aim for a spot that is PAST the board.
- You can use rebreakable plastic boards if you want to practice Taekwondo breaking at home.
- Work on your accuracy as you can injure your hand/foot (and the hand of the person holding the board) if you miss the center of the board. Most of the time, you don’t need overwhelming power if you hit the board correctly.
- Consider wearing Taekwondo shoes if your feet are getting injured during breaking. Shoes mean less spinning ability but more protection.
- If you are a parent holding the board for a very young Taekwondo student (i.e. 4 or 5 years old) who needs a little help, you can “cheat”. If you bend the board inwards slightly, it is a little easier to break. Just don’t bend it outwards or your little Taekwondo animal will have a much harder time. 🙂
- In my Taekwondo school, we have to break a large number of boards (and concrete for the adults) with a variety of kicks and punches for our black belt test.
- Kids have to break 1/2 inch wood boards. Children going for their black belt test and adults have to break 1 inch boards. The adults often use two or more boards for each Taekwondo break (as they want to show off their power).
- For younger students, everyone does the same Taekwondo breaking routine during their black belt test. At our Taekwondo school, it involves about 16 different kicks and punches (i.e. spinning hook kicks and flying side kicks).
- In contrast (at our school), the adults have to do “creative” breaking for the black belt test. They make up their own breaking routine in order to demonstrate their skills.
- Don’t worry about missing or not being able to break the board. During a test, most Masters will give you several chances. Just calm down & focus on doing the kick/punch correctly. You will do great!
- If you are looking for some creative Taekwondo breaking ideas for your black belt test, here are some videos with exciting breaking routines. Wish that I could do some of these moves 🙂
Videos on Taekwondo Breaking Demonstrations