I have done martial arts since the 70's, and none of my schools ever got into "breaking" we just started it at the school I have as part of our program, including training for competition in it. So I have been doing boards for the last few months and decided to do my first concrete paver, went to Home Depo and bought a stack,

It was a blast, made a big mess to clean up, never knew what I was missing.

So anyone have a good story about breaking boards or bricks, or any advice or things to watch for. ** we do not use spacers at the school, but yes I know about them

Just remember protection is the key. Concrete can cut a lot easier then wood.

I was told ** yes that mysterious other person** that 5 of the standard 12 X 12 one inch pine boards is about equal to 2 pavers, any opinion on that.

Also again that mysterious other person told me today that since the bricks I used were outside at home depo and it was raining today they would be harder to break than ones that had been inside the school for a few days to dry out some ?

Actuallyt that's true. When you wet concrete it can get stronger because the water acts as a binder. That's why when you wash a driveway you see it soak in at first. Always use dry blocks.

The same applies to cloth. Wet cloth is a lot stronger then dry cloth.

Some schools set the concrete on fire first, but that is not a beginner at breaking type maneuver.

As a aside fr chuck:
I added a photo, but deleted the head shot part of it,
If you want to see what one of the many different styles,
A particular martial arts uniforms I wear,
Because the person who gave me rank asked me to do so.

Breaking is about focus. Focus is about concentration.
Concentration is about being contentment, and content.
If you are at peace, and confident, you can do well, much easier.
So think about what you must do, but do not forget what you must not do.
Do not get hurt. Do not hit things so hard you can break yourself.

I do not do competitions, or tournaments, at my rank, I have to fight
To keep my rank, and as such I fight enough. And with haters in the
World enough people are jealous of my success and rank.

Be well. eawoodall

Yes like the uniform, I really never used any for the last 20 years till this year. Went from traditional martial arts to work for the government, so really adapted the forms to one we used in the Justice Dept for a while ( I worked out with another instructor from them last week and they have of course changed that style completely now)
All of the fights after the MMA days were real life, people with clubs, knives and the such.

So after many years out of the traditional, I went back to some standard competition to see if I still had it, I will not be doing much more after this summer, I have a couple Nationals I have ( or need to do) since I qualified for them, and will most likely do Battle of Atlanta, it is ( or was anyway) one of the major events.

But in the middle of writing up everything I had designed or finding all my old notebooks and manuals and will latter this year hopefully putting my own style on paper.

I work and develop styles for people with disabilities, I have one gentleman with one leg ( artificial leg) that is doing a lot of breaking and sparring ( fighting) So far he is doing great.
He came from being an inner city gang member to turning his life around.

Martial Arts Champion Fights the Good Fight - South Cobb, GA Patch (http://southcobb.patch.com/articles/martial-arts-champion-fights-the-good-fight)