My friend Brian just sent this video to his martial-arts class, with the comment, “This is why we don’t break bricks.”
(It’s nice to have friends. Without them, how would we ever find Internet video clips?)
2 thoughts on “Slow-Motion Brick Breaking”
Comments are closed.
Another interesting point is that martial artists frequently describe their technique as depending on striking through the object. The video shows pretty clearly that the break happens before the hand recovers from the shock, indicating that the technique, however it’s described, works because of the force applied at the moment of impact.
On the other hand, I’ve seen video of breaking stacks (wood or ice blocs IIRC) with gaps between the members. That might be a different story.
jackd: the “striking through” is a mental aid. Basically, your brain knows that the brick is harder than your hand, and so if you’re thinking about hitting it, you’ll flinch. If you’re thinking about hitting behind it, you’ll compensate for the flinching.