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Comment by gnicholas | Hacker News Reader

Anyone have any suggestions for youtube videos on breaking concrete? My kid has an upcoming TKD black belt test and the master said she can do the concrete if she wants, but doesn't have to (she's 10 and very small for her age). I've watched a few youtube videos about this, but all of the demonstrators are grown men, and the seem to jump and use their body weight as they're coming down.

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Suggestion - what about just not doing it? Like the article says - it's all physics. No matter fast and precise she is, a small 10 year old girl will have a harder time generating sufficient power to get the break without some risk. And for what? They'll still have concrete blocks around in 5 or 10 years when she's bigger if she still really wants to do that break.

My 10 year old is a hefty guy, and I'm personally not crazy about him breaking boards too much.

Yeah, we haven't had her practice for this reason. I'm not sure the physics works for a small kid. But the master wants all the kids to try, and he's instructed them on how to hold their hand to avoid injury.

Not sure why they expect a 10 year old to break concrete. It's not even worth trying, it's a completely pointless ability and your daughter can easily injure her hand smashing against a brick. Unless the goal is for her to be a sport/tournament fighter, but I assume the intent is to learn actual life-relevant self-defense abilities.

In my experience, most martial arts tests don't require you to actually break the thing you are hitting.

The examiner is just watching to make sure you hit with the correct technique and to hit hard.

She should just focus on that, and not be disappointed if she doesn't break.

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