Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)
Caveat: Since the below was originally written and as time has passed things have changed in my studies and practices of karate, in particular the art of tameshiwari. You probably already know that to break objects with the bare hands is one of the unique aspects of karate training and practice and you probably already know that it has been taken to a high level by its practitioners.
What you may not know is that although it requires a great deal of knowledge, training and practice it is also based, a lot, on certain physics. Physics of the materials used and physics of how the body is used in tandem with certain aspects that allow us to break things far stronger and of denser materials than our hands, our muscles and our skeletal systems.
In short, I would describe tameshiwari as part skill, part fitness, part conditioning and part, mostly, flim-flam. When I became a serious practitioner of tameshiwari I was then taught, away or outside normal dojo teachings, the physics of the materials or rather what and how to choose the proper materials that enhanced my ability to break.
Examples:
- choosing pine over a harder-n-denser wood like oak;
- choosing a certain type of brick that is meant to be similar to pine like pine to oak where the manufacturing process of said brick made them brittle vs. hard and strong.
- choosing the size of the bricks and boards, i.e., pine boards that are 12” x 12” x 1/2” with larger grains than the best pine boards with denser gains.
- using spacers vs. not.
- holding the bricks in a way that when hit the slight spacing between brick and a very strong, hard and stable surface actually breaks the brick vs. your hand.
- and so on …
In short, although still a tough act to perform and still requiring a lot of body hardening, mostly, the success and failure factor of breaking is a lot dependent on the materials and how we handle them when breaking. Regardless, in my humble opinion tameshiwari is still an art form and still requires a great deal of skill and showmanship to achieve successfully.
Oh, and body hardening on another issue of hardening the body for self-protection isn’t as bulletproof as one is led to believe as many practitioners of body hardening have broken hands and such when in the fight. Just sayin…
With that said, here is my writings on the subject and discipline of tameshiwari:
These characters/ideograms mean, "breaking bricks, etc. (martial arts). The two kanji have a kana character attached but the two kanji have meanings in my source translator, the first character means, "test; try; attempt; experiment; ordeal," and the second one means, "proportion; comparatively; divide; cut; separate; split."
It involves an inference to testing and attempting by trial and error to separate, segment, split, etc. which loosely can mean to split bricks, wood, etc. but makes no reference by what means this is done.
In karate circles it involves pieces of wood and brick/cement blocks, etc. depending on what your trying to accomplish. The Okinawan's used roof shingles and I might add those are tougher to break with the body than most wood and bricks used in the west.
It is used in a competitive manner with some who have made it into an art form for demonstration, etc. where they use very unusual materials to break with hands, feet, arms, knees, shoulders and the head. There are techniques coupled with knowledge of physics, etc. that must be known to achieve good breaks. In addition depending on the degree in which a practitioner breaks may require extensive makiwara training, etc. There are also tricks that need to be done and known to make it work.
In a fundamental sense most karate-ka who do minimal breaking the use of wood, i.e. 12" x 12" x 1/2" to 1" thick need not makiwara if taught and done properly and safely.
Is tameshiwari necessary to practice and learn karate-jutsu-do? No, it is more of a traditional form of practice but not necessary and many training facilities both sport and budo that do no breaking at all. Then there are some who take it to extremes like in the "Uechi-ryu" systems.
Apparently this training model was popularized by Sensei Masutatsu Oyama of the Japanese system of Kyokushin Karate. It requires one train with “karada-kitae” or “body hardening techniques.” This model is not a part of traditional karate. At least not the karate from the 1600’s to the late 1800’s of Okinawa, the birth place of karate. At least not as far as one can determine by the spotty documentation and historical information that is available.
The use of tameshiwari is questionable. It is a form or demonstration of how well a karate-ka has developed the body, mind and spirit through not just karate practice but karada-kitae, body hardening. It does provide feedback as to application of fundamental principles of martial systems as the failure to adhere to those principles can result in failed breaks as well as injuries. Principles like structure, alignment, speed, power, sequential locking and unlocking, etc. that result in proper form, focus, breathing, etc., that are also principles.
It is important to understand that karada-kitae and karate knowledge are not the only requirements a karate-ka must know, understand and gain proficiency in so that tameshiwari will work. The hardening of the body is one, the understanding and application of principles is second but the rest is as important as the first two, i.e. the materials to be used and choosing those materials along with how the physics work with the materials you choose to break.
You just don’t go out and purchase just any type of wood. When you have the right wood then you have to choose wood with the right grain for breaking. Even a 1/2” piece of wood will be harder to break or unbreakable if the grain is not right. Then there is density, moisture and other environmental type factors that affect the materials chosen.
Bricks depend on the material they are made of, the firing process and the mixture of materials that provide for varying levels of hardness, etc. must come into play when choosing that for tameshiwari.
Some might say that tameshiwari is indicative of mastery of a martial art. I contend that this is a false assumption. I have trained the uninitiated in breaking wood and bricks. When I gave demonstrations, unlike many other karate-ka who would break at demo’s, I would allow a gathering after the demo to provide them the “how it is done” aspects so that they don’t go away with the misconception that tameshiwari is indicative of proficiency and mastery in martial arts and/or self-defense.
Tameshiwari has its purpose but I believe it came into its acceptance from the introduction of karate into the Okinawan and Japanese educational systems just before the World War II. Tameshiwari is impressive especially to the uninitiated as a means to entice enrollment for schools who depend on enrollment and fees.
Please don’t misunderstand, like professional WWE wrestling it still takes skill, dedication and a body, mind and spirit way above what would be normal to achieve proficiency in tameshiwari especially those who take it to extremes. Even knowing and understanding all the processes that make this an “art form” it still requires discipline, dedication and diligence in training and practice to achieve mastery. It is a outward manifestation of a mind-state or mind-set that builds on confidence, etc. that makes a martial artist a martial artist.
It is a story written in a travelogue written by an unknown author from Satsuma. The author met a former member of the Satsuma magistrate office in Naha. This member of the Satsuma magistrate office served - if I remember correctly - 3 terms on Okinawa. He told the author a story about Okinawan's breaking tiles with fist and either Nukite or Shuto. Would need to check the exact dates but it must have been around 1800 or so. The performance was done for the Satsuma magistrate (the office was called Zaiban bugyo). It sounded a bit like entertainment, but the narrator noted that "such a strike could kill man" or something along the lines. The tiles - according to reconstructions by other researchers - were of similar weight and density , etc., as todays red roof tiles. I think 5 of 6 tiles were broken or so.
Bibliography (Click the link)
Page 420, year 1801. Karate 1.0 by Andreas Quast
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