Importance of Breaking in Kung Fu

    Breaking in my opinion is important in the martial arts. I think it can also be misunderstood. Just because you can break doesn’t mean you can nor will you be a great fighter. Breaking is merely a measure of ones achieve skill with a particular technique.
    Breaking can definitely wow a crowd but serves more purpose. It demonstrates that you have a certain level of damage power and mental focus necessary to use the given technique utilized by the practitioner.
    And that damage power is important because no matter how powerful I am if I hit someone and don’t have properly conditioned hands they may break or fracture. I’ve seen it with fighters who give low shin kicks to their opponents. They kick the guy at the chin and hit someone with legs like tree trunks and their own leg snaps as a result. It is like a car colliding with a truck. Once they hit the denser vehicle is going to prevail.
    Proper conditioning of the body becomes essential because if you cannot break the object at hand you must question yourself as to why. Is it my mental focus? My speed, power, accuracy or angle of strike? Does it hurt when I hit the object because if so than I may hurt myself if I hit it too hard. A true test of your speed, strength, power, focus, and control.
    Breaking is great for me to test a striking techniques penetrating force and my mental strength. It shows I have damage power that makes the technique being used dangerous. Now you have a technique that you have been training with discipline and if push comes to shove can be used to defend ones life.