Breaking Boards

[Guest]

I am impressed. BILL KNOWS BALLS. I bet a few pitchers would comprehend, too. I couldn't feed it back but it made some sense

You should be a consultant to the Rays (Devil Rays). Since the All-Star Break they've done well.

Rays 11 wins vs. Yankees 8 wins!!!!! Edged out Boston last night!

Watch 'em. They are coming around and playing decent ball and have more than a couple of good players.

[Bill Glasheen]

I know, I know... They shelled David Wells last night.

I root for Tampa Bay when they play NY, and against them when they play the Bosox. When games are played at Tampa Bay, I pick up the Tampa Bay announcer on XM radio.

Tampa Bay seems to have the Yankees' number this year. But Boston is another story. They've played better after the allstar break, but still got swept in Beantown (0/4 last week).

Two more games... You get Schilling (aging fastballer and splitter) tonight, and Wakefield (knuckleballer) tomorrow night. Boston should get at least one of those two games. Wakefield in particular has done well recently.

- Bill

[Rick Wilson]

Sigh…………………………

I should never try to put a quick post on.

John: You have stated that Mr. Alan Dollar was disparaged by the posts made on this thread.

Reviewing the posts I can only find your reference and MY reference to Mr. Dollar and his video where boards did not break.

The video I referred to was made by Mr. Dollar himself and only included failed breaks by many people.

The song he put over the clip was “The Masochistic Tango” – a funny song.

Putting two and two together we have:

Boards didn’t break + funny masochistic song = Mr. Dollar poking fun at the down side of breaking.

Mr. Dollar was the one having a good laugh over the boards that didn’t break.

I was not making fun of, nor disparaging, Mr. Dollar.

Mr. Dollar was having some fun and giving us all a good laugh.

I always admired Mr. Dollar for including a couple of his own breaks that failed in this clip because it proved his sense of humour and character.

[Guest]

Rick. Nope. My reference was not to your post, but to Sensei Glasheen's remark that board breaking was all smoke and mirrors.

I had referenced Alan Dollar's video series where he does break boards. Sometimes they don't break and it's funny. I agree with that. Shows that you sometimes get a board with a high resen content or maybe a wet one. It's just not always that easy.

I don't believe anyone "disparaged" Sensei Dollar and certainly I did not intend to implicate or imply that you did.

[Guest]

I got the Uerchi Kanei video I ordered from George's store today and decided to review some of his other tapes that I have.

The one I watched was the long one of the 33rd Anniversary of Uechi Kanbun Sensei's death. This is a very full and complete celebration in honor of Grand Master Uechi Kanbun. Sensei "Matteson" (three syllables)as the Okinawan's say his name was honored by his demonstration of San Sei Ryu.

The tape devoted at least 10 minutes to various breaking demonstrations. I was most impressed by the man who extented his leg with his foot held vertically. His partner broke a 2" x 2" over his big toe. Ouch

Then there was one where I believe 5 men held one leg straight out and their partners simutaneously broke 2' x 2" over their shins. Very impressive

Guishi Sensei broke 2" x 2" poles with his toe kick until a couple of years ago. The darn board would not break and he hurt his toe and hasn't tried after that.

In Largo, I've done the shin break. The way we do it is in the Crane stance as if we were blocking a bo strike. I've also done the forearm break and over the thigh. If you are conditioned, it stings a little bit. That's about it. I think it's a measure of mental toughness as much as it is of conditioning.

Anyhow, back to the video ... they were doing various combination breaks and the boards just weren't breaking good. It took several tries on the part of several men. Then they got this young male white belt and he tried twice and couldn't break two boards, so he judiciously bowed out. They don't always break, that's for sure.

There were also demonstrations of roof tile, cement blocks and bricks, but we've never done those at our dojo.

The demonstrations showed that they are considered important enough to get ample stage time in an important anniversary event in Uechi-Ryu.

[Bill Glasheen]

The demonstrations showed that they are considered important enough to get ample stage time in an important anniversary event in Uechi-Ryu.

I have that video, and once pared it down just to the karate parts. It's a keeper.

The breaking in Uechi Ryu is in some sense anachronistic. We all used to do it. Now I know that most Uechika do not.

I am also familiar with the pole breaks over body limbs. That too isn't as difficult as it looks. The longer the pole, the easier the break.

Physics takes the mystery out of a lot of things. Even the knuckleball!

What we need to do is to focus on the moon (the conditioning) and not the finger pointing at the moon (the demonstrations). As long as people do that, I am happy. What many of us object to with all the breaking is that it can be a distraction. There are so many important things to focus on in the dojo. Meanwhile for the longest time, the public thought karate was all about breaking stuff. In the 1970s when someone found out I "did karate," all they wanted to know is how many boards I could break. After the 100th time you hear it, it's about as grating as the 100th time I heard "That's not a dog, that's a horse!!" or "You need to put a saddle on that thing!!" when I walked my Great Dane. Are we doing a disservice to martial arts by making the public think "karate" is about "breaking stuff?"

These days if I go to a karate demo and start seeing the wood come out, I leave. I am not enamored. I want to see what they really do, and if it has any martial value. I know I am not alone in this feeling.

- Bill

[Topos]

Bill,


Groovey!!! .

I admire your deep grasp of real world physics and the clear way you expatiate on it. And that is no OGIVE (pronounced 'oh-jive to handloaders who have calculated ballistic coefficients).

You VAULTED (arch enemy of bad medieval builders) up in all our esteem.

Unfortunately for all...... stinky puns intended [GRIN+++]

[f.Channell]

Why break wood when you can toss it?



F.

[Bill Glasheen]

Fred

Yes THAT impresses me! These are the only boys who can wear dresses and get away with it.

Why don't our Scot clans hurl things? A caber toss event would be a fun diversion at a Uechi camp.

I'm not sure how I'd get that pole on the plane though...

- Bill

[f.Channell]

I want to predict that Fedele could throw it the farthest.

Sensei Mattson has to provide the cabers!! It's his camp.

F.

[Guest]

Hey doesn't have to be the caber. Check out the link.

http://www.fergusscottishfestival.com/h ... ossary.htm


The "lady's from hell" throw all manner of heavy things.
Keep an eye on the wee folk Bill. Never know when a highlander is going to test himself....

I suspect I good get some good distance with this wee lad!



You bring the wee folk, I'll see if I can find some velcro.

A Sam Adams says I can throw the little green guy further than all of ya.

[Van Canna]

Be fun to see how far they could throw my mini

[Guest]

I hate to ruin the party but the object to not to "throw" the caber.

It's a control thing. The athelete has to lift the caber and demonstrate that it's under his control by bracing it against his shoulder.

The judge stands immediately behind him. The athlete then moves forward for as many steps as he needs to propel the caber for one half a turn. I. E. It has to turn over one time so that the bottom he's holding will be tossed and face the front.

The person who gets the revolution and the direction closest to 12 o'clock is the winner, not the man who gets the greater distance. That's why the judge is immediately behind the contestant.

Game comes from need to toss a log over a Highland chasm or crevise to escape the boys who are after your butt.

[TSDguy]

Basically when you throw a ball with spin, there is higher pressure on the side that is spinning in the direction of travel than there is on the side that is spinning away from the direction of travel. The physics of what happens next is the exact same physics that aerospace engineers use to make planes and jets lift off the ground.

I'm going to attempt to question you on this one, though I'm not sure I have the physics to do it. As I understand it, the idea that the Bernoulli Effect lifts planes into the air is (almost) entirely a myth. The commonly held belief that you see in physics classes from "The Wonder Years" is that the air moves over the top of the wing faster than the bottom of the wing in order for them both to reach the other side at the same point. But there is no reason for the the air on top and air on bottom of the wing to reunite at the same time.

The plane lifts because a) the wings are angled up which just plain (pun intended) shoves wind into and then is angled down from the wings to force the plane up and also the fact that the shape of the wing shoots the air on top of the wing out lower than when it first hit the wing. I.E. the wind hits the front of the wing here ----- and the back of the wing is here ____ so the air sticking to the curve of the wing moves down. Equal and opposite reaction moves the plane up.

Now, you say that higer and lower pressure move the ball in one direction; can you more clearly explain that, especially addressing this Bernoulli Effect? Or does the ball simply weigh so little that the small true effect is enough to move it in one direction?

/end not having any idea what I'm talking about

how 'bout them Sox?

[Bill Glasheen]

I'm keeping the analogy simple. You have a pressure gradient from one side of the ball to the other, making the ball curve towards the side with the lower pressure. The side with the higher pressure is the side spinning towards the direction of motion of the ball. Given that they make baseballs with raised seams, the resultant shear forces make all this possible.

The same happens with the wing (a pressure gradient from top to bottom of wing when it is in the lift orientation), although for slightly different reasons. And the pressure gradient is much larger here, considering the total surface area of the wing and the greater speed of the aircraft.

It doesn't take much of a pressure gradient to move a baseball suspended in air. The weight of a baseball is miniscule compared to the weight of a plane.

If you want me to get more technical I can try. But I have to warn you that I'm much better with the flow of fluid in a tube than I am with the flow of air over a wing.

- Bill