Mark Jr. had board breaking for the 1st time in karate. Getting him to understand about getting “in the zone” has been working very well for him. He was maybe the 5th or 6th kid to go up and break a board. Its a bit scary going up to the board when you haven’t seen a bunch of other kids do it a few times. He saw maybe 4 or 5 kids then it was his turn.
His 1st board break was to be done with a hammer fist. This is basically when you make a fist and swing down. Kind of like you were going to hit someone on the head with the bottom of your fist. You get 2 preparation swings to help with aiming and concentration. Then you just go for it. This is when all the parents hold their breath and hope their kid doesn’t hurt their hands. He winds up and swings!!! CRACK the board breaks!!! He did it!!! He broke his 1st board. He was so excited and I was so proud of him. We saved the 1st board he broke so we could mount it on the wall.
He then had to break board with a palm strike, a knee, then another palm strike but this time with the boards set between 2 concrete blocks – so they could strike straight down this time. When he did the palm strike he didn’t break it the 1st time. He kind of missed it with his palm and instead struck it with his finger tips. He tried again and got it. I had been taking pictures of all of it. When we reviewed the pictures I realized why he missed. He has been closing his eyes on each strike. I guess you gotta see your target to hit it 
