QI OR PHYSICS?
When attempting to break something, martial arts instructors will often explain what to do in terms of Qi (chi), sometimes known as "energy", but it is not a measurable energy like Kinetic or Gravitational. Students are instructed to focus their Qi through the board, causing students to hit and continue hitting the board for a longer period of time. We know that more time exerting the same force will apply a larger impulse to the board, causing it to break. But does having a physics explanation mean that the Qi explanation is necessarily bogus? I've thought a lot about this and come to the conclusion that the martial arts and physics have different ways of explaining because they have different goals. The Qi explanation helps to train people to do the right thing with their bodies. The physics explanation helps to predict outcomes mathematically. Both are useful, depending on what you want to accomplish. Pictured is my cousin Rob Kloss who is the master of a dojo in Hockessin, Delaware. He and I have lived oddly parallel lives, but that's another story. |
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Don't try this at home! I'm using a pine board, and I'm hitting with the grain. | |
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This is me breaking a board, which I would have done for
you live in class.
Even at 300 frames per second, it's not fast enough to capture what's going on. |
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This is me breaking a board at 1200 frames per second.
The reason it is necessary to keep on hitting for a long period of time is that you must continue to bend the board downward until a crack appears at the bottom. If you stop before the crack appears, the board will rebound and bounce your hand back, which hurts - believe me, I know. Make the video full screen then move the slider yourself slowly to see the board bend for a frame or two before the crack appears. |
REAL OR FAKE?
In the early days of youtube, this video was making the rounds. Is it real? More importantly, can you find evidence in the video itself that indicates that the video is real or faked? If your explanation is correct, it will make use of the Law of Conservation of Momentum. |