Posted by KC Elbows on July 08, 2002 at 11:33:04:
In Reply to: Re: Smashing Rocks on Tummy posted by ghost on July 08, 2002 at 11:23:31:
No need to be offensive to the guy. It's a well established trick, there's tapes of kids doing it. It's theatrics, and it's fun to watch, but it infers nothing as to fighting ability.
So are you saying that armor doesn't cushion a blow? Now imagine if that armor was almost a foot thick. Basically the entire blow is spread across the entire surface, a portion of the force is lost breaking the slab, and the practitioner takes what is left. If this were not true, then the demonstrator would just have the assistant hit them directly with the sledge, which would be much more dramatic. However, this never happens, because it would be very likely to injure the demonstrator.
BTW, bending pipes with the throat is also a trick. My present teacher has a pic from a demo he did when he was just a student in another style. Him and his teacher were bending a metal rod that was against each of their throats by walking towards each other. Recently he showed it to me, then showed me how it was done. It's uncomfortable, but easy. Anyone with enough strength could do it. Really, it has nothing to do with martial arts, it's more a circus trick, much like the blocks demo.
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