01-19-2010, 11:35 AM
Quote:According to Tae Kwon Do history/legends wooden armor was was used in Korea. This is the reason for breaking boards as I was told. This was around 1500 years ago I think.Pine boards (i.e. softwood) are used because they are a reasonable facsimile for a human rib. As a tae kwon practitioner for more than twenty years I can tell you that both take a blow of similar power to break. It is a good way to teach students the amount of power required to do some decent damage to a human being (it also looks impressive in front of spectators). It has nothing to do with Asian wooden armour, which incidentally was made of hardwood. Nothing a human can do with hands or feet would have much effect on a close-grained hardwood plank.
Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen & Sword Books