Breaking is a martial arts skill that is used in competition, demonstration and testing. Breaking is an action where a martial artist uses a striking surface to break one or more objects using the skills honed in his or her art form. The striking surface is usually a hand or a foot, but may also be a fingertip, toe, head, elbow, knuckle, or knee. The most common object is a piece of wood. However, it is also common to break bricks or cinder blocks. It is less common to break other objects which include items like blocks of ice. Not all styles of martial arts place equal emphasis on breaking. Many styles where striking and kicking is less important deemphasize it. Grappling, throwing, weaponry and ground fighting styles, of course, place less emphasis on breaking. Traditional Japanese martial art schools place little, if any, emphasis on board-breaking, although the art of breaking objects was known as tameshiwari.
