2.5inch thick concrete breaking

[MadPanda]

I recently attempted to break a 2.5" thick slab of concrete with a palm strike and failed miserably. I have had no trouble with boards and tiles, and I heard that breaking cinder blocks was fairly easy... i have not found this to be the case. I think part of my problem is hesitation; I know that if I put all my energy into the strike and fail that I will most likely break my wrist...Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Katy]

have you tried focusing on a point beyond the point of impact.
make sure that you follow through the board / concrete.

2.5'' slab of concrete is thick MadPanda

dont injure yourself. where did you find this? remember that all boards for breaking are designed to give way with different levels of force required to break them.

[MadPanda]

I didn't buy any special concrete it was purchased at Home Depot. I am doubting my ability to break it...I agree that following through and focusing below it would help; however, like I said I am afraid of breaking my wrist lol...maybe I should back off of this one

[nickthat]

Tough one, literally... You could do an impartial check to see how tough it is. In demos, I stike the boards with a hammer, so you could do that to the boards, then the concrete and just guage the strength. It is possible that it is too hard to be broken.

I would not use it, but many martial arts demos use breeze blocks as they are brittle and not as tough as concrete. Maybe you saw this being broken and believed it was actually concrete?

[clouddragon]

Why do you need to break the concrete? Effective Jin (force) is when discharged at the correct moment, ideally when an opponent has missed his target or you have caused him to lose his balance and is vulnerable to a counter. Is it a requirement of your system or is it good to know you have power behind your strikes. I realise external martial arts tend to demonstrate in this way! In the Internal arts we demonstrate by receiving blows to the body. It is nice to know you can withstand force thus giving more confidence in fighting.