Breaking>Cheating in breaking

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Cheating in breaking

Intro

I know it difficult to believe, but—people cheat—and they also cheat at breaking. Losers, as well as so-called "masters," have been known to cheat at breaking; not so much at competitions or rank tests, but definitely at demonstrations. Although, they don’t call it cheating; they call it entertainment or showmanship. No matter what you call it, it’s done to deceive.

Ways to cheat

• Wood boards. Green, high moisture wood is pliable and very difficult to break. Dry wood is relatively easy to break. Try to break a green twig and then try to break a dried twig, which is easier to break? So to make the breaking easier, slowly bake the boards in your oven under low heat for a few hours.
• Spacing. Holding the breaking material slightly above the support for breaking is cheating since you are slamming the upheld end into the support block to creating a jolt.
• Ice. Long blocks of ice are easy to break. Be careful; if the ice block is too long for its thickness, it will break under its own weight. Sawing part way through an ice block with a string and then letting the cut refreeze is cheating since it causes the area to be weakened and easier to break. 
• Soaking. Soaking cinder blocks in acetone to break down the concrete bond is cheating. Soaking limestone rocks in water to make them softer is cheating.
• Plastic boards. Spraying WD-40 or another light oil on the teeth of plastic boards will make them easier to break is cheating. Warming the boards will make the plastic softer and easier to break is cheating. Some people use thin re breakable boards that are easy to break but have special clips that make a loud snap when the boards are broken to make it appear they were difficult to break.
• Dusting. Applying a light dusting of powder to breaking material will not make it easier to break but it will make a puff of dust as the material breaks to create the illusion of it being a powerful break.
• Spacers. As explained in another article, using spacers between the boards or blocks, is not cheating since the spacers are visible, but it is at least deceiving. 

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