WHY BREAK?
Are you breaking to demonstrate, or to develop?

DIFFERENT TYPES OF BREAKING TECHNIQUES:
Mental focus, commitment, and the direction of energy flow, are of critical importance to all breaking techniques.  The emphasis on each of several other elements varies depending on the specific technique. Physical focus, strength, weight, and speed are 4 variable elements.

POWER BREAKS:
Power breaks are executed against supported stationary targets. Bricks, boards, tiles, and rocks are the most common. The break may be executed by either “driving” energy through the target, or by imparting energy to it (“Force” breaks vs “Energy” breaks).

FORCE:
Assuming that the basic requirements for mental focus, commitment, and direction have been met, momentum and physical focus are the last 2 things that make a force break work. 

Momentum            = Force  X  Speed 
Force               = Weight + Strength
Therefore;  Momentum = (Weight + Strength) X  Speed

Physical focus; Should through the target. A good rule of thumb is about 3-5 inches for wood, and 1-3 inches for bricks.  Force breaking techniques are typical of hard style martial arts.

ENERGY:
Speed is absolutely required in an energy break. If taken to an extreme, an energy break may even cease to be a power break at all. This would be the case when breaking with a water glass, a newspaper, or a pencil, for example. When Chief Al Tejero first began teaching breaking techniques to our style of Kenpo practitioners, energy breaking was the closest match to the skills that we already develop. Brick breaking techniques would be performed with a “snapping” strike, similar to the way we are taught to “bounce” off each strike in a Kenpo combination. The Physical focus is very shallow into the target (perhaps ½ inch, or so). The strike usually is immediately preceded by a twisting motion to add the last little bit of torque and speed, and is snapped back as quickly as it is delivered.
Because timing and physical focus are so critical to an energy break, it takes a substantial amount of regular practice to be good at it. Energy breaks are much more common in the Kenpo styles, and are sometimes performed by Kung-Fu practitioners. Because “soft” targets absorb energy, energy breaks are normally performed against “hard” targets.
Some of the weapons that can be used for power breaks include:
        Knuckle (Energy or Force)
        Hammer fist (Energy or Force)
        Chop (Energy or Force)
        Palm (Energy or Force)
        Elbow (Force)
        Etc.

IMPORTANT POINTS
        Determine focal point for weapon.
        Explosion of internal energy.
        Establish mental focus. Ie. Nothing else exists, except you, and your target. Mental state is extremely intense and clear. No “logic, or reasoning”. No internal dialogue. Mental effort is to pull together internal energy, restrain it until the right moment, and then release it all at one time.
        Physical relaxation is key to speed. Speed is key to momentum. Momentum delivers internal energy. An increase in heart rate and/or blood pressure may accompany a growing intensity. Trick is not to associate intensity with physical tightness.

SPEED BREAKS:
Speed breaks are most frequently performed against unsupported targets, or, as in the case of the “1 inch punch”, from a very close distance. There have been some very creative demonstrations of speed breaking. Unless an audience is pretty knowledgeable in regard to martial arts, they may not appreciate just how difficult a speed break is.  Try hanging a piece of wood from a string. Try breaking the top off of an empty, or even half full glass bottle. Strikes used most frequently are a chop or knuckle.

MENTAL BREAKS:
The soft palm is the only break of this type that I am familiar with. This is not to say that the other breaking techniques require any less focus, or concentration. It’s just that some breaking techniques don’t easily fit into any other category.
By far, the most important elements in a soft palm break are complete relaxation, and a focus on the entire body’s “weight”, or center of gravity, in the bottom of the hand. The hand should literally “fall” through the bricks as though they were not there. This is an important difference from the power brake. Whereas in the power break, only you and the target exist, in the soft palm, only you exist. There is no target! When you perform a soft palm really well, you will experience a strange “surprise” that your hand actually hit something.

TRAINING AND CONDITIONING:
Meditation is extremely important to the development of breaking skills. Clearing your mind, developing a clarity of focus, and the ability to block everything else out requires practice. At the end of each meditation session, you should practice gathering your internal energy. Feel your heart rate and blood pressure go up. Feel an internal “tension” that may run from your center to your head. Practice developing that feeling, without increasing your physical tension.