Local tae kwon do master aims for 1000 board breaks in 10 minutes

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by Paul Merrigan
This Week Staff

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If you've ever wondered what it's like to see 1000 boards broken by one man, this Friday at 8 p.m. in front of The Old Triangle just might be your chance. John Thorley, a fifth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and owner of Thorley's Taekwando Academy in Riverview plans on attempting the feat in aid of the United Way of Greater Moncton and Southeastern New Brunswick.

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Stacey Merrigan/This Week

John Thorley, tae kwon do master in Riverview, will attempt to break 1000 boards in 10 minutes for the United Way of Greater Moncton and Southeast New Brunswick.

Tickets sponsoring a board can be purchased for $10 each at various locations. Each ten dollar ticket also contains a "buy one get one free" breakfast coupon for The Old Triangle, a value of eight dollars.

"I'm planning on breaking 1000 boards in under 10 minutes," says John. "They're 1x12 inch pine boards. Last year I broke 500 boards in just over 5 minutes, so that was a success because I had never really tried something of that size before. It was really useful in planning this year, because I know where I made some mistakes and how I can make it faster."

The idea of breaking boards for charity is not something that John came up with on his own, and he is quick to give credit to one of his students.

"I have to give credit where credit is due," explains John. "A couple of years ago one of my students, Keith McCuaig, broke 150 boards in three minutes to raise 1500 dollars for the help line by having people sponsor the boards for $10 each.

"He did that here at the club and I figured that it was a really great way to raise money and that I could do 500 because I've been training a lot longer."

Although John says his tournament days are mostly behind him, the competitive aspect of the board breaking is something that motivates him. Training for this type of attempt can also be tricky.

"I have to be really careful about not getting even a small injury, so I have to sort of live in a bit of a bubble," laughs John. "You can't train for breaking boards by breaking a big pile of boards either.

"I teach four classes a day and I train with two of them. I also bought a new bike a few weeks ago and I've been putting about 20 kilometres a day on that to pick my cardio up a little bit."

John is confident that he is ready to make this attempt and that it will be successful, although challenging, to be sure.

"The physical part, the knowledge of how to do it and the force required to do it is about 30 per cent, but the rest is definitely mental," says John. "I'm going to be tired about a quarter of the way into it and it's going to hurt after I hit that first board but you just have to keep going.

"That's something that you can't teach in a year or two, it comes from doing Tae Kwon Do since I was 12 years old. I don't know if it's just perseverance or mental toughness, but I know I won't stop."

The main sponsor for the event is The Old Triangle, with the wood being provided at cost by Cook's Home Hardware and cinder blocks, which will hold the boards, on loan from Shaw's Bricks. Tickets can be purchased at Thorley's Taekwondo Academy or at The Old Triangle.