When we watch MMA fights and see arm bars go past the "breaking" point, sometimes we think- "aw break", but broken in what way? The arm bars usually end up in bone separations, hyperextensions, and dislocations, not bone breaks; the breaks would more or less constitute the stretching, rupture, or tears of the ligaments and tendons that attach to the bones and muscles. For those of you who follow womens MMA; Rhonda Rousey is infamous for winning by arm bar. If her fight with Miesha Tate ended in an actual bone break, Tate probably wouldn't have been able to fight her next opponent so quickly.
When you look up the word "Broken" in the dictionary it say this: "having been fractured or damaged and no longer in one piece or in working order."
In regards to the human skeletal system, "broken" is either one of two things. Either the function of that part of the body ceases to function or work properly, or it's literally broken and fractured, thereby affecting proper working function. Technically yes, you could say an arm bar would break a persons arm, but in what way?
Within the exercise of breaking the skeletal body we can look at the individual components that lead up to ceasing its proper working function. One component is the literal bone breaking. Ounce for ounce, taking weight and size into consideration, bone is stronger than steel. A cubic inch of bone can bear a load of 19,000 lbs. (8,626 kg) or more. The ability to break bones will depend on the speed and amount of concentrated force, angle delivered, and what bones. The femur is one of the strongest bones in the body and can possibly withstand 4,000 newtons of force. As tough as bones are, some studies also show that as little as 8 lbs of force can break a bone. Once again the type of bone, angle, speed, and concentration of force matters.
Another component that lends to breaking the skeletal body would be dislocating and hyperextending limbs, which would also directly target tendons and ligaments. Attacking the tendons falls into manipulation of the muscular system as well. Take note that many of the body's others systems may be affected by breaks and dislocations, but in this example we'll stick to the skeletal and muscular systems. Tendons are fibrous tissue that connects muscle to bones. A ruptured tendon will drastically affect the muscular strength of the limb; a severing of the tendon attacks the muscle's ability in contracting and extending limbs. How much force a tendon can withstand is debatable, it depends on how much force is being applied, and to what tendons, and to whom? Ligaments are fibrous tissue that connect bones to bones. Like the tendons, ligaments are tough, but ligaments are not elastic and if ligaments are overstretched they don't stretch back and lose their structural integrity, which in turn affects our optimum functioning mobility. Ligaments are vital for an athletes requirements for exertion, mobility, and endurance; damaged ligaments= broken. Broken limbs = bad day!
In conclusion to my self evaluation of the days joint locking and breaking session, I realized I need to be more specific in my explanation of what is happening. It's not just breaking the arm, but what components go into breaking the arm. What are we doing specifically? As an example, a more precise explanation can be- "today we're working on breaking the arm. That means finding ways to cease its ability to work and function properly by doing 1 of 2 things, 1) literally breaking bones or 2) causing a dislocation or hyperextending the joint, and possibly tearing the ligaments and tendons that allow it to operate." Moral of the story is- Don't get your limbs broke!!
Stay Safe!!
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