Larry Fields gets his kicks breaking bats, bricks, boards, and ice chunks.
He started out breaking clay bricks when he was 11 and now at age 41 and 225 pounds he is still breaking things — including world records.
Fields, owner of Abilene Mixed Martial Arts, is headed to Orlando, Fla., for the U.S. Open karate tournament on July 1-2, where he will attempt to set a world record by breaking 19 Louisville Slugger bats with his elbow in 10 seconds.
He already holds the world record of breaking 11 bats in 10 seconds at the 2010 tournament in Orlando.
Fields said the bat-breaking attempt will be July 2 and will be filmed by ESPN to be aired later that day.
Asked why he chose to break bats, Fields said he wanted to do something different.
"He used to break up a lot of wood blocks," his wife Terry Fields said. "He got bored with it and started breaking bats."
Fields, who said he has broken 19 bats in practice, said it is difficult because he has to move fast.
"I do have a sore elbow sometime afterward," he said. "I use just one elbow for the event."
Fields is no stranger to television. He was on the Jay Leno show in 2004, and he has been interviewed several times for other shows.
"ESPN3 will interview me if I do well with breaking the bats," Fields said. "The event will air again about two weeks after the tournament."
Abilene Mixed Martial Arts center is filled with hundreds of trophies. Many of these belong to Fields who has set 25 world records in various events. Others belong to his students who have set 52 world records.
