Juvenile and
counterproductive game young
school children play at
recess, during
lunch, in the halls, or even in
class if they can manage it. Consists of taking turns attempting to
crack each other's pencils in half.
The pencil is usually held with the sharpened end in between the thumb and index finger of the weak hand with the thumb parallel to the pencil, then the eraser end is bent back with the index finger of the dominant hand. In my day I found that a little extra leverage was offered if the index finger was curled around the pencil from the side closer to the body to the opposite side, instead of merely holding the index finger out straight directly in front of the pencil.
The 'breaker' will jiggle the pencil a bit in preparation, wind up a few inches towards the ceiling then lash out with devastating force upon his opponent's weapon. Masters of the skill can take out enemies with one swift whack, but sometimes games can go back and forth for 15-20 turns.
Usually a bad idea to play with exceedingly long pencils, or the pencils that bend easily, namely Eagle brand ones. It's best to stick with utensils about 4 inches long, preferably ones you've picked up off of the ground or floor somewhere, if you're the rare type who would actually play this game yet still care about taking notes in class. Pentech brand were always the stiffest ones, then came the generic ones with the weird designs that cropped up now and then, followed by Faber-Castell. Also, the ones marked Syracuse City School District worked quite nicely, and there seemed to be an endless supply of those...
Beware of the tricksters who'll try to sneak in a hit with a mechanical pencil or, deity of schoolyard haberdashery forbid, even a pen when you're not looking.
In my middle school, the administration actually went so far as to publicly outlaw pencil break. As if that stopped any of the hardcore pencil ninjas...