Bonesmashing / Bone Smashing
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About
Bonesmashing, also known as Bone Smashing Trend, is the practice of repeatedly hitting your bones, often your cheekbones or jawbones, with a hard object like a hammer, to alter their shape, theoretically making them more prominent, appealing and Chad-like. The practice is based on the principle of Wolff's Law, which claims that bones remodel themselves after trauma. It became popularized in mid-2018 among incels as a method of "looksmaxxing" similar to mewing and is often the subject of criticism for being dangerous and ineffective. In early 2023, videos and memes referencing bonesmashing started to go viral on TikTok.
Origin
The origins of bonesmashing are unclear but may have originated or been popularized on the Lookism forums (now Looksmax.org), a forum where men can discuss self-improvement that, according to a 2018 Vice[1] article, has a reputation of being popular with incels. The first known reference to bonesmashing is an article posted by Vice[2] on June 26th, 2018, titled "Learn to Decode the Secret Language of the Incel Subculture," in which they define it as:
The dangerous practice of attempting to damage your face to change your bone structure. This appears to be based in part on Wolff’s Law,[20] which suggested that bones might grow in response to repeated blunt trauma. Some incels are obsessed with radically altering their bone density and jaws to conform to what they consider the male ideal, and this is presented as one way to do that without expensive surgery.
The term became further popularized on sites including 4chan and Looksmax.org over the following months. For example, on September 26th, 2018, Looksmax[3] user averageblokecel started a thread titled "[Serious] Bonesmashign General," writing, "I put a serious tag because 98.58% of bonesmashing get meme'd to death and beyond so let's try to make a good discussion gentlemen," then explaining what bonesmashing is (shown below).
![[Serious] Bonesmashing general averageblokecel ● Sep 26, 2018 averageblokecel The forum just went down baby, down Aug 21, 2018 Joined: Posts: Reputation: 2,166 2.538 Sep 26, 2018 < #1 *I put a serious tag because 98.58% of bonesmashing get meme'd to death and beyond so let's try to make a good discussion gentlemen So what's bonesmashing? Bonesmashing is a theory which follow's Wolff's law: "Wolff's law, developed by the German anatomist and surgeon Julius Wolff (1836-1902) in the 19th century, states that bone in a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads under which it is placed. If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time to become stronger to resist that sort of loading." Need proof? This dude right here got kickedmaxx by a horse and he lived 20 years until he died. Now look at this growth, I'm not saying that we all should horsekickmaxx but if this level of power can cause such swelling, why not less power cause more reasonable and controllable increments? 2nd proof = Mewing and bonesmahing are not too fall apart from each other, while with bonesmashing you apply specific force in specific hits, with mewing you apply constant specific force (if you are doing it 24/7 as it should be done) so every mewcel who tries to s--- on this theory is an hypocrite (and probably ignorant). 3rd proof= Mire 'em skullz Will I get brain damage? Don't hit the place where the brain is located, your brain isn't located in your cheekbones or chin Now let's discuss, should it be done, and if so, what routine to follow? Any average joe got results and pics? Stories? Inb4 I got 25mph in my car and smashed my head onto the pavement and now I am chad lululul or some f------ bad joke HowAmlAlive123, far336. Deleted member 6401 and 5 others](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/565/551/0f1.jpg "So what's bonesmashing?")
On October 19th, a "bonesmashing" page was created on the Incels Wiki.[4] The wiki page lists two opposing arguments against bonesmashing, writing:
After bone smashing was discussed in PSL forums, it was argued that bonesmashing may only provide a temporary swelling and not real bone growth and that may not give predictable results that guarantee a positive outcome.
It has been argued that no individual may reasonably apply enough constant stress to their faces to increase their bone density. Excessive trauma will result in fractures and irreversible disfigurement, while repeated trauma may possibly result in nerval irritation or damage.
Spread
Discussions about bonesmashing continued to appear online in the following years. On December 10th, 2018, a Looksmax[5] member created a thread asking if bonesmashing is legit in which several users discourage the practice. On May 8th, 2019, a Redditor made a post to /r/orthotropics[6] asking about it.
On May 17th, Looksmax[7] user Dude420 then started a thread to debate bonesmashing in which the user doubts its practicality by showing photos of an MMA fighter before and after multiple fights. On July 1st, 2022, a Redditor posted a video of someone bonesmashing to /r/WTF,[21] garnering over 415 upvotes in nine months.
On August 17th, 2018, YouTuber Tomazzo posted a video explaining the principles behind bonesmashing in detail and offering a tutorial on how to bonesmash, using various athletes as evidence that bonesmashing works, garnering over 246,000 views in four years (shown below).
On October 19th, YouTuber[8] AsHBoY posted a video claiming that bonesmashing is effective and does so with his fists, garnering over 90,000 views in four years (shown below, left). On March 30th, 2022, steeljawlinegum.com[9] published an article about bonesmashing. On April 15th, 2022, YouTuber[10] Ekil, who has multiple videos on bonesmashing, posted a video where he demonstrates bonesmashing with a hammer, garnering over 11,000 views in a year (shown below, right).
TikTok Presence
On July 29th, 2022, TikToker[11] @wiilliamli posted a video demonstrating bonesmashing, garnering over 700,000 views in nine months, also gaining over 685,000 views on YouTuber.[12] On February 20th, 2023, TikToker[17] @jamesthebonesmasher started posting videos, which appear to be ironic, about bonesmashing (popular example shown below).
@jamesthebonesmasher Bonesmashing every day so that I can escape /nc31d0m and be a chad #bonesmashing ♬ blackpill curse by james sapphire x north – James Sapphire
On March 30th, 2023, TikToker[13] @ricknotowen posted a series of before and after photos purportedly taken after bonesmashing, garnering over 226,000 views in a week. Later that day, the TikToker[14] posted another video suggesting he uses a hammer for bonesmashing, garnering over 149,000 views in a week (shown below, left). On March 31st, TikToker[15] @hyperiddaren posted a video claiming he's starting bonesmashing, garnering over 600,000 views in six days (shown below, right).
@ricknotowen Replying to @ryan44561 #fyp #lookism #lookmaxing #bonesmashing #jamessapphire ♬ blackpill curse by james sapphire x north – James Sapphire
@hyperiddaren Day one of Boneshamshing #menselfcare #fypシ #gabrieldridi ♬ sonido original – Zoo🦍
On April 1st, Twitter[16] user @skyicidal posted screenshots of @ricknotowen's videos, writing, "wake up honey new fucked up tiktok trend dropped," garnering over 16,700 likes in five days (shown below).
That month in April 2023, TikTokers[18][19] then began posting satirical videos showing their before and after progress with bonesmashing, as well as memes about bonesmashing (examples shown below).
@5mirnov 🦴 💥 #selfimprovement #lookism #looksmaxxing ♬ blackpill curse by james sapphire x north – James Sapphire
@un.ermite Bonesmashing for a good Jawline (look into the comments‼️) #bonesmashing #jawline ♬ original sound – Ezra
Various Examples
@lliteraiiyme Bro was a pioneer of his time . . . . . #shitposting #spongebob #meme #memes #bonesmashing #looksmaxxing #foryou #fypシ #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #fyp #real #viral ♬ Blackpill Curse – James Sapphire
@syrianpsycho BONESMASHING does NOT WORK. ❌ #fyp #based #syrianpsycho #selfimprovement #trending ♬ The Sound of Myself – Disasterpeace
Search Interest
External References
[1] Vice – Inside the Disturbing Forum Incels Use to Brutally Criticize Each Other's Faces
[2] Vice – Learn to Decode the Secret Language of the Incel Subculture
[3] Looksmax – averageblokecel
[4] Incels WIki – bone smashing
[5] Looksmax – Is bonesmashing legit for height increase?
[6] Reddit – orthotropics
[9] steeljawlinegum – What Exactly Is Bone Smashing
[11] TikTok – wiilliamli
[13] TikTok – ricknotowen
[14] TikTok – ricknotowen
[15] TikTok – hyperiddaren
[17] TikTok – jamesthebonesmasher
[20] WEBMD – What Is Wolff's Law
![[Serious] Bonesmashing general averageblokecel ● Sep 26, 2018 averageblokecel The forum just went down baby, down Aug 21, 2018 Joined: Posts: Reputation: 2,166 2.538 Sep 26, 2018 < #1 *I put a serious tag because 98.58% of bonesmashing get meme'd to death and beyond so let's try to make a good discussion gentlemen So what's bonesmashing? Bonesmashing is a theory which follow's Wolff's law: "Wolff's law, developed by the German anatomist and surgeon Julius Wolff (1836-1902) in the 19th century, states that bone in a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads under which it is placed. If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time to become stronger to resist that sort of loading." Need proof? This dude right here got kickedmaxx by a horse and he lived 20 years until he died. Now look at this growth, I'm not saying that we all should horsekickmaxx but if this level of power can cause such swelling, why not less power cause more reasonable and controllable increments? 2nd proof = Mewing and bonesmahing are not too fall apart from each other, while with bonesmashing you apply specific force in specific hits, with mewing you apply constant specific force (if you are doing it 24/7 as it should be done) so every mewcel who tries to s--- on this theory is an hypocrite (and probably ignorant). 3rd proof= Mire 'em skullz Will I get brain damage? Don't hit the place where the brain is located, your brain isn't located in your cheekbones or chin Now let's discuss, should it be done, and if so, what routine to follow? Any average joe got results and pics? Stories? Inb4 I got 25mph in my car and smashed my head onto the pavement and now I am chad lululul or some f------ bad joke HowAmlAlive123, far336. Deleted member 6401 and 5 others](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/565/551/0f1.jpg "So what's bonesmashing?")
