They are "tough and capable right out of the box" against the right target. Hard target, soft weapon...soft target, hard weapon. If you don't condition the weapon for the kind of target you mean to hit you will FU the weapon. Ninja got a taste of that. Try to crack a big skull with an elbow shot...it'll hurt the guy...and likely, you too. Better to use the elbow to a nose, cheek, throat, neck, groin...you get the idea.
I know some guys that break coconuts with elbow strikes...but...they do a lot of proper conditioning first. I have broken a coconut with a palm heel shot...soft weapon against a hard target. It took 11 months of conditioning, daily strikes against a rock with proper exercises and dit da jow as part of the process.