Often, in martial practice I am asked how to breath properly. I often answer with, “It depends.” So today, I am going to lay out the very fundamentals of breathing.
First, proper breathing involves many things but the absolute fundamental is that breathing involves the stomach and the diaphragm. There is an important connection between the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles.
A small fact that the so called six pack stomach is actually a hindrance to achieving a full and comprehensive breath. If the muscles of the stomach is too tight it tends to inhibit the proper functioning of the diaphragm thus affecting adversely the oxygen intake and carbon dioxide removal from the body.
Like many things, the relationship between the abdominal (stomach) muscles and the diaphragm must be balanced for peak efficiency. If the balance is off it affects the body’s entire structure. This causes issues with the lower back, the neck, the shoulders, and even areas of the hips and the knees.
One of the important things to remember, “The chest should NOT be a major player during normal breathing. It should expand significantly ONLY during the forced inhalation, and only after the abdominal muscles have relaxed during the breathing process. This usually occurs when a person is working out or when competing or even more important during a conflict/violence where that breathing process can actually assist in controlling such things as the adrenal flooding effects, etc.
A tense stomach is often a result of stress because we all tend to hold our stomachs or abdomens tense. Then there is the image factor where men tend to think that having a belly is wrong and does not look appropriate, i.e. the old adage in gym class to “hold the stomach in and the chest out,” image.
To check your breathing, sit quietly and focus your mind on your body and the breathing. Hold your hands while standing on the abdomen and lower spine, breath slowly in and out and then visualize how that area where your hands are as a ball you are attempting to fill with air.
Check you capacity using a simple test, hold your breath and see how long you can, i.e., you should be able to hold your breath for about 50 to 60 seconds. Try training your breathing with the “Straw Test.” This helps you to train your diaphragm, i.e. breath deeply, and slowly, in and out of the straw. You may be able, to start, do this for a few seconds so work your way up, slowly over time, till about a minute or more. Work up to several “Sets” of one minute each, three or four times a week, for up to 8 weeks.
This is a fundamental way of breathing naturally and normally. It all occurs down around the abdominal area utilizing the diaphragm and stomach/abdominals, not the chest - except in those instances requiring the deeper diaphragmatic breathing. Once you lay this foundation of the fundamentals of breathing then you can expand on that by learning the breathing required for martial disciplines or other Yoga like disciplines for health, fitness and well-being.
One key basic fundamental that you should add to this mix, is always breath during all movement and exertions. We tend to hold our breath when doing certain actions in the mistaken belief that it gives us more power and strength. It may feel that way but it is not optimal. You should breath in and out continuously with no stops in everything you do especially in martial arts. This is important to remember especially if you end up in a SD situation because continuous diaphragmatic deep rhythmic breathing is going to be your savior along with all those other SD goals, tactics and strategies. If you feel, like when bench pressing heavy weights, a need to hold your breath to get that bar up then you are lifting way to much weight. Proper weight lifting, like martial arts, etc., involve the type of continuous breathing.
Bibliography:
Maffetone, Philip Dr. “The Maffetone Method: The Holistic, Low-stress, No-Pain Way to Exceptional Fitness.” McGraw Hill, New York. 2000.
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