IN ONE BREATH

 by Phillip Starr

The study of proper breathing in so far as martial arts are concerned is a tricky subject but one that must be well-understood and utilized by anyone wishing to acquire real skill. You've all been told that you must exhale when emitting power and this is true. You should exhale 2/3 of your air as quickly as possible – I tell my students “in the space of a gunshot.” This means you have to open your mouth and avoid pursing your lips like a blowfish. If the opening through which the air is blown out is too small, it takes too long for it to be fully exhaled. Novices have to practice opening their mouths to do it properly. I tell my students, “Your mother always said you have a big mouth...so use it!”

Basically, your body works like a machine that is powered by a bellows. To make a strong movement, a large quantity of air must be forced through it. Small quantities of air just won't do it. And to make movement faster, the air must be forced through the machine quickly. When you are pushing your car, for example, you exhale slowly. But in martial arts, we want both a powerful movement and a fast movement. So 2/3 of the air must be exhaled very, very quickly (1/3 is kept in reserve).

With some practice, students can learn to do this fairly well. Now, let's look at the 4 stages of a breath and how that affects what we do:

1. First, you inhale (through the nose is preferable). It is at this time that you are most susceptible to blows; you can hardly resist them (unless you have learned a special form of breathing that I call “inverse breathing.”). Moreover, your reaction time is cut down by about 50%.

2. Then there's a slight, almost imperceptible pause. You are still unable to resist incoming blows.

3. Exhalation. This is when you are strongest – able to resist blows and move quickly.

4. A second pause occurs, leaving you as vulnerable as #2. This pause usually lasts just a bit longer than the previous one.

   
   
   

So, in delivering multiple blows (a combination), what should you do? If you watch your classmates, I'll bet money that they exhale seperately with each technique. This means that they are very vulnerable in between their techniques because their breath is paused, they are holding their breath, or they are inhaling. This is not a good thing.

Combinations should be fired off IN A SINGLE BREATH! And don't lengthen the exhalation to accommodate them; your exhalation should be as fast as possible...just as if you're executing a single technique. Your body will have to accommodate your breath by learning to move faster!

This isn't too difficult to do with a two-technique combination. Try three. It's much harder to do and will require considerable practice. Four technique combinations are darned near impossible! The next time you see someone perform a combination that involves more than three techniques, you can pretty well be assured that they're inhaling in there somewhere...not likely that they're doing it in a single breath!

Now, the very same idea applies to your forms...actually, any time that you fire off a combination. If your form calls for more than one blow to be delivered to the opponent, you must do so in one breath (unless the form distinctly calls for a pause, which rarely happens). This will help you learn the proper rhythm(s) of your forms. It's going to take time, patience, and lots of practice.

This begs the question, “just when do I exhale; at the beginning or end of a technique or combination?” The answer can be found by watching a car racing event! When the flag is still raised, the drivers rev their cars...hitting the gas so they'll go flying off the line when the flag drops. They don't try to give themselves much of an extra burst of speed and power just as they're closing on the finish line. The same is true for a rocket launch. The blast-off occurs at the beginning to give the missile plenty of power and speed to go into orbit. So...your breath is exhaled at the BEGINNING of your technique rather than at the end. Trying to exhale at the very end of your technique doesn't work well...and attempting to do so will usually result in your breath being mis-timed so that the exhalation occurs too late.

Practice, practice, practice!