For those who don't like the tsssst...

[Bill Glasheen]

It boggles my mind that you can't un-learn your former breathing method, Fred. But you feel what you feel I guess. One question you may ask yourself is whether or not you WANT to change something if your body is so comfortable with it.

Just because a new expert says something is better isn't a reason IMO. There's been debate on this for years. You probably know that the British press were all over one of the early tennis "screamers." Can't remember who she was... But they were relentless. So she decided to be silent for that tournament, and lost. She absolutely sucked. At that point she decided not to listen to others, and do what her body seemed comfortable doing. And wouldn't you know that - with her screaming - she began to do well again. The press soon left her alone when they saw the difference, and other players began vocalizing.

I would however recommend folks practice the Goju version of Sanchin. It's different... Van once noted during Dave Finkelstein's test that he was breathing out at various points in his kata. That's because he started in Goju. That dynamic tension, breathing kata will teach you ANOTHER way to breathe. Better yet, it taught me not to breathe the same way for every damn thing you do, like I see some folks do who try to incorporate "expert" breathing methods. It makes me want to rip my hair out, because it's clear they are "wearing" rather than "owning" their breathing.

FWIW, Goju Sanchin will teach you various INHALING techniques (plural) as well. There's no sin against experimenting with it. Nobody died from doing Goju. Far from it... Some of the best warriors I know did Okinawan Goju.

I'm not a big fan of the red-in-the-face Sanchins done by some. That's not good exercise IMO.

BTW, one of the benefits of "sniffing" your inhales (when you want or need to) is that it increases venous return. That in turn will give you a bolus of blood to squeeze out of your vena cava on your next restricted exhale.

One more thought... I personally don't like mouth restrictions (per Don Smith's description above). There's really nothing terribly wrong with it. It works... I just prefer not to do it because it causes a lot of spitting in the dojo, and can dry your mouth out. My restriction comes way back from my epiglottis. Listen to your house cat when (s)he hisses. That's what I do. I learned it in my very first kata (Teisha 1) which ended in cat-like motions and a belly-driven throat hiss. It moves me... My Japanese instructor always used to say Osu!!! whenever he saw me finish that kata. It works for me, and blends with the way I do my Goju Sanchin.

- Bill

[Mills75]

All I can say is tonight was a buttkicker at class man wow..We usually work hard as always and at times when I can I go in early.My sensei and myself were there tonight before class doing kettlebell exercises like snatches and presses with no break in between the sets and I swear to God I was so taxed after doing this it was incredible. I like to work with the jars and the kettlebells and all the stuff and think it's great. I just lifted last night so maybe that added to my exhaustion tonight after working out but i was really completely spent and had no more to give.

53lb kettlebell gets pretty heavy when you go from one exercise to the other for like 30 reps with both arms doing presses and snatches and things. Not to beat my own drum for people I know but for my sensei being 59 years old now he really impresses me with his work ethic as always and his overall fitness level because he's really good with those kettlebells and other things. I like to think I'm good also to some extent but tonight they beat my behind good and plenty for real.

I really am exhausted tonight from class and I don't have any spare fuel left over for much tonight in all honesty. I needed two sets of lungs to breath tonight because I was sweating and laboring toward the end. I always sweat and labor because that's what it's all about but tonight was a killer lol...Goodness me!

Jeff

[Mills75]

Our Goju-ryu guest did some other kata's for us also and he was a pretty cool guy. He demonstrated Tensho and I hope I'm spelling that correctly and it was a pretty cool kata to take in. I enjoyed watching and listening to him explain how he saw things.

He spent a good many years in Japan studying and before Goju-ryu he was involved when he first started out with Shotokan. I don't know a whole lot about other arts but he explained he studied the Shotokan before it became a different version with other influences in it. He was to good of a guy to disparage Shotokan as an overall art but he did explain that he wished he would have found Goju-ryu first because he felt that previous twenty two years in Shotokan would have been better spent in Goju-ryu.

So he wished all his years were in Goju-ryu. He also told us that we were lucky as students to have researched and found and started in Uechi-ryu that he also see's as very effective and practical. He was glad we didn't take another road and come to find out later that it wasn't the right one as he did when he started. He was glad that we were in our art that we love from the start of our martial arts careers unlike himself.

He was a good guest and it was interesting to see some Goju-ryu in action. I enjoyed it but my loyalty will always be to Uechi-ryu though lol...I enjoyed the visit though and the taste of Goju that we got.

Jeff

[Van Canna]

By training to breathe with action/motion/movement, you educate your instincts to recognize this ‘stress antidote’ _ [chemical cocktail] as one reason.

Your breathing pattern is a direct reflection of the level of stress on the body and mind at any given point. It is the mirror of your internal physical and mental condition, something that can be trained.

Question for you, Jeff: why did Takamyagi sensei change his breathing pattern from breathing out after the strike to the breathing out with the strike?

What explanation has he given? I know the explanation by another senior/senior at the very top of Okikukai but I will not discuss it.

Breathe as you are most comfortable and efficient, learn the various methods and the 'Why' of them_ then use whatever fits your person, your make up and your performance goals.

And this is all relative. Some people could still kill in a fight with rags stuffed in their mouth and a paper bag over the head.

And test your breathing efficiency, with a tsst after effort, by entering open 'kick ass' tournaments as we did in the 60's to determine if it works for you.

Also you may wish to test it against adrenaline scenarios with bulletmen chasing you down.



When under pressure, the physiological effect of “fight or flight” response, results either in rapid uncontrolled breathing [hyperventilation] or ‘stopped breathing’ with a loss of blood flow to the extremities, including the brain. The body becomes tense, the mind races, and the ability to execute movement and to think rationally deteriorates rapidly.

It is up to each of us to determine what breathing method should be practiced to make it through the fog of combat.

And then there is this

Sonnon

For instance, one of the methods I've used was a biofeedback machine which recorded heart rate and respiratory speed and depth. I and the doctor with whom I worked incrementally increased stress of performance on a group of untrained college students, and a second group of college students trained in a particular breathing exercise of active exhalation on perceived effort, and a third group of college students who were encouraged to hold their breath.

Our findings concluded that the group of college students trained in a particular breathing exercise of active exhalation on perceived effort proved themselves to FAR out strip the performance of the control group and the inhalation holding group as well as keeping the lowest arousal levels under stress.

The bottom line is that under stress, your body will want to breathe you as needed, including inhaling/stopping the breath totally.

Good coaches attempt to teach and embed patterns that have a better chance of not 'choking you' during sporting performance and survival situations.

[Van Canna]

Martial artists should be aware of their breathing at all times, especially when performing techniques. Always breathe out while striking with the technique.

This helps add focus and power to each technique. Then, inhale when returning to the starting position. Often, when you concentrate on exhaling as you strike, inhaling follows naturally. Don’t breathe too rapidly or you’ll hyperventilate.

As you become more comfortable with these breathing techniques, you will notice improved endurance during your workouts.

[Bill Glasheen]

Our Goju-ryu guest did some other kata's for us also and he was a pretty cool guy. He demonstrated Tensho and I hope I'm spelling that correctly and it was a pretty cool kata to take in. I enjoyed watching and listening to him explain how he saw things.

You got the spelling right.

Tensho is the other "breathing exercise" kata in Goju Ryu. For those folks who find doing both Uechi and Goju Sanchin a bit difficult (because of their similarities but agonizingly subtle differences), going instead to Tensho to acquire Goju's breathing exercises is probably a great idea. Not only is it more complex and aesthetically more pleasing to watch and do, but it is one of the classical forms that Miyagi didn't "muck with." In other words, it has retained its original Chinese open-handed nature. As such, it's a great compliment to Uechi Ryu.

My personal philosophy is to learn AND practice myriad breathing methods. In my opinion - based upon doing, studying, analyzing, and basic science learning - sticking with a single breathing method is a really bad idea. It would be akin to assuming Uechi Ryu is ONLY a striking art, and all that throwing and grabbing stuff is (insert name of grappling art which insecure Uechika like to disparage). Could you enter a mixed martial arts tournament and survive with only striking skills or only grappling skills? Do you think the Marine Corp are only teaching striking or grappling in their MCMAP program? If you're one of the many who now see deadly applications in our own kata which involve mixed skills, then you're probably a person who wants to get out of the straightjacket of a single breathing method from whatever source.

What I've been doing in my more senior years is finding ways to blend one breathing method into the next so that my trained body naturally finds the way to respire - depending upon what needs to be accomplished. I no longer see fixed boundaries between breathing methods I know and practice. Rather like an MC Escher print, I can blend one method into the next as I gradually change the nature of a physical task from one to the next.



It's a bit akin to "sounding" more as you go up on your weight in the weight room. Meanwhile if you're demonstrating an exercise with just a bar, there's no need to make any sound of huffing at all.

First, I think we need to get rid of the "tsst" name. I don't make a "tsst" noise when I breathe this way. As Marty Dow explained to me, the student was supposed to hide the sound once (s)he learned how to breathe this way. This is what the late and great Shinjo Seiyu taught. "Uechi breathing" is also a bad name, because I incorporate MANY different breathing methods in my advanced Uechi kata. Even in my Uechi Sanchin, I have several breathing methods I use, as there are a number of different kinds of physical motions in that kata from soup to nuts.

Anyhow, I'll have to work on that name thing...

That being said, I think it's important for folks to dig deeper into what they are doing when using this kind of breathing. I've quizzed Tomoyose Sensei and Mattson Sensei enough over the years that I'm now comfortable with what is being done and why. I can even sort of kind of translate the "Uechi speak" into real physiologic principles and physical actions.

So... That's my goal in questioning you. If you look inside and study what you are doing AND compare notes with contemporaries doing the same whom you respect, then you'll learn a lot more about the what and the why.

And then you'll be ready for the next step, which is how to blend this kind of breathing in with other kinds of breathing.

- Bill