QUOTE
April 30th, 2009
In This Issue
> The Importance Of Correct Breathing
> The Meaning of "Kiai"
> myGKR Training Tip Sample
This article is to give you some insight into the importance of learning to breathe correctly and the how it can significantly improve not just your training but your life.
Most people take their breathing for granted. It costs nothing, requires little to no thought and seems to be in endless supply. Only when our breathing is impaired by age, pollution or ill health do we show concern.
While we can survive for weeks without food, days without water, life is only possible for a few minutes without air. But you all know this, if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be alive and certainly wouldn’t be reading this. What too few realise, is that we do not just breathe to stay alive, our breathing also determines the quality of our life.
If you only ever breathe subconsciously, in other words, let your body do it without any extra thought, and only operate through your breathing habits, chances are you are only filling your lungs to about one third of their capacity.
Our habitual breathing also happens to be shallow, poor breathing. This means that oxygen does not energise our body effectively. To give you a crash course in the importance of oxygen, air does not just enter and leave the lungs (known as external respiration). It also distributes oxygen throughout the body via the bloodstream, unlocking the doors of energy cells. This is known as internal respiration or tissue breathing. The more our lung capacity if used, the more effectively are we able to unlock the doors of our body’s energy cells. This equates to clearer thinking, less stress, more energy, less chance of acquiring disease, over all better health, the list goes on.
For those who only breathe through habit, the good news, if you exercise, you are doing your body a great service because during exercise our lungs are then filled to about two thirds.
It doesn’t require a brain surgeon to realise that optimal health comes from filling your lungs to their full capacity. So how do we do this? There is only one way, by engaging in deep conscious breathing.
There are truly amazing benefits to be drawn from the air around you, whatever your location or circumstances. It costs nothing and requires no equipment or training partner.
There are three main benefits to be gained from undertaking a conscious deep breathing program.
1) For better inner health
2) To build your energy
3) For longevity.
The process is quite simple, take a deep breath in, inhaling through the nose, your stomach should expand not contract when breathing in, hold for the count of three, then exhale through the mouth as slowly and as silently as you can, again count to three before taking the next breath.
When beginning to breathe correctly, you may find the inhalation a little short and unsatisfactory and the exhalation hard to control. You may experience brief dizziness as you are not accustomed to taking in so much oxygen at once. Don’t worry though, like anything, you will get better with practise.
Kiai (pronounced key-eye) is a Japanese term used in martial arts.
The term kiai commonly refers to a short yell before or during a fight or technique. 'Kiai-jutsu' is the Japanese art of using a kiai when using Martial arts.
The proper use of kiai-jutsu involves concentrating on the use of the body's energy more than it does just shouting. A sound is just an audible indication of good kiai (aligned body structure, focused intent, and good breathing). A kiai can be a silent, co-ordination of breath with movement. A kiai is done by quickly exhaling and at the same time making a one syallable sound. "I", "HI" and "EE" would be good sounds to use for a kiai.
You want your kiai to be short, but as loud as possible. However, a kiai should not be confused with a yell. A well-executed kiai will not cause the throat to feel to raw, as yelling would.
The noise from a kiai is said to arise from the abdominal muscles and diaphragm and should not be sounded merely from the throat. A relaxed and powerful exhalation can add power to movement.
As well as the above, the kiai can be used to:
• Startle and demoralize your enemy (Battle Cry). It should startle your opponent. Even a momentary pause or blink by your opponent can be the opening that you can take advantage of. Use a kiai to help create that opening.
• Prime yourself for combat, by "psyching yourself up." Think of it as talking to yourself before the big fight. The kiai should get your adrenaline going.
• Protect the upper body from a strike by providing an escape route for exhalation of air. It empties air from the lungs. This is good, because if you are struck after executing a kiai, the chances of having the "wind knocked out of you" are greatly reduced. By getting as much air out of your lungs as possible, it makes you a somewhat harder, denser target. Therefore, if you are struck after a kiai, it should not hurt quite as much.
• Protect the lower body by rapidly contracting the transverse abdominals and other core muscles, shielding the internal organs. Should provide solid abdominal support for striking techniques.
Knowing when to use a kiai and how to properly execute and apply it are just as important as knowing the proper way to punch, kick or block - but when you add a strong kiai to these moves, then you will have a devastating technique!
Over previous weeks we have discussed the merits of being relaxed through kata and kumite, but what about self-defence?
As karate training aims to equip us for real life combat, the principle of being relaxed is as important for self-defence as it is for sharp kata or explosive kumite. The following benefits apply to using relaxed technique effectively.
SPEED
By ridding tension from our movement, and maintaining relaxed muscles until the very end of technique, we add speed. This is because tension in the muscles works just like the brakes in our car, slowing us down. So faster movement means less reaction time for your real life assailant.
POWER
Tension in the muscles not only slows us down, it minimises our power output. Power is derived partly from speed (making it obvious why we lose power) but also from a coordinated effort from all muscles in the body. Our whole body is involved in generating power, starting from the ground (our feet, calves, quads etc) and energy filters evenly up throughout the body (working up through our torso and into our arms and finally hands). When a muscle group is tense, this coordinated flow is interrupted and we lose power.
ACCURACY
What happens when a footballer (soccer player) has a shot on goal and tenses up with pressure? The ball goes sailing over the bar. What happens if a golfer tenses up during their shot? The ball goes flying off to the side.
Point being: Try hitting a tiny target (such as the centre black dot on a focus pad) when you have relaxed technique, it’s quite easy. Then try to hit it again when you have tension in your muscles. It’s almost impossible! In real life combat, you want to be sure your attacks are hitting vulnerable areas (groin, throat, nose etc), so it’s important to stay relaxed.
MENTAL PRESSURE
Its one thing to be relaxed during kata and kumite but another thing altogether to be relaxed in real life combat. This is because of the amount of fear involved. Suddenly there is so much on the line and its easy to tense up with fear, anxiety and nerves.
This is where the power of breathing comes in. Just as breathing controls our muscles during kata, it does the same in real life.
Your natural tendency will be to hold your breath and grit your teeth.
By controlling your breathing and focusing on your training, you will be able to stay relaxed and hence, be far more effective.
In This Issue
> The Importance Of Correct Breathing
> The Meaning of "Kiai"
> myGKR Training Tip Sample
This article is to give you some insight into the importance of learning to breathe correctly and the how it can significantly improve not just your training but your life.
Most people take their breathing for granted. It costs nothing, requires little to no thought and seems to be in endless supply. Only when our breathing is impaired by age, pollution or ill health do we show concern.
While we can survive for weeks without food, days without water, life is only possible for a few minutes without air. But you all know this, if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be alive and certainly wouldn’t be reading this. What too few realise, is that we do not just breathe to stay alive, our breathing also determines the quality of our life.
If you only ever breathe subconsciously, in other words, let your body do it without any extra thought, and only operate through your breathing habits, chances are you are only filling your lungs to about one third of their capacity.
Our habitual breathing also happens to be shallow, poor breathing. This means that oxygen does not energise our body effectively. To give you a crash course in the importance of oxygen, air does not just enter and leave the lungs (known as external respiration). It also distributes oxygen throughout the body via the bloodstream, unlocking the doors of energy cells. This is known as internal respiration or tissue breathing. The more our lung capacity if used, the more effectively are we able to unlock the doors of our body’s energy cells. This equates to clearer thinking, less stress, more energy, less chance of acquiring disease, over all better health, the list goes on.
For those who only breathe through habit, the good news, if you exercise, you are doing your body a great service because during exercise our lungs are then filled to about two thirds.
It doesn’t require a brain surgeon to realise that optimal health comes from filling your lungs to their full capacity. So how do we do this? There is only one way, by engaging in deep conscious breathing.
There are truly amazing benefits to be drawn from the air around you, whatever your location or circumstances. It costs nothing and requires no equipment or training partner.
There are three main benefits to be gained from undertaking a conscious deep breathing program.
1) For better inner health
2) To build your energy
3) For longevity.
The process is quite simple, take a deep breath in, inhaling through the nose, your stomach should expand not contract when breathing in, hold for the count of three, then exhale through the mouth as slowly and as silently as you can, again count to three before taking the next breath.
When beginning to breathe correctly, you may find the inhalation a little short and unsatisfactory and the exhalation hard to control. You may experience brief dizziness as you are not accustomed to taking in so much oxygen at once. Don’t worry though, like anything, you will get better with practise.
Kiai (pronounced key-eye) is a Japanese term used in martial arts.
The term kiai commonly refers to a short yell before or during a fight or technique. 'Kiai-jutsu' is the Japanese art of using a kiai when using Martial arts.
The proper use of kiai-jutsu involves concentrating on the use of the body's energy more than it does just shouting. A sound is just an audible indication of good kiai (aligned body structure, focused intent, and good breathing). A kiai can be a silent, co-ordination of breath with movement. A kiai is done by quickly exhaling and at the same time making a one syallable sound. "I", "HI" and "EE" would be good sounds to use for a kiai.
You want your kiai to be short, but as loud as possible. However, a kiai should not be confused with a yell. A well-executed kiai will not cause the throat to feel to raw, as yelling would.
The noise from a kiai is said to arise from the abdominal muscles and diaphragm and should not be sounded merely from the throat. A relaxed and powerful exhalation can add power to movement.
As well as the above, the kiai can be used to:
• Startle and demoralize your enemy (Battle Cry). It should startle your opponent. Even a momentary pause or blink by your opponent can be the opening that you can take advantage of. Use a kiai to help create that opening.
• Prime yourself for combat, by "psyching yourself up." Think of it as talking to yourself before the big fight. The kiai should get your adrenaline going.
• Protect the upper body from a strike by providing an escape route for exhalation of air. It empties air from the lungs. This is good, because if you are struck after executing a kiai, the chances of having the "wind knocked out of you" are greatly reduced. By getting as much air out of your lungs as possible, it makes you a somewhat harder, denser target. Therefore, if you are struck after a kiai, it should not hurt quite as much.
• Protect the lower body by rapidly contracting the transverse abdominals and other core muscles, shielding the internal organs. Should provide solid abdominal support for striking techniques.
Knowing when to use a kiai and how to properly execute and apply it are just as important as knowing the proper way to punch, kick or block - but when you add a strong kiai to these moves, then you will have a devastating technique!
Over previous weeks we have discussed the merits of being relaxed through kata and kumite, but what about self-defence?
As karate training aims to equip us for real life combat, the principle of being relaxed is as important for self-defence as it is for sharp kata or explosive kumite. The following benefits apply to using relaxed technique effectively.
SPEED
By ridding tension from our movement, and maintaining relaxed muscles until the very end of technique, we add speed. This is because tension in the muscles works just like the brakes in our car, slowing us down. So faster movement means less reaction time for your real life assailant.
POWER
Tension in the muscles not only slows us down, it minimises our power output. Power is derived partly from speed (making it obvious why we lose power) but also from a coordinated effort from all muscles in the body. Our whole body is involved in generating power, starting from the ground (our feet, calves, quads etc) and energy filters evenly up throughout the body (working up through our torso and into our arms and finally hands). When a muscle group is tense, this coordinated flow is interrupted and we lose power.
ACCURACY
What happens when a footballer (soccer player) has a shot on goal and tenses up with pressure? The ball goes sailing over the bar. What happens if a golfer tenses up during their shot? The ball goes flying off to the side.
Point being: Try hitting a tiny target (such as the centre black dot on a focus pad) when you have relaxed technique, it’s quite easy. Then try to hit it again when you have tension in your muscles. It’s almost impossible! In real life combat, you want to be sure your attacks are hitting vulnerable areas (groin, throat, nose etc), so it’s important to stay relaxed.
MENTAL PRESSURE
Its one thing to be relaxed during kata and kumite but another thing altogether to be relaxed in real life combat. This is because of the amount of fear involved. Suddenly there is so much on the line and its easy to tense up with fear, anxiety and nerves.
This is where the power of breathing comes in. Just as breathing controls our muscles during kata, it does the same in real life.
Your natural tendency will be to hold your breath and grit your teeth.
By controlling your breathing and focusing on your training, you will be able to stay relaxed and hence, be far more effective.
Comments welcome, as always!