Exhale When You Strike

[Kirk]

I was told this from the beginning. Exhale when you strike,
exhale when you settle. Last night, while working sparring drills
and other things, we did the old rope exercise, where you bob and weave under the rope, and throw various strikes when you
come back up.

Well I noticed that the guys that aren't exhaling when striking,
weren't nearly as tired, sweaty and panting as I. I know I'm in
worst shape than those guys, but the difference is pretty darned
drastic.

Is it because I was exhaling while striking? What should one do?

 

[Iron Dog]

Mr. Kirk. As a long time wrestler, I find that as the intensity grows and the session lengthens, breathing can compromise everything. Once Ilost weight and got myself into good cardio shape, I did a lot better. You are probably too shallow in your breathing and doing "chest breathing" If you can practice "belly breathing" more often you will find your recovery will come more quickly. I still roll with some Judo and Jiu-Jitsu people even though I'm fast approaching 60 (aaarrgh!). They are courteous to me, giving me just enough work that I don't die on the mat. But the conditioning I've maintained is great and keeps my juices flowing.
Good luck!
Patrick

 

[grimfang]

a simple exercise that will assist in the development of proper breathing: Practice a drill as you normally would. After completeing the drill, lie on your back for 2 minutes (on a hard surface, floor or ground) breathing deeply. You will notice that your are breating "from the belly" instead of the chest. Take a moment to get used to the "feel" of taking these deep breaths... stand up, and do the drill again, breathing just as you did on the floor. You will notice an immediate change.
This is an exercise that is widely taught to musicians to improve lung capacity and breathing techniques. I have found that it works equally well for martial arts and sports.
hope its helpfull to you.

 

[KanoLives]

I was taught that the reason for breathing when doing techs or anything is in case we get hit or if we fall that we are not leaving air in the lungs. I believe the analogy was that of a brown paper bag filled with air. If it gets smacked really hard it pops. And we don't want that to happen to us so we exhale. So I would say that you should definitely breath when training. Plus there's alot of other stuff that makes breathing properly important but you get the idea.

 

[rmcrobertson]

It has been my experience, Kirk, that if you're working really hard and sweating your buns off, and nobody else is...they're cheating on their training just as often as they're in better shape.

In this particular case, I'll bet that they're not really punching and blocking...just waving their arms.

Watch folks punch out of a horse stance. Are they focused at all? When they do sets of punches, are they fully pulling their elbows back, or just dog-paddling? Or look at Striking Set 1--would those punches, back-knuckles, etc. really hurt a fly?

Then there's the whole issue of stances--nothing makes you sweat more than stance work, unless it's Mr. Tatum's famous drill called, "fall down and get back up again repeatedly." (AKA "Encounter With Danger," "Tripping Arrow," and "Dance of Death.") Try that in a class, and see if folks don't wheeze and sweat...

Hope this helps, a little,
Robert

 

[lonekimono]

kirk "move like lighting hit like thunder" but you MUST remember to exhale when you hit someone because if you don't you might look like this:soapbox:

:asian: :asian:

 

[tonbo]

Exhaling *helps* you settle....

I get the feeling that the guys who are not as winded as you were were actually not *trying* as hard as you were.

Exhaling with strikes can take a lot out of you for a while, true, but it also adds a lot in. Eventually, you won't feel it as much, and it will be another part of the routine. Remember when kicking a lot during class would hurt so bad that you couldn't move the next day? (Okay, maybe a bad example, but....).

Anyway, yes. Exhale when you strike. Exhale when you settle. It doesn't have to be a hurricane force exhale, but a quick and sharp "hah" (insert your kiai here) will do the trick.

Just remember: Breathing is good.

Peace--

 

[Jill666]

I love the idea of grimfang's drill- gonna have to try it.

But I do agree that when I learned to exhale from the belly, I stopped getting as fatigued (kicking drills used to KILL me- and I mean sucking wind trying not to puke). Stop yelling a kiai, and just whoosh out a breath from the belly when you strike until you feel it, take the voice out of the equation for now.

 

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

Kirk: You are right. You should exhale when you strike. It will increase your power. It tightens your middle strengthening your center and strengthening your connection to the ground where your power truly originates.

When performing strikes in the air, your power is unmeasured. It becomes easy to cheat on the strikes and skip the exhale in order to breathe steadily and endure a longer drill. Try not to cheat. Continue working to make each strike as perfect as possible as you seem to be doing.

Coordinating your breathing to maximize striking power is what makes your work out contribute to your martial effectiveness. Not coordinating this in order to endure an aerobic exercise makes it Tae Bo.

 

[lonekimono]

Kirk you truly have a lot of friend's out here, and all are right with what they are telling you, so keep training and have fun, but REMMEMBER to exhale and like (i think it was jill) you do not have to do a yell when striking, :asian: :asian:

 

[Kirk]

Thanks for all the advice!