Proper breathing technique is an important part of martial arts practice that often gets overlooked. Breathing helps energize the body and rid it of toxins, preparing it for practice. These techniques should be explored and experimented with to improve proper breathing technique. They do not all have to be performed at once.
Attention Breathing
This is a simple form of breath exercise which involves maintaining your awareness of your breath as you inhale and exhale through the nose. This is conscious breathing which requires you to deliberately follow the breath as it enters your nostrils and flows through your throat and into your lungs. It should be performed in a seated position in a quiet place for several minutes a day.
Abdominal Breathing
Abdominal breathing is a breath exercise in which you deliberately inhale air into the lungs filling the abdomen, instead of the chest. The belly should noticeably expand with each inhale and as you inhale, the navel presses in towards the spine. Abdominal breathing helps to tone the abdominal muscles. It can be performed seated or standing.
Reverse Abdominal Breathing
Reverse abdominal breathing requires you to breathe in the opposite way you normally would. Usually we inhale and the expand the belly, and exhale pulling the belly in. In reverse abdominal breathing, you will deliberately pull the navel in towards the spine on the inhale and expand the belly on the exhale. This breathing exercise helps tone and strengthen the abdominal muscles. It should be repeated 10 times, inhaling all the way until the lungs are full and then exhaling all the way.
Nose Panting
The nose pant breathing exercise is especially helpful for building energy in the body before your martial arts practice. It involves sharp, short inhales and exhales through the nose and quick contractions of the abdominal muscles. As you sharply exhale through the nose the abdomen pulls in and it expands on the inhale. It should be repeated 10 times to start and you can then increase the repetitions as you feel more comfortable.
