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Old 01-21-2011, 10:00 AM   #3
Marc Abrams
Dojo: Aikido Arts of Shin Budo Kai/ Bedford Hills, New York
Location: New York
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,302
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Re: Breathing Practices

Quote:
Mike Sigman wrote: View Post
Marc, let me make an observation with good intention: if I was a relative newby to Aikido or any other art, I would read your discussion and maybe get the idea that there are two different kinds of breathing. However, in addition to a not-really-clear definition of reverse-breath, there's no real clear reason what the usage differences are between normal/natural/post-birth breathing and reverse/pre-birth breathing.

And what is the point of "allowing their diaphragms to expand down into their groin area when breathing in"? Not trying to be picky here, but it's my habit to always read with an idea toward "what is the usable information here?".

My original comment was simply that in any type of breathing, on the inhale the diaphragm must come downward or air couldn't be pulled into the lungs. This is true for both 'reverse breathing' and for 'natural breathing'. "Ki Breathing" must be one of those two types. I dunno... it depends on what "Ki Breathing" is and that hasn't been defined; only labeled.

Tohei and his students have indicated that there are some types of breathing exercises that he hasn't made publicly available. My bet, based on knowing some breathing exercises from a number of Asian systems, is that the full breathing complement involves some instances of reverse breathing also.

Given that reverse-breathing is found pretty much everywhere in Asian martial-arts (i.e., it's no big secret), what do you think it's used for functionally, Marc?

Mike Sigman
Mike:

The blog is an accompaniment to my classes. We discuss our experiences of the use of breathing and how it related to our execution of waza. Believe it or not, I do understand the various reasons and uses for the different types of breathing (there are many more than two different types of breathing methods). I started this thread to stop the previous thread drift. I am interested in hearing about how other people view the use of breathing practices in their practice. Maybe you want to freely share how you use your breathing in your practice. I have to teach a class now. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Regards,

Marc Abrams
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