Everyday Ninja

This article is about the importance of breathing and how to do such. Breathing is one of the most powerful and essential parts of the human life however this vital ability is taken for granted. When people come by our school and see the time that is spent on breathing they look at me like why? I am a firm believer that the way a person practices is the way that person is gonna perform. First off breathing calms the mind and relaxes the body when done correctly helping the practitioner to get over something that will be a hindrance during a fight or flight situation ADRENALINE! When adrenaline pumps through your veins your body starts shaking , and your mind goes through what i call fight goo. Everything slows down and your motor skills become slow and clumsy unless you are able to push oxygen through your body and blood stream. This is one of the major reason why martial arts style like hapkido or aikido put so much time into breathing exercise, because when faced with danger the hapkido/ aikido practitioner depends on very finite motor skills for survival, martial artists that don’t train and elevate their breathing ability find that the smaller motor skills are useless because they are also fighting against the adrenaline factor.

So here are some tips

1) Breath slowy from your naval and not just your chest to get maximum amount of air.

2) uses counts of 8 or 10 seconds when you inhale

3) hold your breath at the end of the inhale for 8 to 10 seconds

4) exhale slowly using the same 8 to 10 count seconds and then repeat until you notice a complete clearness and awarness of your surroundings

i find that meditative deep breathing like this works best when sitting , wether in a kneeling posture or stitting with your legs crossed indian style helps your spine stay straight giving you more of a benefit fromyour breathing training

m e

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from the beginning of my martial arts journey the question would always come up from me or other people around me that practice, what style is the best? After 30 years i can finally say my style is the best. Now before i get hate mail and challenges to a duel to the death finish reading the whole article.

My style is the best for me , aha, so then you ask why is that ? first off im going to break down what i think a complete system is and then let you decide for your self.

A good style should have a foundation for spiritual growth and awareness training of oneself, most people  jump into a martial arts class because they want to learn how to fight someone but they miss one of the most important parts of training which is , learning how to fight themselves. How to think positive and stay away from the things that will harm them in the long run. The style should teach respect, not only for themselves but for others in the world , elders , children , authority etc. There should be training in how to breath, which is a major life function which is taken for granted but once mastered can be life changing in its self. Then the art should show them how to relax and concentrate. If a person cant learn how to control their mind then they will become a victim to anger , fear aggression and a whole other list of things that can cripple the mind when it comes down to performing self defense. All this before we even throw a punch . Next the basic knowledge of the anatomy of the body , before one strikes you should know what you are aiming for and what functions that will serve or disable , I mean what if you kill a person because you didn’t know how much pressure would close up the throat in a strike oops. Next movement not only movement for hitting but most importantly movement for not getting hit , avoidance how and when to run , i am  a 6th degree master instructor in a very rare type of Korean martial art and if i was pitted against Broc lesner guess what my first skill set is gonna be ….you got it ninja running my ass off , or putting something between  myself and him pick up a weapon etc. The brawls are for the movies and ufc when you have to physically fight then your self defense has already failed.

Next all the ranges should be covered.

striking,

kicking

tumbling/rolling

grappling /standing and on the ground

joint manipulation

pressure point attacking

weapons

escape

stealth

strategy

if your art is lacking anyone of these then you as an artist are lacking and are more than likely running to the person or situation that is going to exploit that weakness. When it comes down to it you are the best style and the sooner you equipyourself with the above mention the better you are prepared to face the unknown

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