Breathing During Kata

[todome]

Hangetsu is an excellent kata for breathing.

but...

like I already said...

if the stance sucks...

[xravenwingsx]

Ok. I'm still a beginner (5th kyu) and so I know there's a right way to breathe while doing kata, I'm just not sure what it is. My instrutor tells us that breathing is something we don't usually start focusing on until black belt and for right now we should just practice the moves. Which *was* fine with me-- until I moved to 7,500 ft.

I'm going back home for Christmas and will go to classes at my old school for a few weeks while I'm there and so I'm starting to get really serious about practicing because I'm really determined to go back better than I was when I left. I don't want any backsliding. So I've noticed that the "whatever" style of breathing that was fine for me at sea level doesn't quite cut it up here. By the 2nd or third time I run through a kata I'm huffing and puffing and need to rest. Yes, I'm a bit out of shape, but I'm also very sure it has a lot to do with the altitude as I'm not this bad at sea level.

So I've been trying a breathing technique where I pretty much purse my lips and breathe out quickly on every technique in the kata (like short "blowing out a candle" breath). It's improving the strength of my techniques and forcing me to breathe after every technique, but I'm not sure it's right. It's there a correct way of doing this?

good question, I've been wondering the same thing.

[Kuma]

I've always liked Tensho kata for learning how to breathe for karate, as it combines relaxed flowing movements with dynamic tension. All of the previous advice is also excellent.

[Toad]

All kata is "breathing kata" and if you don't understand that then your karate is missing something. So what do i mean by breathing kata? Do i mean heavy breathing, no. I mean do correct breathing in every kata and it will help your progress to the advanced levels and further on. Today it's a sad thing when wacthing on the net on a "popular site" kata's, you can even see the worldchamps of kata doing incorrect breathing, but it doesen't matter coz they make the moves quickly and that impresses the judges. Belive me it is hard to do correct breathing on a simple kata as: Taikyoku Shodan. But doing in/out breathing is only the begining of the journey.