Power and breathing: common problem?

[sensei8]

This is what I find funny, and you will when you notice it. The fabricated hissing noises that boxers make when they punch. Not all boxers do it, especially these days. It may be their technique for generating focus and power, it may be a habit, it may be a fashion among their gym mates, I don't really know. If you notice someone doing it, you will find that there is a pronounced in-breath just before the technique, so wait for it, block and counter. As I said, it's not as common as it used to be but still a fashion some boxers follow.

Solid post!!

After all, most MAists, especially karate, kiai at the dojo, but how many here can say that they/they'll kiai on the streets?? It's drilled in us from day one, and one would think that muscle memory would make sure that you do kiai when on the street.

Kiai provides much, but to kiai on the streets, other things are going on to worry if you did or didn't!!

[Harkon72]

You have discovered one of my pet hates Sensei8! Fake Kiai! It really sends me nuts to listen to karateka and other martial artists utter feeble, nonsense sounding bleats as they attempt to make some noise at kiai points in kata and kihon and even in their kumite. The variation in these utterings is varied and wonderful. I've heard whole classes say "AYE" like they are children calling out the initial in the word apple. They have heard the teacher do it so they copy. I have heard a whole karate club shout "Tai Ho!" at kiai points, really, I have! They don't know how ridiculous they sound until someone tells them. The JKA advocate the almost silent kiai, or the grunt as I call it, you can argue that the diaphragm moves, so this is fine. I think that a kiai is a personal thing, it's a signature of effort and a pinnacle of focus and intent. In this way it should be natural to your application and it can be different or consistent each time. I know that mine can vary, even in the same kata. I am known in our association for screaming kiai, blood curdling in fact. My wife watched a grading of mine once; my kiai towards the end of Pinan Yondan made her burst into tears. I don't do it deliberately, that's just how they happen. One of our senior sensei commented in his class about my kiai when one of his juniors was shocked to hear it; "Gareth isn't very big, he wears glasses, but if a bully hears that scream as he attacks; he's going to run." So maybe a kiai in the street may be effective. One word of advice; please kiai, do it from the heart and please don't utter the actual word "KIAI!" when you do it! Kindest Regards.

[Karate4Life]

OSU!

The hissing sound that boxers make is not a fashion, it's breath control in order to maximize power that comes from the core of the body. Some call it tanden, some call it the lower abdomen. It's the boxer's equivalent to a kiai. Weight lifters grunt when they are at the peak of the lifts they're doing - that's another kiai. Kiai is nothing Karate specific, you find it everywhere, and people adjust it according to their needs. Above all other things, a kiai needs to be natural and is supposed to support what you're doing.

OSU!

[Spartacus Maximus]

I read some very interesting answers from the posts on this forum and it all makes sense. I decided to discuss it with my sensei and his answer was not something I ever thought about.

He said that I thought too much about doing things correctly and that thinking too much interferes with actually performing techniques. The unconscious breath stopping is because of confusion from thinking about and trying to move in a way that is still not familiar, and awkward.

The solution to my problem is also very simple: keep training and stop thinking. I'm still not sure I understand completely but I don't intend to stop practising anytime soon.

[sensei8]

I read some very interesting answers from the posts on this forum and it all makes sense. I decided to discuss it with my sensei and his answer was not something I ever thought about.

He said that I thought too much about doing things correctly and that thinking too much interferes with actually performing techniques. The unconscious breath stopping is because of confusion from thinking about and trying to move in a way that is still not familiar, and awkward.

The solution to my problem is also very simple: keep training and stop thinking. I'm still not sure I understand completely but I don't intend to stop practising anytime soon.

Oh yeah...sometimes we get in our own way, and that makes training the much more difficult to stomach as we try to increase our MA betterment.