Sticking to my idea of things that work, I'll share some on what some people call "combat breathing." It is also known as autogenic breathing and goes by other names, even "Chi breathing" in some places.

This breathing can help control stress. It is often taught to law enforcement officers to help with the adrenaline overload that comes with various activities of the job. A self-defense situation definitely elicits the adrenaline overload and that is why this kind of training in important for any self-defense program, and why anyone practicing and training in warrior arts should include this type of training as well.

Grossman and Christensen have written about it, as have Lawrence Kane and Rodger Ruge. (these are just off the top of my head as I think of references home on my shelves that have mentioned autogenic breathing.) And guess what? I will be mentioning it in some of my future projects. Why? Because it works.

In a nutshell, autogenic breathing is a controlled breathing that is done in cycles. The most basic is done all to a count of four. (As taught by the authors above and many others) Breath in through the nose for a count of four, hold your breath for a count of four, exhale through your mouth for a count of four, hold your breath for a count of four and then restart the cycle.

This is a bit different from the 1 - 4 - 2 pattern that Tony Robbins and Karate Black Belt Tom Muzila teach that I often practice, and the pattern that Dr. Weil teaches that I also sometimes practice. But they all have very similar effects.

One of the reasons I believe this pattern is more accepted by law enforcement trainers and the like is because it is an easier pattern to remember. Four seconds each. Bottom line, all of these patterns can work toward reducing stress. Reports state that these simple breathing patters can help lower blood pressure, stress levels, and minimize the side effects of adrenaline. All very important when dealing with martial activities such as war, police work, or self-defense. Not to mention for improved health period. And improved health is a very good reason to train and practice breathing exercises.

One problem law enforcement trainers face is how to get the officers to breath this way when they really need it. How do you remember to breath when that adrenaline dumps into your system and tunnel vision or target fixation is occurring, and the reasoning part of your brain is going haywire, and your complex motor skills are diminished?

You really can't train to remember as much as you can make it a conditioned response. To do this, you practice autogenic breathing each time you encounter a certain response, such as hearing a siren, drawing a weapon, and any time you could potentially become involved in a high stress situation. You want to condition the breathing response for every time you could become involved in a high stress situation.

It is similar to our other martial art techniques. You must train and practice until it becomes automatic. Any stressful situation and you automatically start autogenic breathing to reduce the effects of that stress.

Autogenic breathing is an important skill to include in your training. It is one more skill we can practice to improve our performance when we need it most. Besides that, it just might help you live longer too!

Yours in Training,

Alain