Breathing

[lightweight132]

I was just curious as to how some of you breath when in the middle of a flurry or long combination. Do you exhale with every punch or just breath normally as if your were running when throwing a lot of punches.

If you haven't thought about it its time to start because if your doing it wrong it will get you winded real fast.

This is something i just started paying attention to but i find i last longer when i breath normally instead of exhaling w/ every punch on long combos. When you think about it your muscles need oxygen to perform so if you exhale w/ every punch then your running off very little oxygen because the period between punches isn't long enough to take in a sufficient amount of oxygen before it is exhaled again

[mBiOkXe08]

Yeah I am into the habit of doing the little 'hiss' after every punch I throw. YOu will most definetly last longer when you do some kind of exhaling because when you do that it forces air back into you to keep you going.

[AdamGB]

Effect punching is Anaerobic ('with out air') breathing as if you are running breaks your rythem down. Your ment to be exploding when you throw a combo... breathing normaly as you punch also relaxes the intercostale and Abdominal Muscles which give some protection from counters to the body if they are tense (when you breath out).

Once punching becomes even more natural you'll stop 'hissing' and do a shouting sort of thing with your combos... :P

[lightweight132]

Effect punching is Anaerobic ('with out air') breathing as if you are running breaks your rythem down. Your ment to be exploding when you throw a combo... breathing normaly as you punch also relaxes the intercostale and Abdominal Muscles which give some protection from counters to the body if they are tense (when you breath out).

Once punching becomes even more natural you'll stop 'hissing' and do a shouting sort of thing with your combos... :P

I think youre right about the whole muscle contraction thing never noticed that, but it does help me get threw the hand pads with some energy. When im fighting i dont really noticed im just trying to do damage

[AdamGB]

make that 'hiss noise' standing up and feel your abs

[greynotsoold]

The only advice I ever was offered on breathing came from an Australian woman (she was 69 in 198, a noted voice instructor at the Lee Strasberg Acting Institute and a singing instructor known as the "Auntie Mame" (check my spelling and memory there) of Heavy Metal. She was responsible for Guns and Roses and many other LA metal bands of that era.
Her theory was that your breathing apparati is separate from your singing (or punchiing stuff) parts- you can exhale 100% and sing talk or dance for some time, and go on longer still with just small amnts of oxygen. Most times one loses one's breath its due to too much air; you take a deep breath but don't use it all up or don't exhale it entirely, so you next breath is shorter and so on until you are full of 'used' oxygen which prevents the intake of actual breathable air. So take small gulps, into your lungs and not your stomach, and exhale them when used up. You never get much air to have knocked out of you