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As the American Kenpo forms become more sophisticated, one instinctively tends to try to add more complexity to the breathing aspects of the forms. This is unnecessary and unwarranted. Taken as a general rule, breathing in Short Form One should be essentially the same as in Long Form Three. Outside of any specific emphasis in breath, such as adding kia's, the breath should remain unlabored and relaxed, not constrained and held for periods of time.

 

A major thing that one will notice as the forms progress is that if one's breath is not regulated properly, one begins to get more and more out of breath as the form's execution progresses; sometimes to the point where one needs to take a break in order to complete a form's execution. This is due to two primary factors: one's physical conditioning and one's breathing practices.

 

And, although physical conditioning is an important factor, its detrimental effects can be further exasperated by improper breathing. In other words, if one does not breath properly this can directly affect not only how well, but how long one can physically exert themself without pause. If one does not learn to properly manipulate their breath during physical exertion, this becomes more and more apparent as the duration of the forms continues to increase. And, Long Form Three is a relatively long form.

 

Therefore, like many other aspects of the forms, the lack of learning to properly regulate one's breath becomes more and more critical and outwardly apparent as one progresses in the art. Any well-versed practitioner will easily be able to deduce another proficiency in this facet of the art, simply by observing their performance of a form such as Long Form Three.

 

And although one's breath will tend to increase as the form progresses, the overall goal is to maintain a fairly smooth and regular tempo, with deep inhalations from the core, not shallow and from the upper lungs. Likewise, exhales should be deep, relaxed, and initiated from the lower abdomen. The increase in breath should attempt to come from larger breaths, rather than faster and shallower breathing.

 

Without question, proper breathing helps to reinforce correct execution and accurate coordination. In fact, breath is just one of the many elements of proper coordination. And in many respects a vital one. And although often overlooked, breath is critical not only for proper manifestation of individual maneuvers, but also for one's extended performance. Take the time to pay attention to breathing. We often neglect this aspect of our art because we do it automatically. But, like many other aspects of the art, we must learn to go beyond the automatic and untrained, by learning strategic application and proper manifestation with purpose, understanding, and control.