The “average” person can survive approximately 30 days without food, 3 days without water, yet only 3 minutes without oxygen.

Some statistics about oxygen:

• Oxygen makes up 50% of the earth’s crust by weight
• 42% of all healthy vegetation
• 85% of seawater
• 46% of igneous rocks
• 90% of our energy comes from oxygen and only 10% from food and water (partly oxygen themselves)
• Enhances the body's absorption of vitamins, minerals amino acids, proteins, and other important nutrients

Oxygen displaces harmful “free radicals” in your system, neutralizes environmental toxins, and destroys certain bacteria that can live with little oxygen.

Your lungs will deteriorate somewhere between 9 –25% every decade (A Farmingham study) unless you do something to control this loss. Dr. Andrew Weil suggests that slowing down a few times a day and just taking a few slow deep breaths will do a world of good in your overall health. Chinese thought, however, go a few steps further with “Taoist Reverse Breathing.”

Similar to Pavel’s method of “power breathing” found in Power to the People and Bullet Proof Abs, reverse breath is taught (in martial arts) for several reasons. Correct breathing aids in;

A) Stronger strikes
B) Faster strikes
C) Greater lung capacity
D) Better oxygenation of cells.

Following is the Taoist method of reverse breathing.

To begin, stand with your feet shoulders width apart, toes facing forward, relax your shoulders and “empty” the chest (emptying the chest is believed to stimulate the thymus gland which benefits the immune system). Tilt the pelvis up and rest your tongue lightly to the roof of your mouth. Relax the chin and lift you head to open the spine. Wu Chi (Stillness)

Expel your breath and push not only your stomach out/down, but also your sides and lower back.

Inhale slowly through the nose, keeping the tongue resting on the roof of the mouth, and pull/lift your stomach in while lifting/contracting the perineum (squeezing and lifting of the anal sphincter and sex organs). Imagine closing the “spirit gate” acupuncture point on the crown of the head. Exhale and push/expand the stomach out.

Let the breath lead the stomach in and out and try not to force it with too much muscle. Also on exhalation, relax the perineum/anal lock. The best way is to just forget about the lock and not really push the relaxation of it.

Check yourself in a mirror at first and make sure when you inhale that your shoulders do not lift and the front of your chest isn’t expanding/opening.

This method of breathing allows for more air in the lungs and greater expulsion of the air that’s in there. Normally, when breathing high in the chest the diaphragm and lungs get hooked up on each other – preventing either from full capacity on inhalation and full drainage on exhalation. Not expelling that air totally causes the lungs to carry/contain stale air.

Correct reverse breathing forces the diaphragm to expand in a way that creates a vacuum in the lungs, filling them from the bottom up. Now both diaphragm and lungs are allowed to expand to their full capacity. Exhaling properly expels more air more efficiently, thus saving the lungs from carrying the stale air.

Using reverse breath in your training is essential. Basically, as you inhale the capillaries and like structures of the body collapse somewhat, as you exhale they expand. Reverse breath, along with the pelvic tilt also keeps your diaphragm from “bouncing.”

A martial benefit would be in your striking ability. The faster you can exhale the faster you can move. You must learn to coordinate your technique and breath and as each grows, it aids the other. Finally, the more air you expel the harder your hit. This works much the same way as power breathing when lifting weights. Exhaling like a shotgun blast (kiai in the Japanese arts) gives you that speed and power. Be sure to hold onto about 25% of your breath as a reserve. If you exhale everything you won’t be able to protect yourself from a strike and it will take longer to “reload” yourself.

It is difficult at first to get the right feeling, and it feels like you’re not getting enough oxygen. This is because the diaphragm needs to PRACTICE relaxing in the correct manner. But steady practice will bring about great results. Practice reverse breathing while sitting at your desk, stopped at a traffic light, watching TV, etc. before using it during a workout. Before long your brain will pick up the idea that this is how you want to breath now and will start doing it naturally.