Autogenic Breathing

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

Awareness and Avoidance

In my book Hard-Won Wisdom, I wrote about a time in Bangkok, Thailand, where I got off a bus early one morning having taken the night bus from Chang Mai. I was hanging out on Kao San Rd. waiting for places to open up so I could get something to eat and then go find a room to stash my backpack before hitting more sights that day.

I noticed two guys watching and following me. I doubled back the other way. They went on. I sat down on some steps of a local shop waiting for things to open. Bozos are coming back again. (Note, they were not Thai, but from another country) As I'm sitting there, they stroll up and start to go up the steps behind me pretending they are going to attempt to look into the shop. I immediately stood up and secured my belongings and kept an eye on them.

Just then, a restaurant across the street opened up the front gate. At the same time, a cab came up and the driver motioned me over to him. I recognized the cab driver as someone who asked me when I first got off the bus if I needed a cab and I had told him I was just waiting to eat something in this area. I went over to see what he wanted and he told me that those two were bad men. I told him I knew that, and I was going to go into the restaurant and eat breakfast. He said that was good. Sort of nice to know there are good honest people out there willing to help a foreigner. I have much respect for cab drivers because of him.

Anyway, bozos still did not get the clue that I knew what they were up to and just didn't want to be bothered. I was confident with my self-defense skills, but with two of them, you never know. And what if when I was dealing with one the other ran off with my stuff? I just didn't need the hassle, and awareness and avoidance were my best choices. Anyway, while I'm sitting in that back so I can see all the rest of the table and out to the street, one of the two comes in the same place and sits at the table closest to the street. (for those that have never been there, the entire front of the restaurant was open to the street, sort of like stores in malls that have the big gate that closes rather than a door.)

Anyway, he is sitting there and I notice his friend still loitering across the street. I'm thinking, "You idiots, I know what you are up to, and it is not going to happen. Not with me or anyone else while I'm around, because I will get involved if I see you two target someone else." I eat my breakfast and they are still there, every so often looking over at me. I see that they are a little jumpy and anxious as I finish my meal. Do I go out and see what happens. Why? I just pulled out my guide book to determine what I wanted to see that day. As I was looking at the guide book, the sun came up higher and more and more people started to be about. Bozos lost their opportunity. They wandered off to who knows where. Probably to sleep since they looked like they "worked" at nights...

I then headed out to find a room to rent and enjoy the rest of my day...

One thing I always teach. You must not only be aware of your surroundings, but you must also be aware of how your actions effect your surroundings. I can go into a bar and get along, or I can go into a bar and get stomped because I'm acting like a jerk to the wrong group of people. Same place, just my actions that are different and determine if things will go violent or not.

If you want more stories and what you can learn from them about violence and fighting, check out my book Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks: How to Avoid a Fight and Things to Do When You Can't or Don't Want To. Buy an autographed copy from www.burrese.com

The Brutal Art of Ripping, Poking, and Pressing Vital Targets review

"The Brutal Art of Ripping, Poking, and Pressing Vital Targets" by Loren W. Christensen is a book full of what some people would call dirty fighting techniques. But as Christensen points out, all fighting is dirty. This is not sport, it's fighting. In the ugliness that is a street fight, techniques to the eyes, throat, ears, groin, nerve points, and other acutely vulnerable targets are not foul, but necessary to ensure you go home unhurt and it is your attacker that regrets attacking you.

While this book is over 270 pages, it has less written words than many of Christensen's books. There are over 400 clear photographs illustrating the techniques Christensen provides in this text. Christensen's criteria for techniques included in this book were that they be simple, they hurt, they are executable within just a few inches of space, they give direction to the attacker, and they have psychological and physical shock value.

The book is full of pictures of simple applications of ripping, poking, pinching, twisting and pressing. These techniques may not be the first that come to mind when people think of fighting. Punching, kicking, and grappling probably top most people's lists. Well, after reading this book, you won't think a pinch is just a pinch any longer. Christensen's techniques include things such as pinching your attacker's eyelid and snapping your hand back as if you are ripping a bandage off a wound. Or how about going Mike Tyson on your opponent's ear by chomping his ear with prejudice? Christensen advises that you tear into his ear like a dog on a rabbit, jerking your head from side to side.

These are the kinds of techniques this book is full of. These techniques are not pretty, there are not flashy for the movie screen, but these techniques could just save your life. In real fights, you don't know what you are going to be able to do. You often just take what you can get and count your blessings that you were able to get that. These techniques may be the only ones you have opportunity to use, and if you read this book, add the techniques to your repertoire, and practice them so that you can use them when needed, they may be just the thing that turns the table on your attacker and provides you with the arsenal to be the victor in an otherwise drastic situation.

This book has nothing to do with sport. However, if you are interested in practical, realistic, and sometimes extremely brutal, techniques for real self-defense, this book belongs on your self-defense book shelf. Just make sure you read it, and practice what it contains.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author, speaker
Hard-Won Wisdom From The School of Hard Knocks, Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, and The Lock On Joint Locking series