Recently in the Kendo class, we started out with a breathing practice called metronome breathing. For this exercise, a metronome is set and you time your breathing to the beats. There are a few benefits to metronome breathing for fitness and mindfulness in general, and a few for Kendo in specific. Before we continue, here are some key points to note:
- Breathe deeply into the belly. This engages the diaphragm and pulls air deeper into the lungs. Imagine breathing to a point about 2 inches lower than your navel.
- Breathe in through the nose, and out through the mouth.
- If nasal breathing is obstructed due to a cold or other reason, do not breathe through the nose.
- Exhale almost completely while drawing your navel in towards your spine at the end of the exhale. This will squeeze more air out of the lungs, and keep you from having stale air in your lungs.
The first benefit is relaxation. This is a practice that can be done quickly and easily anytime during the day when you are feeling stressed. The old advice when stressed out to “stop and take a few deep breaths” has plenty of merit. After just a few cycles of this breathing exercise, you will begin to feel a state of deeper relaxation. There are a host of benefits to reducing your stress level, including increased testosterone, better sleep, improved recovery between workouts, better performance both mentally and physically, and much more.
Another thing that slow, paced breathing like metronome breathing does is that it has a positive effect on the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is comprised of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). Think of them as the body’s “fight-or-flight” controls and “chill out and relax” controls respectively. Research suggests that activation of the SNS (the fight-or-flight one) is affected by a high rate of respiration. So, even if you are mentally at ease, your body will be a little stressed if your breathing rate is up. Slow breathing can reduce this SNS activation and balance the SNS and PNS. Some experts suggest that with regular breathing practice, our natural breathing rhythm will shift towards the slower rate at which we practice. This may be beneficial for those coping with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Fibromyalgia.
For health and relaxation benefits, a good rate is to breath 5 cycles in a minute. This boils down to inhaling for 6 seconds and exhaling for 6 seconds. Set your metronome for 60 bpm and breath with the cadence “in-2-3-4-5-6, out-2-3-4-5-6”. Doing this for even 5 minutes will bring BIG relaxation. If you can’t pace it for 6 seconds, start out with a lower pace such as 4 seconds per inhale and 4 seconds per exhale.
Benefits for Kendo practice.
When we want to apply these benefits to Kendo, we need look no further than the kiri-kaeshi exercise. While a beginner may cycle their breath many times during 1 round of kiri-kaeshi, a more practiced kenshi will be able to use only 2 or even 1 breath to perform the exercise. To do this, being able to deeply inhale while pacing the exhale is important. Metronome breathing can help you train this conservation of breath.
For this exercise, I like to set the metronome for 76 bpm and breath deeply in for 4 counts and then out for 4 counts. After a few cycles of that, increase to in for 4 counts and out for 8 counts, and then increase to in for 4 counts and out for 12 counts. I like to increase gradually to start relaxing into the practice. See how long you can exhale for!
When practicing metronome breathing to improve your Kendo, it is particularly important to train yourself to breathe into your belly. Breathing into your belly helps keep your shoulders from rising on inhalation. Your opponent will see your shoulders rise, and know you are inhaling and that will be his moment of opportunity. It’s difficult to move explosively while inhaling, so he will know you can’t attack, and will have a hard time defending. Being able to quickly inhale without showing it and maximizing your use of breath will give you the upper hand.
Where to find a metronome.
You can buy a metronome from many music stores. I use a metronome app on my phone. If you have an Android phone, then just search the Android Market for Mobile Metronome. I’m sure iPhone has a metronome app as well. Click here for an online metronome.
Click here to buy a metronome online.
Leave a comment below and tell us about your experiences with metronome breathing.
UPDATE! 1/2/2011 This article has been translated into Spanish and posted here. Thank you to the blogger for sharing this article with more people!
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