Body, Breath, and Mind as One

The Importance of Proper Breathing in Budo

     I have been training in the Budo for more than 40 years.  In the last few years, I have been to a few dojos and I’m sad to say (or write in this case) that modern budokas don’t know how to breathe.  Most of them aren’t taught how to breathe in the first place, so they’re not even aware that there is a way that a budoka should breathe.  This is typically because the teachers in these dojos weren’t taught it themselves.  When they are taught breathing techniques, it’s only on a superficial level, such as to breathe in through their nose and out through their mouth when executing a technique in practice, whether it’s a block, punch, or kick.  But there is more to breathing in Budo than this, and that may not even be accurate, either.  There are different ways to breathe, depending on the technique and the art.

     The one thing that I’ve noticed modern budoka are most ignorant of is that they should breathe through their diaphragm and not into their lungs/chest.  This is an area where a budoka who also engages in zazen (seated Zen meditation) can have an advantage.  Much of the techniques learned in zazen have a direct carryover into Budo.  (There are also times when you should not breathe in such a manner, but we will save that for another essay.)

     Proper breathing will enable the budoka to unite body and mind into one.  Body, breath, and mind in unity is one of the keys to entering into the depth of Budo and for Budo to become more than just a physical practice but a domain of the spirit.

     “As I have written in Ken to Zen, the transformation of swordsmanship came out of training in the correct use of the breath. When we look at this origin, we cannot help realizing how important it is to adjust our breathing in order to harmonize and stabilize our bodies and minds. In Zen, too, the adjustment of breathing is regarded as very important, for it is essential for the development of the samadhi condition.” ~Omori Sogen

     Sogen was one of the few Zen masters of the 20th century who was also a bona fide master of the Budo, in this case Kendo.  His book Ken to Zen (or “Swordsmanship and Zen”) was his treatise on the practice of both Kendo and Zen.  Even though he wrote about Kendo, his words have implications for a practitioner of any Budo, be it Judo, Aikido, Karate* or even any non-Japanese way, such as Taekwondo from Korea or kung-fu from China.  When our breathing is harmonized with our bodies and our minds, our Budo transcends the merely physical.

     When we breathe, it is our stomach that should rise and fall, not our chest or other parts of our upper torso.  This is the importance of taking up zazen.  Without it, you will find it much harder of a feat to accomplish during your martial training, especially if you’ve never even thought that there is another way to breathe.

     Yagyu Toshinaga, an early 20th century master of Shinkage-Ryu—a famous Japanese sword school—said this regarding his own master: “One evening my teacher took a long breath to show me how to breathe properly in connection with my studies. He was wearing a light linen robe as it was very hot in the summertime. His clavicles and curved ribs in the uppermost part of his chest were visible through the robe. To my great surprise, they did not move at all when he breathed.”

     The body, the breath, and the mind are inextricably bound to the universe Itself.  Our minds are not individual and isolated but are one with Mind, the Tao, or the Logos.  This is not just an Eastern “thing.”  In the Judeo-Christian tradition, pneuma is the Greek word for “breath” and “wind” but also for “spirit” or noumenal “Spirit.”  Breath is not just our individual vital force but the Vital Force of the Triune Divine Hypostatic Essence (to use a Christian term for the Absolute).

     Yamamoto Genpo, a Zen master of the early 20th century, wrote this about his own master: “My teacher, a Zen Master named Suimoken, could ring the temple bell from about nine feet away just by exhaling forcefully. He lived to a very great age in the Ryutan-ji (temple) in the district of Iyo.”

     Finally, before getting into some practicalities, I have one more story from Omori Sogen, who, when discussing the importance of the breath, told how Zen master Ryoen of Tenryu-ji dealt with the numerous rats who ran amok and were destructive in his temple.  After first matching his rate of breathing with the rats, he stopped his breath for about five minutes and the rats all fainted. He is said to have remarked later, “If you cannot do anything like this, you are not worthy of the name of a Zen monk.”

     With the above in mind, let’s look at some practical implications for our Budo training and some practical tips to train us in proper breathing.  Correct breathing into our tanden, or hara region, allows us to remain centered.  We must remain centered both in body and mind.  When our mind is centered, it is not scattered; it is focused but it’s also at peace.  When it’s focused, it doesn’t chase after thoughts.  It can concentrate on the here and now, the present moment, whatever the present moment might be.  It’s important to be in the here and now while training, whether you’re in the dojo or training alone.  But you should remain in the here and now during all of life, no matter if you’re shopping at the grocery store, doing laundry at the house, or engaging in a conversation with a dear friend or a family member.  Remaining centered cultivates a mind and a body that is at peace, which is why it’s important that your present-mindedness goes beyond simple focus.  A jewelry thief or bank robber can be centered on the here and now of stealing, but there is no peace and stillness in a mind such as that.

     Beyond mind, our body must be centered.  When centered, it can remain in balance, or work on retaining and improving balance.  Balance is highly important for Budo training.  It is a facet that separates it from the physical activities of the west.  In the West, our predominant physical activities place importance on strength, speed, power and all-around athleticism, but less so on balance.  A centered, balanced body is an agile body.  Agility and balance go hand in hand within the Budo.

     To bring this balance, peace, stillness, and centered domains to our Budo, we must engage in a zazen that focuses on the breath and the body.  Too many new meditators—or even seasoned ones—think of zazen as a mental exercise.  This is probably because of all the talk, or writings, that emphasize “no thought” or “no mind.”  I write about it when I go on and on about my Karate sensei who would berate us in class to “fight without fighting” or to “think without thinking.”  Then, there’s all this discussion in Zen of the “monkey mind” and how our minds never stop, constantly flitting from thought to thought like a monkey jumping from branch to branch, though we only seem to be truly aware of it when we take our position on the meditation cushion.  But if we approach zazen as a purely mental exercise, not only are we approaching it incorrectly, we are dooming ourselves to failure.  Since it’s impossible to stop thinking, we should allow our thoughts to just be.  Don’t try to stop thinking but also don’t give into your thoughts.  When you notice that you are thinking, let the thoughts go, and return to your body and your breath.  It can’t be emphasized enough.  Zazen is a practice of the body.  Pay no more attention to your thoughts in zazen than you do to your thoughts while training in the dojo or in the gym.

     Take your meditation posture.  With your mouth shut, or only slightly open, breathe through your nose.  As you breathe in, breathe into your stomach.  On the in-breath, your stomach should rise.  On the out-breath, it should fall.  Simple as that.  Breathe deeply and slowly.  The average person breathes around 18 to 20 times per minute.  Do not force it, but in zazen, your breathing should slow down.  Eventually, you may only breathe a few times per minute.  I breathe 3 or 4 times per minute in zazen.  It may take months or even years of practice before you are able to achieve that feat.  Remember, do not force it, but something along those lines should eventually be your goal.

     The more you practice proper zazen breathing, the more that way of breathing will become natural.  Try your best to pay attention to your breathing while you’re engaging in all of your daily activities and while you’re in the dojo.  We often don’t give the manner in which we breathe a second thought.  Perhaps, it’s time to do so.

*Karate is not technically a “Budo” as it was never a Japanese military way.  Rather, it was an Okinawan art created, and used, by, essentially, the peasant class.  Nonetheless, once it reached Japan in the 20th century, it was slowly amalgamated with the traditional Japanese martial ways.

Sources

“Introduction to Zen Training: A Physical Approach to Meditation and Mind-Body Training” by Omori Sogen

“Mumonkan Teisho” by Yamamoto Genpo

“Ken to Zen” by Omori Sogen