Hi, everyone (Darth and Inga
)
From my understanding, you should be breathing through your nose – I know I do!
I can justify this in a couple of ways, so here we go:
- Air quality: breathing through the mouth (inhaling, more specifically) will mean that you are taking in allot of filth that would otherwise be filtered out by the cilia (little hairs) and mucus in your nose. Just common sense;
- Qi circulation: if you’re using small/large circulation incorporated in your movements (which is something you actually want to do, even if only at an advanced level) you need to “close the circuit” by keeping your tongue on your palate. This, in and of itself, limits greatly any kind of functional breathing through the mouth. You do get to exhale (and exhale only!) through the mouth when you use the “ha” sound – not sure about the “hen” sound, since I’m still figuring out that one. I remember Master Yang talking about the reason the “circuit” breaks at the mouth. Basically, it’s so we can speak. I can’t remember the details, but it has to do with trapping energy/intent in the throat area so we can vocalize.
Darth, about the ears thing: it sounds like you’re breathing too forcefully. Do you feel pain when this happens?
Ricardo Carvalhosa
Almada, PORTUGAL
"I don't know Karate, but I know Ca-razy, and I'm not afraid to use it." - Roy O'Bannon, Shanghai Noon
(thanks for the head's up, John
)