On February 28, 2016 Aleix Segura Vendrell from Spain broke the world record for voluntarily holding his breath for 24 min and 3.45 seconds. Did you know that the reason we feel like we have to breath when holding our breath is not because we need the oxygen, but because we need to get rid of the carbon dioxide in our lungs.
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On average a person at rest will take about 12 breaths per minute, that\u2019s 720 breaths an hour, 17,280 breaths a day, 120,960 breaths a week, 6,289,920 breaths a year and if we live to 80 that\u2019s 503,193,600 breaths.
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That\u2019s a hell of a lot of breaths to be breathing, and if we\u2019re gonna breath them, we might as well understand them and through these breaths improve our lives.
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In Aikido, we have a very basic technique called Kokyu-ho which literally translates to way of breathing. Yes, breathing is very important in the art of Aikido, as it\u2019s pretty important in staying alive!
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Did you know that the rhythm and frequency of your breath affects your health, or maybe it\u2019s vice versa, your health affects the rhythm and frequency of your breath? Hummm\u2026. I still haven\u2019t figure out which came first the chicken or the egg\u2026..
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When you\u2019re scared you tend to take shorter faster breaths, but by controlling your breathing you can change your state from fear, to calm, confident and relaxed.
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So, for self-defense, it\u2019s long been known that a predator will prey on a less confident, weaker person, than a more confident stronger person. Criminals are always looking for cues of weakness and fear according to Volkan Topalli, a psychologist and criminologist at Georgia State University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n