Page 52 - Issue 3

GRAPPLER Summer 2019

DIAMOND while doing any kind of physical training is the habit of

Perhaps the most difficult natural reaction to unlearn

holding your breath. The average breathing rate for an
adult at rest is 12-20 breaths per minute. People new to
DAVE Jiu jitsu, however, hold their breath all the time, even

while drilling. More experienced Jiu jitsu players breathe
better while drilling, but still hold their breath while
rolling.

It’s not only a matter of holding your breath. It’s a
matter of breathing correctly. It’s a matter of breathing
throughout a movement or a series of movements. Of
timing breath to action, reaction, and repose. Think of
a swimmer’s technique. Have they mastered swimming
DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH or breathing?
(OR I’LL CHOKE YOU OUT)
The maxim that “You can’t grapple if you can’t
breathe because you’re dead” goes far in explaining the
innate relationship between grappling and breathing.
There is no other human characteristic more human The better breather is the better grappler. Think of the
than grappling, except breathing (Bipedalism is a close last time you grappled Coach. Who was breathing harder?
second). Humans have been grappling for two hundred
thousand years. That’s when homosapiens first show There are countless exercises to improve breathing.
up in the fossil record. Premodern humans from various Add one to your workout. If you find yourself sucking
branches of the evolutionary tree date back to about 66 during a roll, take three controlled breaths. Control your
million years ago. breathing to control your opponent’s breathing.

Scientists from various disciplines continue to add to
the wealth of information about how these people lived. “Whenever I feel blue, I start
Thanks to anthropology, archaeology and the Human breathing again.” ~Frank L. Baum
Genome Project we know when, where, and how these
people lived. We know what they ate and drank, what
they wore, what tools they made, and who they screwed.
“Piggy couldn’t breathe well because
We also know they grappled. But we don’t need much he had asthma. That’s not why he died
scientific evidence that early humans grappled. We can in William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’.
rely on our own experience. Grappling comes natural Nobody walks away from a boulder-
to us. Think of your childhood. Think of those friendly smashing-their-brains-out ambush.”
wrestling matches that often got out of hand. Grappling ~Dick Kicker
is human.

Written By:
DAVE KIPPER

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