About the Sport Principle
In any sport, it is important to control your breathing, but there is a very judo-specific dimension to this concept, which moves it beyond most sports. Patrick Roux, former GB coach explains:
‘As a young competitor, I heard this phrase from a renowned teacher who was watching, from the edge of the tatami (mat area), a fighter being taken apart by his opponent. His sober, laconic comment after the final ippon was: ‘he doesn’t know how to breathe.’’ (Roux, The Art of Judo, 2015)
Researchers have shown that half a second is all it takes to execute a perfect forward unbalancing judo technique (ippon seoi nage – one arm shoulder throw, for example, for the uninitiated). There are 120 half seconds in a minute, and 600 of these half seconds in a five-minute judo contest, not even counting mate (break – pronounced Mat-ay) times. Any one of these six hundred moments can be the decisive one. Breathing, as Roux helpfully draws our attention to, is the connection between the inside and the outside. It is a rhythm: an inhale phase, an exhale phase, a downbeat, an upbeat, an empty phase, a full phase. Controlled breathing regulates concentration and emotions. It also allows the judo player to be in tune with his own and his opponent’s external movement, however fast and unpredictable it might be. Breathing at the wrong moment can lead to a fall. An experienced judo player is able to maintain a fluid breathing rhythm, avoiding attacks during the inhale phase and attacking during the exhale phase. There is an old, easily testable martial arts secret here, and that is that you are stronger and withstand impact better when you are exhaling rather than inhaling.
Application to the Life
In the Bible, right from the beginning of the book of Genesis, breath is associated with life. Learn how to breathe – and get in touch with your Creator! Deliberately become aware of your own breathing and heartbeat, even, perhaps especially, in stressful situations. In the same way that this awareness improves a judo player’s performance, it will make you stronger in your relationship with God too. In the same way that elite athletes regularly take their resting heart rates as a measure of their fitness, we need to monitor our heart state and breathing in readiness for life too. Try it now, just where you are sitting, reading this, just for 60 seconds, be still, focus on God, and count your breaths, and just see if you don’t feel calmer, and more able to take on the world. Create time to do it through the day too. Sitting at your computer/workstation, waiting for the kettle to boil, sanitizing your hands, or whatever. May you this day take all your God-given opportunities to slow down, smell the Roses, notice things, see what God is showing you, hear His still, small voice speaking wisdom to your life, and breathe!
“In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:10
