breathing

[silvana]

first, hello everybody
I don't know if my question is placed here correctly so feel free to replace it.
When practising kendo I sometimes find it hard to breath like I should (down to the belly and not just with my ribs - Yes my English is crap) and my muscles become tense. I thougt it might have something to do with tying my hakama. I tie it on my ribs as I've seen it from the other ladies in my club, this is fine. But somehow I think it starts to slip or something, so it affects my breathing. Or ist it just that my muscles start to tense? (Or am I just out of breath? )
Nobody in my club seems to have the same problem so I hope someone undersood what I wanted to say and might have an advice.
Silvana

[Ham]

Hi!,
uhmm excuse me but...
do u tie ur hakama in your ribs?? and u use the tare there too???
well i think that there it could be the problem, I tie my hakama in my hips, 4 cm below the navel, but I care more lower edge height, that don't touch the floor or either that ppl can look until my ankle xD. and tie it strong enough to not fall ... anyway in hardest training, climbs up to my waist o_ó.

wtv, when i read your post, i wear my hakama and tied in my ribs... and yes, was definitly hardest to breathe, but i still can't understand how the rest of the ladies in your club doesn't hav any problem... It could be dat you are not breathing correctly too, i mean, there is too many ppl who breath with chest, when it should be with the stomach, u know.
Or even could be just something physical, that will go out with the time.

In kendo is very important breath well, 4 kakegoe, 4 surprise your opponent, or the strong that you can get from a good breathing, so i hope you can fix soon that problem
;D

Bye!!

[JByrd]

I wonder if you're tying your hakama and tare too high. I've seen some people whose hakama was too long attempt to compensate by tying it on very high. Ideally, the belts should be centered at the narrowest part of your waist. Also, I wonder if your tare is the right size for you. If you're not very tall, the top part of the tare (the belt or obi) might be too tall for you, causing it to extend too high on your torso, constricting your lower ribs.

That said, anybody will start sucking wind like a Hoover if they work hard enough, for long enough.

[Quartin Marcelo]

Oh i think everythink you say is connected in one single point. Mainly you'll demmand more time using Shinai, Bogu and Hakama to be relax inside of them. Pearhaps, when you still using the equipment, you will feel natural and will find too, the right tight in the strings. Hope the sucedanneus difficults moments and lessons in Kendo dont make you left.
Hope be usefull...................

[rfoxmich]

I think you are tying your hakama too high if it's on your ribs Better if it were just above your hips.
Regarding breathing.. I suggest that you _do_ do it ;-)

[silvana]

thanks for all your answers!
I tie it on my ribs maybe one hand above my navel because when I tie it lower it's to long and due to my figure it ends up anyway higher and the other women in my dojo told me that women wear hakama higher because it fits better to women shape. and if I would tie it on my hips there would be bare skin on the side openings of the hakama and that's not supposed to be so. And I sort of feel it easier at the beginning to breathe with the hakama tied on my ribs and not on my navel.
and I don't wear tare yet .
so I think it might be mostly because I stop breathing correctly with the stomach included.

[IndigoGirl]

If you tie your hakama higher than your navel you have to tie it VERY tight so it doesn't slip. If the hakama is too long when tied on the waist, have it shortened.
All women I know tie their hakama on the waist, because the hips keep it from slipping. :-)
Oh, and if you show some leg or undies with your hakam tied correctly, your keikogi is too short.

[Bear of Doom]

if your skin is showing keiko-gi isn't long enough. i used to have that problem all the time! =P

[Ronald Gossett]

yeah...i agree with u guys.

[Tort-Speed]

I had a keiko-gi that seemed long enough but with one of my too-long hakama that I shortened at its hem, a bit of leg would show. I got some dark blue material and stitched it onto the keiko-gi just at the two side places where the hakama has the open part. No problem after that to tie it
around the waist, no need to pull it up higher and tie it.

[Big One]

We have to be aware of the beginner issue too. Many of them, especially the one never experience any sport or martial art, don't know how to breath. When not in jigeiko or shiai, they can put their mind to control the breathing but when their mind is not there, all hell break loose.