Breath, Mindfulness, and Meditation in the Martial Arts

Have you practiced today?

Breath work, mindfulness, and meditation are generally the same, but each has its own focus.

Breath work concentrates specifically on learning how to maximize the strength and efficiency of lung capacity for physical endurance.

Mindfulness is just being present in whatever you are doing. Examples of mindfulness include paying attention to driving, without listening music or talking on the phone; taking a walk and noticing how your body moves or observing the majesty of your surroundings; and sparring or grappling and giving it your entire focus—not thinking about anything else.

And meditation is a general term that incorporates both breath work and mindfulness. During meditation, mindfulness can take almost any form, from deep introspection to just learning to let go of life’s stresses.

These practices allow for calmness and mental strength simultaneously. They are so important that serious martial artists incorporate them into their training. MMA fighter Matt Brown discussed them with Joe Rogan, and both motivational speaker and exercise promoter David Goggins and author and intellectual Sam Harris have described their experiences with them.

Why Practice?

Your life depends on your ability to breathe, but breathing is much more than that. Your strength, psychology, awareness, health, adrenaline, and cortisol levels—and pretty much everything else—depend on how you breathe. Your breath directs how you live your life. And for martial artists, proper breath control is essential; it deepens the training into the core of your existence. Whether it’s calming, slow breath work; breath of fire; BJJ breath work; or Wim Hof running in shorts on a frozen mountain (or whatever crazy yet amazing thing he chose to do that day), all require deliberate practice.

Mindfulness is such a powerful and amazing skill. You learn to be in charge of your thoughts, emotions, and intentions. Martial arts are great because they help teach mindfulness to practitioners. But can you transfer that state of present awareness out of the dojo to an all-day and everyday mentality? Do you allow your focus from doing forms and punch drills to train you how to deal with a rude boss or an emotional family fight? Mindfulness puts you in charge of your life. You learn to choose which kind of reaction (or no reaction) you present to the world around you. In my eyes, it is a high level of maturity and self-mastery.

And finally, if you’re thinking meditation is a religious thing, you are partially right. Spirituality uses it because our thoughts always get in the way of mental health and balance. You can be an atheist and anti-religion yet still meditate. Call it mindfulness, conscious awareness, or simple breath work. It is a general term that has many parts to it. Personally, I believe spirituality, the search for self and the connection to the universe as a whole, is truly important.

Getting Started

I am writing this not just to encourage you but to implore that you, at the very least, pay attention to your breathing and be mindful of your thoughts and actions. You don’t need to practice daily meditation, but you should understand that it isn’t a new age hippie thing. It is a hard-core traditional practice in much of the world. And it is much harder than you would think. I recommend that you do try meditation, even if it’s only five minutes before bedtime to calm down for a better sleep. Once you get into that simple habit, you may find you want to take it more seriously. Then go for half an hour, and gradually extend to an hour or two, or longer.

If you are interested in learning more, there are lots of articles, YouTube videos, podcasts, and instructors out there. You don’t need to go to a yoga studio and say “namaste.” (Though if you’re single…) Good martial arts masters teach at least the basics that will improve your physical and mental health as well as your skill and technique. And if you want to go all the way, it’s worth searching far and wide for a truly high-level master who understands how the mind works.

Do you practice breath work, active mindfulness, or meditation as part of your training? What’s your routine? Share your experiences in the comments below.

And as always, keep training!

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Jonathan Snowiss

I started my training with Grandmaster Si Tu, Jie in 1989.  He trained me in qi gong, tai chi, kung fu and meditation. Our lineage is “Southern Shaolin Wei Tuo”. It is an internal art, even though it is Shaolin.  He also taught me basic Chinese medicine, philosophy and spirituality.  I graduated from Pitzer College with a BA called “Mind/Body Healing: Qi Gong”.  It was an independent major that I created. Afterwards, I moved to Shanghai, China for 2 years where I studied Xing Yi Quan from Grandmaster Wang, Sen Ling.  I also studied Chinese at a university.  After my return to America, I started teaching and in 2007 I opened the Wei Tuo Academy.  In 2010 I published “Climbing the Mountain: The Spirit of Qi Gong and Martial Arts. I also studied Chen Tai Chi combined with Xing Yi and Ba Gua with Master Marvin Quon in America for a couple years. Unfortunately, I decided to close down the studio in 2016, but I never gave up on my training!
I recently finished writing my book on virtue. Please go to my Facebook page of Virtues Path and follow for more essays on virtue. Also, please visit my website thevirtuespath.wordpress.com

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