Bak Mei

[Black Jack]

I need you guys to help me with a mental picture I am having trouble imaging.

I have heard a lot about Bak Mei and how it works with the self defense aspect of its system to a great degree and how it has a serious approach to taking out the attacker with fast, powerfull and efficent strikes.

What my question is about is that I can not picture there breathing technique in combat. A lot of systems have different breathing techniques that help them with there endurance and focus...some like Bando have more than one way of combat breathing, depending on the animal system which is used...most of the breathing techinques used in striking are about breathing out, some in forcefull gusts and others low and sharp.

Bak Mei uses some type of compression method where they breath in as they strike?????

As the compress, they then strike and from what I have read and heard it creates a lot of power in the outgoing attack.

What gives? Would this not create serious problems if they got struck while doing so? Would this not creat a lack of endurance due to the reverse breathing? What about multiple strikes or are they from the one strike school of thought? How does the breathing method work if you have to flow with more than one strike or work with a takedown or better yet on the ground?

Regards

[dwid]

I just acquired a Bak Mei video of a school in NYC. It has the first form, some self-defense techniques, and some weird qi-gong. Anyway, nowhere does it mention any reverse breathing, and as far as I could tell, the people were breathing out on strikes the same as the rest of us mammals. The striking has some resemblances to stuff I know in Bagua, most of it open-handed, rapid-fire, backhand striking. Anyway, they talk about it on the video as being what my master would call an intermediate art, with some internal elements and some external elements. It's really f-ing cool stuff to see at full speed, I wish I knew someone qualified to instruct in it around these parts...

Anyway, hope I was of some help

[Paul DiMarino]

Physiologically, I can only see disadvantages to breathing in while trying to do any motion where speed, strength, and precision are needed.

[phantom]

Dwid, could you please tell me where I can pick up a copy of that video? I would really appreciate it.

[Fubokuen]

By "reverse breathing" used in some schools, it is meant that the abdomen expands on exhale and contracts/compresses on inhale. This is usually an esoteric breathing for chi gung practice. I have never heard of this other kind of turned around breathing and I think there's some confusion somewhere. I think the Taoists valued normal breathing for most other activity

[dwid]

It's an ESPY-TV Video. I don't know if they have a website or what. I won it on an e-bay auction, so I'm not even sure if they still make it. If you can't find it, we can make arrangements for me to make you a copy. I have access to video duplicating, etc...

FYI- It's only about 30 minutes in length, but there is ample material in that 30 minutes.

[Black Jack]

Look in the new issue of Black Belt...the article is called the Hard-knock Power of Bak Mei.

It is talks about reverse breathing, sinking and how they use it in striking?

Regards

[dwid]

Regarding the video, it's available at the following website...

http://www.espytv.com/

[wisdom mind]

search here on KFO...pak mei breathing.......nice thread

[dwid]

Who is the article about in Black Belt. I understand there are a lot of fake White Eyebrow Sifu's and very few legitimate ones, and I've always thought of Black Belt as a kind of sketchy magazine, prone to misrepresenting martial arts for the sake of catchy articles, etc...

[wisdom mind]

is on point with the above reply....

[MoQ]

...They are trying to sell copies. You can hand them cash and they'll print that you are the Grandmaster of Shaolin...

As far as the "Pak Mei breathing" thread, there seemed to be some strange theories too, like inhaling on "sink" and exhaling to "float" which really makes no sense...

[Turiyan]

There are a few ways to "fa chin" with the waist/torso. The most common ways are by twisting or torquing the waist.

The second way is linerally. By compressing the torso and straitening it up again. It makes sense to inhale as you compress, and exhale as you extend.

At a no brainer level, the diaphram cam be pushed
up when you compress and decends, distenting the abdomen as you come up.

There is also a nice gimmick where you double impact your strikes in a number of ways. One contextually accurate method (for white eyebrow) would be to crunch to torso, sink at the legs, strike out to feel out your opponent, then on contact, apply light pressure, then rise up, straiten the torso while exhaling while distenting the abdomen shocking into the target.

The one knuckle isnt always used as a primary weapon. Rather, its the 'feeler' before you snap into the target. It can also be done with fingers to panther fist. Fist to back of wrist. Fist to elbow, ect.

The sunken chest posture isnt really good for the circulatory system however. There are better and other ways in my opinion. I'll have a page to show a bit more about this idea with pictures soon.

The metafor for internal jing is "water" and a great way to understand its issuance is by thinking of parts of the body as a "wet towel" and your body movement the means to "wring" it out or snap at/into your target.

Hope that helps.

BTW: I'd like a copy of that video. I heard some things about it that wouldnt make me spend a dime on it but I can get you some $$ for helping me out with a copy. E-mail me: ordosclan@china.com

[Black Jack]

On a personal note, I find Black Belt on the average to be a much more self defense focused mag than Inside Kung Fu.

Just my take.

Regards

[Black Jack]

Thanks everyone.

I still do not see any benefit at all of this reverse breathing if it is done at the moment of a strike, to me it seem to be put a fighter at a serious disadvantge...if that is what they do and if I was not reading the article wrong.

The article is about Wayne Chin and his master Chin Bing-Hao and Cheung Lai-Chun who is stated to be one of the most revered figures in Bak Mei.

Maybe they mean that they "compress down" (breath in and sink) and then "rise up" (rise up, exhale and strike)to strike. Would this not be the same as a standard exhale on a strike, with the exception of the sinking and rising aspect...even though if you watch a good puncher, he will sink and rise to get good body mechanics and torgue to some degree, even if it is hardly seen to the naked eye.

Again I am just trying to get a mental picture off of the article.

Regards