Breathing is essentially important for Tai Chi and all kinds of martial arts. High levels in martial arts cannot be achieved without being able to breathe well. The number one principle for Breathing is "being natural". Based on being natural, breathing can be improved by guiding it using correct methods. Breathing can never be forced. Forced breathing is not natural and thus not beneficial but harmful.
For Breathing, it's better to breathe deep than to be shallow. So all internal traditional martial arts use abdominal breathing over chest breathing, because abdominal breathing is deeper than chest breathing. The most common abdominal breathing is reverse abdominal breathing. Specifically, when inhaling, the lower abdomen contracts, the upper abdomen expands, so the overall volume of the abdomen increases, and during the process, the chest is always relaxed. Then, when exhaling, the abdomen relaxes completely, so the overall volume of the abdomen decreases, and the lower abdomen naturally expands. During the process, the chest is also relaxed.
This is an excellent breathing method, but it has one problem - practitioners need to use force to contract the lower abdomen when inhaling. This is not the best because internal traditional martial arts emphasize on using such force as little as possible to complete a movement. Thus, after many years of training and efforts, Xinghong Wang developed the Dantian Back Breathing Method（丹田后) to finally solve this problem.
The feature of the Dantian Back Breathing Methodis, when inhaling, don’t focus on contracting the lower abdomen (the center point of lower abdomen is called Dantian (丹田), which is several centimeters below belly button, as shown by the Figure 1) but focus on relaxing the back of the body opposite to the lower abdomen (the back of Dantian, called ‘Dantian Back’ for this article).
While relaxing the back of Dantian or ‘Dantien Back’, pull it back a little bit until natural curve of the spine above the hip almost become flat. At the same time, the hip also relaxes and comes downward and forward a little bit, and the upper body is upright, the whole spine feeling stretched as shown in Figure 2.
It must stressed that it is to relax and pull back the back of the lower abdomen (Dantian Back) but not the Mingmen (Mingmen (命門) is at the same height as belly button and Dantian Back is at the same height as Dantian), as can be seen on Figure 1. Dantian Back is about several centimeters below Mingmen (according to different people). If practitioners were to pull back the Mingmen, their back will tend to become hunchback, which is against the principle of Tai Chi to hold the body upright. It should also be noted that, when breathing, the focus of mind should be in the Dantian Back area. If the focus of mind is at Mingmen, which is above the correct area, it can possibly cause upward adverse flow of the Qi (the internal energy 气) and can potentially cause harms to people’s health.
Then, when exhaling, just relax the body and don’t try to make any intended movement, but the back of Dantian Backwill naturally return to its original curved position as shown in Figure 3.
Again, it mustbe emphasized that the number one principle for Breathing is "being natural". When using the Dantian Back Breathing Method, practitioners should use it naturally but not forcefully. It is suggested that practitioners can use this method to practice and guide their breathing, but in most instances, practitioners should just breathe naturally.
Xinghong Wang has developed this Dantian Back Breathing Method over the course of more than ten years, and he also taught it to his disciples, for so many years as well. It has proven to be extremely beneficial. Not limited to usage by Tai Chi practitioners, it can be used by Qigong practitioners and almost all martial artists andhas the potential to be implemented by anyone who wants to improve their health.
There are several benefits of this breathing method. For reverse abdominal breathing, if the practitioners were to consciously expand Dantian when inhaling, there is a limit. At the end of inhaling, there is no room for further expansion thus the feeling of flexibility is lost. But if practitioners apply their thoughts to expanding Dantian Back, they can extend their inhalation infinitely and always have room for further expansion, thus always feeling flexible. This is also more in line with the principle of Tai Chi's always keeping flexibility and liveliness.
Many Tai Chi practitioners have a bad habit of pouting their buttocks when practicing Tai Chi. Every time they make a movement, their waist is prone to tension, and it is also difficult to maintain a straight and upright spine. If using the Dantian Back Breathing Method, practitioners will naturally relax the Dantian Back during each inhalation, making the waist and hips more relaxed and flexible, and the body more comfortable, which is helpful for internal energy circulation and deeper relaxation.
After practicing Tai Chi correctly for a long time, many practitioners will experience the process of Tuotaihuangu (completely reshape and rebuild the physical body as if a new and more healthy body is born 脱胎换骨). During this Tuotaihuangu process, the use of Dantian Back Breathing Method will help make this process come much earlier and quicker. For this Tuotaihuangu process, spinal rehabilitation is a major element. The Dantian Back Breathing Method is especially helpful in the process of spinal rehabilitation.
The Dantian Back Breathing Method also greatly helps to relax the waist and hips as a whole, making the waist and hips flexible. This will help the strength run through the lower limbs and take deep root on the ground, achieving super balance of the whole body.
In addition, the use of Dantian Back Breathing Method can help the Zhenqi (true energy, 真气) to circulate properly inside Jingluo (main and collateral channels, regarded as a network of passages, through which energy circulates and along which the acupuncture points are distributed, 经络). This will greatly benefit the health of the endocrine system and nervous system.
