Sang H. Kim's Blog, page 5

Power Breathing Series: Part 4 Explosive Breathing

This is the fourth part of a 4-part series on Power Breathing Series. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Explosive Breathing

Explosive Breathing is a process of condensing the inhaled air downward to the lower abdomen (aka, the lower energy center, dantien, danjun, or Golden Center), then releasing it explosively.

At the explosive stage, the energy condensed in the lower energy center is distributed to the organs, the limbs and the brain.

The goal of Explosive Breathing is to create concentrated force f...

Power Breathing Series: Part 3 Staccato Breathing

This is the third part of a 4-part series on Power Breathing Series. Read Part 1, Part 2

Staccato Breathing

Staccato means short, abrupt, and disconnected. Therefore Staccato Breathing consists of a long inhalation and short forceful consecutive exhalations. Each exhalation segment is distinctively separate yet rhythmically part of one flowing out-breath.

Staccato Breathing is like brushing the inside of the body and massaging the inner air channels such as the glottis, trachea, solar plexus, um...

Power Breathing Series: Part 2 Gentle Breathing

This series will present three types of Power Breathing methods: Gentle Breathing, Staccato Breathing, and Explosive Breathing. Each method focuses on drawing air into a specific area of the abdomen at a different intensity level.

Power Breathing Series: Part 2 Gentle Breathing

This is the second part of a 4-part series on Power Breathing Series. Read Part 1

Intensity Factor

Power Breathing can be as strenuous or gentle as you choose. You can begin with a very gentle practice described here or ju...

Power Breathing Series: Part 1 Basics

Breathing, like drinking water, is an organic response to fill the living body with new energy.

Many traditional practices, including yoga, taichi, qigong, and martial arts, incorporate breathing as part of their overall training regimen as both a way to channel internal energy (ki or chi) and to deepen the mind-body connection. Conscious breath control, each breath reducing fatigue and rebuilding inner energy, has long been recognized as a restoratative practice by both East and West. Power b...

MBX12: Mindful Movement Workshop Highlight Video

On November 1st, we had a Mindful Movement Workshop in the beautiful Upperville, Virginia. Theworkshop was held at Blue Ridge Taekwondo Academy and hosted by master Tony Horkan. The participants included local families, artists, scientist, practitioners and teachers of yoga, taichi and qigong, taewkondo and other disciplines from the Washington DC area and New York and Connecticut. This video includes the 4-minute long MBX-12 sequence, and was filmed by Nicholas Oscoff, a New York-based filmm...

Express Yourself

Bruce Lee once said that the ultimate form of art is to honestly express yourself. “But to express oneself honestly, not lying to oneself, that is very hard to do.”

The ultimate form of self-expression is possible through being yourself. Without self-expression, your actions are limited by what is not you.

Our reality, in fact, is full of hindrances that make it hard to be yourself. There are rules, customs, opinions that limit your choices until you think and behave according to their limitati...

A 30-second Exercise to Reduce Anxiety

To relax in the middle of a chaotic moment requires guts or skill. Some of us are born with guts but we can all enhance our skill.

I’ve found that just before making a public speech or competing in an athletic event (like a sparring match) I am usually filled with anticipatory anxiety. To guide the intense energy that I feel in these moments, I use the following exercise to quickly relax my mind and refocus my attention on the impending task. Entering the arena with the right mindset, can be a...

Dance with Attention

My attention skill in elementary school was quite poor and I jumped around between too many extracurricular activities: soccer, handball, track, gymnastics, music band, calligraphy, Taekwondo, boy scouts, classic reading group, student association to name a few. I was good at none but martial arts. Growing up in Korea, my parents told me I was too busy doing too many things but one: studying.

The problem was that I wasn’t interested in one thing but in everything. Many things I see catch my at...

Finding Serenity in a Chaotic Day

I think too much.

To forge forward, I step back and turn. Meditate on my footprints. With the world at my back, my heart slows. In my breath, the footprints vanish. I become what I see in my “Be.”

The trip from Heathrow airport to Oxford campus took only about one hour by bus.

On the previous night, my birthday, my flight from Baltimore to London had been cancelled. My wife and I managed to drive back home and reserve another flight the next day. As last-minute passengers on a full flight, we we...

Mindful Movement Workshop

Mindful Movement Workshop

November 1, 2013 – Upperville,VA

Attend the Mindful Movement workshop and learn a simple yet effective method to relieve stress and promote good health. The class will include a short meditation, breathing exercises, and a series of mindful movements taught by Dr. Sang H. Kim, author of 20 books, researcher, and a lifetime martial artist. Dr. Kim will share with you how to increase your inner energy, take more control over your health and wellbeing, and regain peace of...