Flow with the go

Flow with the go

I keep in mind that jiu-jitsu is not a hard martial art, in which you have to impose your power. It’s something which combined more with the sense of in a huge wind storm, the big trees have more chance to fall, because they’re hard and tough, and the wind comes hard and knocks them down. The flexible trees can bend and still, like, forever, so they’re not going to be destroyed.

So, jiu-jitsu is always something that gives me that sense of: “I don't have to be too strong, but I have to be flexible, I don't have to be too fast, but I have to be technical.” So, those elements of technique suppresses speed, leverage suppresses strength and flexibility adapt you and make you feel like you don’t break, you’re unbreakable because you can bend. 

Those concepts make me feel like, when I'm engaged, I'm not there to break the tree; I'm there to just find myself comfortable in the mobility, in the sense of moving positions and being comfortable all the time. I have to flow with the energy, with the heal, with the real storm, which is in front of me.

And I'm not fighting, I'm just trying to educate myself to flow, to become sensitive enough to be in the best position for me and capitalize. So we have to flow not only in jiu-jitsu, but in life.

Flow with the goe

5 breathing lessons from Rickson Gracie to achieve your best performance

Learn how to evolve with your breathing system and become a champion with Master Rickson Gracie's techniques.

TL;DR: Breathing is an unconscious process. We inhale and exhale without noticing how those simple acts may influence our body, health, effectiveness and state of mind.

As Rickson Gracie says: "oxygen is life. You can spend seven days without food and not die. You can spend two or three days without water and not die. But five minutes without the air and you're dead." 

That is why mindful breathing may bring a great number of benefits for your life in the most different ways. When you are conscious about your breathing, you earn a better physical condition, as well as the ability to organize your feelings, focus and reach your goals.

3 benefits of breathing exercises:

• Reduce anxiety: learn how to read your body and identify your feelings through your breathing. Use Master Rickson's breathing exercise to reduce anxiety and feel the difference.

• Keep yourself organized to be at your best: Master Rickson explains that "breathing can bring you, in an invisible way, a very powerful strength, calmness, focus and so on."

• Refill your energies: Rickson says that "anything has a rhythm and this rhythm has to be adapted to your lungs and then sent to your brain and heart for you physically be strong, for you mentally be sharp," so the impact of breathing exercises for stress may also help you to relax whenever you need.

How to do Breathing exercises

The difference between the normal breathing and the diaphragmatic is the huge air capacity you earn.

With the diaphragmatic relation, in every breath of your life, you could be much better to relax, to go under the water, to go for a wave, to jump for a ball, to become under pressure, to read a good email… Whatever you need, oxygen is fuel and we have some kind of fuel injection in our lungs. The more we’re capable of sending good air to the body, to the blood, the sharper your brain is, the more effective your muscles are using the return from lactic acid and getting stronger, you can relax yourself, you can hyperventilate to recoup… Everything comes easier when you know how to use the diaphragmatic breathing on your system.

The next important thing now for the class is to learn how to use the diaphragm: let's work on the understanding in the first motions of the diaphragmatic breathing. 

Let's start the action to the first understanding of the diaphragmatic movement:

1. You have to relax, bend your legs, relax your head;

2. Put one hand on your stomach on top of your belly button;

3. The other hand on your chest;

4. Start to breathe. 

It’s very normal for you to breathe using your chest more than the diaphragm. This is a common mistake, but as you start to perceive the diaphragmatic movement, you have to understand that instead of using the hand on your chest, you’re going to keep it low and you use just the hand on your belly.

There is no air coming through your belly. The belly moves because when the air comes in, the diaphragmatic muscle, which is in the horizontal, pushes the belly down and it feels like there is something in it but there is not. In reality, I pushed the diaphragmatic muscle down to bring the air to the lower part of my lungs, so I'm able to move my ribs by using the diaphragmatic motion. The idea is to connect the inhale and use the top of the lung, don't bring the air to the chest; just relax, try to move your diaphragm, not over-inflated or deflated, never too much or too low, just regular.

That's a very important beginning because you have to feel comfortable and start to understand how to move the diaphragm. You’re just moving your diaphragm if you see your belly move up and down.

You can spend a lot of time practicing this. Once you start to become a little more comfortable you can also sit down and start using the same movement.

Are you ready to achieve your best performance?

We selected the best breathing techniques so you can improve your ways of living, working and accomplishing your goals.

Learn how to breathe like a champion with Rickson Gracie's breathing techniques program.