Sifu you just said breath through your nose, why you talking about the mouth now? I know I know it’s difficult to understand cryptic messages and what they mean. Students spend years on these things and will always redevelop new answers once they gain a new level of insight.
The easiest answer is this statement has more to do with the lungs than the mouth. In the beginning 😉 lungs bring in the air and nourish the body. They must learn to properly expand (down) and fill with the maximum amount of air that they can comfortably hold (don’t over ventilate please — no Wim Holf method here but that has proven effects as well 😉 You must learn to strengthen your lungs and diaphragm muscle. It must be trained. By bringing in air you are bringing in a form of energy (not the pure stuff but still great stuff ;). It all must be maximized to get any true effect. Without training your breath you cannot get there.
There is also a deeper level in breath training. Some lineages do hen and ha sounds. Others have six different sounds. Monks love to chant. Xin Yi Liu He yells “YI!” Hell even karate people will “HIYA. ” There is something to this sound that if trained properly will help move energy to the correct places in your body. By expressing energy out through your mouth you are using a force to do so, this force, if trained correctly, can multiply your efforts in what you are doing. This occurs naturally, just follow me on this one. When a person lift something heavy, truly heavy, they do not usually remain calm; they strain and yell, it’s a natural reaction! Now if a person learns to harness this, trains it, it will provide even greater effect. I am not talking about doing anything weird or different, just magnifying what occurs natural to better affect your results!
One of my favorite stories comes from Gichin Funakoshi’s book,” Karate-do: My Way of Life ” (Yes a Japanese one, not even Chinese 😉 In it he discusses the great Master Matsumura , who is challenged by an engraver to a fight. Needless to say both challengers learned important lessons and Master Funakoshi was not discussing the ability of Shen and training one’s breath but the skills can be easily identified in this short excerpt:
The engraver suggested five o’clock the two men stood facing each other, a distance of some twelve yards between then. The engraver made the first move, closing the gap by about half, at which point the thrust out his left fist in a gedan position and held his right fist at his right hip. Matsumura, having risen from the rock on which he had been sitting, stood facing his opponent in a natural position (shizen tai), with his chin resting at his left shoulder.
Baffled by the posture his opponent had assumed, the engraver wondered if the man had taken leave of his senses. It was a fighting posture that seemed to offer no hope of defense, and the engraver prepared to launch his attack, just at that very moment, Matsumura opened his eyes wide and looked deep into the eyes of the other. Repelled by a force that felt like a bolt lighting, the engraver felt back. Matsumura had no moved a muscle; he stood where he had stood before, apparently defenseless.
Sweat beaded the engraver’s brow, and his armpits were already damp; he could feel his heart beating with unaccustomed rapidity. He sat down on a nearby rock. Matsumura did the same. “What happened?” the engraver muttered to himself. “Why all this sweat? Why is my heart beating so wildly? We haven’t yet exchanged a single blow!”
Then he heard Matsumura’s voice: “Hey! Come on! The sun is rising. Let’s get on with it!”
The Two men rose, and Matsumura once again assumed the same natural position ha had taken earlier. The engraver, for his part, was determined to complete the attack this time, and he advanced toward his opponent—from twelve yards to ten, then to eight…six…four. And there he stopped, unable to proceed any further, immobilized by the intangible force that flashed from Matsumura’s eyes. His own eyes lost their luster, and he stood entranced by radiance from Matsumura eyes. At the same time, he was quite unable to tear his glance away from that of his opponent; in his bones he knew that if he did, something very terrible would happen.
How was he to extricate himself from this predicament? Suddenly he gave voice to a great shout, a kiai, which sounded like “Yach!” and boomed across the cemetery and echoed back from the surrounding hills. But Matsumura still stood unmoved. At this sight, the engraver once again sprang back startled and dismayed.
Master Matsumura smiled. “What’s the matter?” he called. “Why don’t you attack? You can’t fight a match just by shouting!”
“I do not understand,” the engraver reply. “I’ve never before lost a bout. And now…” After a moment’s silence, he lifted his face and called quietly to Matsumura: “Yes, let’s go on! The result of the match has
already been decided, I know that, but let’s finish it. If we don’t, I’ll lose face—and I’d rather be dead. I warn you, I’m going to attack in Sutemi” (meaning he would fight to the finish).
“Good!” Matsumura called back. “Come on!”
“The forgive me if you will,” said the engraver as he launched his attack, but just then there issued from Matsumura’s throat a great cry that sounded to the engraver like a thunderbolt. As the lightning of Matsumura’s eyes had earlier immobilized him, so now did the thunder of Matsumura’s voice. The engraver found he could not move; he made one last feeble attempt to attack before falling in a defeated heap to the ground. A few feet away, Matsumura’s head was gilded by the rising sun: he seemed to the prostrate engraver like one of the ancient godly kings who slew demons and dragons.
To reach such a level as Master Matsumura one would have to train diligently for several years and follow other strict guidelines. This type of level is legendary and is something not easily revealed; however you have to start at step one. Learning to expand your lungs in the correct direction and fill them with that much vital resource, AIR!