As promised, this will begin my quest to publish all the techniques of traditional Hapkido. I will be posting weekly, so please look for updates.

This week's topic:

Dan Jon Ho Hup - Dan Jun Breathing - Front

Dan Jun Ho Hup is the basic and fundamental breathing exercise in Hapkido. They are performed from a horse riding stance (ki ma ja sae), hands at sides, breath in through nose, push down the air to your lower abdomen (dan jun - ~3 inches below the navel) and slowly lower your body by bending at the knees and extend your arms out with the hands spread tightly open raising them up and out . At the moment of full extension, torque the hands by rotating them down. Complete by slowly raising your body and retracting your arms to the sides of your body.

Key Points:

If you feel light headed or dizzy, stop. As the arms are being extended with tension in the dan jun, imagine that you are pushing out a boulder in front of you with the hands. You should try to develop your ki power and be able to collect it in your dan jun area, and then as you are extending the live hands (hands spread open wide and tight), you should be able to feel a tingling sensation and warmth in your hands as ki power is being pushed through the body, through the arms, and out of your fingertips. This practice facilitates developing ki power, collecting it (in dan jun), and to focus it to a specific area in your body (in this case, your hands and finger tips), and then to be able to harness ki power in executing a technique to increase the intensity and damage of the physical technique.

Disclaimer: Please consult with a physician before starting any exercise program. These posts will be discussions of techniques and are not meant to serve as your only training tool - there is no substitute for training under a qualified instructor. For this and any other physical activity, exercise reasonable care, stop immediately and seek medical care if you feel injured.

That being said, please feel free to post with comments, questions, or email in directly.

Have you experienced the flow of ki during dan jun ho hup training?  What does that feel like?