[chadillac83]

In some breathing exercises I've done as part of a self defense and training course we focused a lot on breathing, especially controlled breathing under very stressful situations. We'd spend good portions of the glass matching breathing with strides, punches, and grappling. That being said it really showed me the importance of breathing, even for random stress. We always did in through the nose and out through the mouth. The nose is a bit more restricted so it allows your diaphragm a little more resistance and seems to allow deeper more controlled breathing, plus it just feels good. When under heavy stress we often would take little bursts of fresh air through the nose and out of the mouth to help get oxygen to the muscles that needed it under said stress.

I didn't really stick with the class after finding some flaws with it but I learned some stuff in the long run, and the breathing thing has stuck with me after feeling it's effects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz-PkaaImCE

This was my instructor, dude had a pain threshold that was unbelievable. You can see him using the techniques while being... abused. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD4_RfEmWBg