Breath Control

Does a Driller need to control his/her breath while performing?

Yes, breath control is a skill every serious Driller should learn! This is part of what Equipment Judges adjudicate and what Jedi Knights rely on constantly!

Phrase = drill moves (equipment and/or body movement) put together in long and short strings like sentences.

Equipment = rifle, sword, saber, flag or guidon.

The motion of the equipment and/or the body will is usually affected in a phrase without breath control.  Exhaling on a release generates better momentum, holding your breath will vary your toss height consistency. A phrase, fast or slow, with breath control looks controlled and flows well.

From the World Drill Association Adjudication Manual:

FLOW: Use of breath impacts the flow of energy significantly and impacts changes in the quality of the flow of tension; Equipment moves from free and open to bound (controlled by the degree of, or release of, tension in the arms and upper body.) The “going with the flow” of equipment movement we call free; the restriction of the equipment flow we call bound.

 

BREATH is crucial to motion not only to bring more oxygen to the body but also to give equipment and body motion fluency and harmony.
– Breath will impact on the specific quality of motion.
– A phrase of motion “with breath” has a controlled extension in time, a clear beginning and end no matter how fast or how slow it is. It moves with freedom and harmony.
– A phrase “without breath” looks stiff and mechanical (no breathing space).