Is there a valid scientific foundation to the Rickson Gracie breathing technique?

John Davis

Breathing is an essential part of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) training, but unfortunately, it is often overlooked. Without proper breathing, even the best athletes will quickly gas out, losing their ability to perform effectively.

That’s why Rickson Gracie’s breathing technique, a method that he credits for improving his abilities, is gaining attention.

Origins of Rickson Gracie’s Breathing Method

Rickson Gracie is most credited with stressing the importance of breathing in Jiu-Jitsu. He believes that learning how to breathe properly improved his abilities and made him a better competitor.

The credit for teaching Rickson his famous breathing technique goes to his friend Orlando Cani, a yogi who developed a top physical training called “Ginastica Natural.” This training method focuses on the importance of using natural body movements, yoga, and breathing techniques.

By practicing the Ginastica Natural method, Rickson was able to learn his legendary breathing exercises. Learning to breathe and strengthen his body through natural movements is what helped make Rickson a great combat sports athlete, enabling him to compete for hours without getting tired.

Learning the Rickson Gracie Breathing Technique

Rickson believes that anyone can learn his breathing technique in a short amount of time. All you need is proper instruction and the willingness to put in the work. Here are three essential things to keep in mind when learning the Rickson Gracie breathing technique:

  1. Exhale first: Rickson believes that by exhaling through your mouth before inhaling, you empty your lungs and bring more oxygen into them. Exhaling first also enables you to take out your bad gas before fresh oxygen comes in, allowing you to train for a longer time span before getting tired.
  2. Practice breathing through your diaphragm: Most people breathe only at the top of their lungs, limiting their ability to improve. To maximize your lung capacity and take in more oxygen, you need to learn diaphragmatic breathing. This type of breathing not only allows you to take in more oxygen but also strengthens your lungs.
  3. Condition your lungs: To condition your lungs, you must breathe down to your diaphragm and use percussive breathing. This involves quick exhales and inhales repeated quickly for a short period of time, conditioning your lungs over time.

By following these three principles, you can learn the Rickson Gracie breathing technique in no time.

What does the science of breathing say about Rickson Gracie’s breathing method?

Andrew Huberman p.h.D recently did an interesting episode on breathing and how it affects mental and physical performance and what he found actually seems to confirm that there’s an advantage to that method of diaphragmatic breathing Rickson Gracie (and now Kron Gracie) use.

The phrenic nerve controls the diaphragm’s movement, and it is a motor nerve that sends neurotransmitters to the diaphragm to contract. The phrenic nerve also has sensory neurons that allow one to sense where the diaphragm is located in the body. Diaphragmatic breathing is the most efficient way to breathe, and the phrenic nerve controls the diaphragm during this type of breathing. The intercostal muscles also play a role in breathing, and being able to control them independently or in combination with the diaphragm can regulate mental and physical states.

“There’s a specialized nerve called the phrenic nerve, P-H-R-E-N-I-C, phrenic nerve, that comes out of the neck.”

“And when I say it comes out of the neck, what I mean is that there are little neurons that reside in the brainstem, in the back of your brain, and they send little wires that we call axons down and out of the neck.”

“They go close to the heart and a little bit behind it.”

“And they go down, and they form synapses. That is, they form connections
with the diaphragm. And when those neurons release neurotransmitters, which
are little chemicals, the diaphragm contracts, and it moves down.”

“So we say that the phrenic nerve is a motor nerve. It’s designed to move muscle. However, the phrenic nerve, like a few other nerves in the body, is interesting in that it has not just motor nerves in there, neurons that control the contraction of muscles.”

“It also can sense things, has sensory neurons. So it also sends connections down to the diaphragm and actually down deep into the diaphragm and close to the liver.”

“When we talk about physical movement and cramps of the body.”

“Those sensory neurons dive deep into the diaphragm.”

“And then they go back up to the brain, and they allow you to sense where the diaphragm is. So they’re giving information about where the diaphragm is in your body.”

Later he added: “Diaphragmatic breathing is, in many ways, the ideal way to breathe and that it’s the most efficient way to breathe.”

“The diaphragm is designed to allow the lungs to expand or to contract the lungs, to bring air into the body or to remove carbon dioxide from the body.”

“And if you want to know whether or not you’re using diaphragmatic breathing, it’s very simple. If you inhale– probably best to do this through the nose, but you could do it through the mouth.”

“If you inhale and your belly moves outward on the inhale, well, then that phrenic nerve is controlling your diaphragm properly. And then when you exhale, your belly should go in just a little bit. That’s diaphragmatic breathing.”

“Now, diaphragmatic breathing is talked about in the context of yoga. It’s often talked about as a way to calm down and so on. But diaphragmatic breathing is just one mode by which your brain and the phrenic nerve can control muscle, the diaphragm, to control the mechanical aspects of the lungs.”

“You also have these muscles between your ribs or the intercostal muscles. And there’s a separate set of nerves that allow those muscles to contract and for your rib cage to expand in order to create more room for your lungs to get larger and fill with air or for your rib cage to contract a bit when those muscles relax in order to expel air.”

While Huberman insists that diaphragmatic breathing isn’t superior, there’s evidence to suggest that knowing how to control each is incredibly valuable.

“You have multiple parallel mechanisms to control the mechanics of your lungs and for breathing. And when you’re exerting yourself very hard, you tend to use both the intercostal muscles and your rib cage moving as well as your diaphragm in order to bring in a lot of oxygen and to offload a lot of carbon dioxide.”

“And when you’re calmer, frankly, you could use diaphragmatic breathing or you could use rib cage type breathing in order to bring enough oxygen into your system.”

“There’s no real data showing that diaphragmatic breathing is somehow better or worse. However, being able to mechanically control those independently or to combine them and use them together is of tremendous power toward regulating your mental and physical states.”

John Davis