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Tarzan, Buddha, Galileo
About ten years ago, when Sebastién Nagel,
today president of A.I.D.A. International,
was still a swimmer, Guy Ackermann did meet
him by chance at a swimming competition.
There Guy told him the first time about the right
breathing technique. Years later they did meet
again by chance but this time at an apnea competition.
So Sebastién asked him to teach the other apneists
the right breathing technique. Since this time G.A.
visits apnea competitions and teaches everybody
who likes to learn.
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| AP: |
Guy, you are a specialist for the correct breathing and
holding breath, what can you tell us about breathing and
holding breath. |
| GA: |
The word specialist is perhaps a little too much, but
when I was young I learned singing. If you sing you make
breath technique, you need a breath technique, because you
hold your breath and use it correctly. It is exactly the
same for diving, you take a breath and have to us it correctly.
I am not good underwater, this is not my area but I can
tell the people to hold their breath and using a good technique
outside, to prepare themselves for diving.
You can notice that people breath always up, upstairs I
would say - with the chest, and so is the throat blocked,
before you have taken your full breath. If you start down
in the abdomen you can fill the abdomen - breath is free
- then the chest and after the whole body is full. It is
so simple but so few people learn it at school in sports.
They breathe reversed. If you sleep you breathe automaticly
with the abdomen, so you have a good breath during sleeping.
Most people act like Tarzan, a powerful breath, a beautiful
breath, but in the chest. On the strand for the ladies it
is very impressive but not a good technique, you know. Everybody
who learns to play the trumpet or the flute and the singers
learn to breathe deeply. The difference is, when you are
playing the trumpet or singing your concentration is used
for the music, if you hold your breath only for holding
the breath the survive instincts start to work - you will
die, it's dangerous ohhh - people are fearful and they stop.
So they have to learn mentally to be quiet, relaxed, and
then, when they are relaxed they can use their breath slowly,
quietly, they forget the clock, and they can reach a long
time and they are very surprised. It is not possible, I
held my breath 3 minutes and you show the watch and they
say it is unbelievable. Only because they were relaxed and
they had a good deep breath.
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| AP: |
What do you think about Yoga? |
| GA: |
Yoga is very interesting, but you know for a lot of people
it's a little bit complicate. You must go to a certain place,
you must buy books, you must have lessons and so on, but
why not. What I explain to the people is very, very simple
and maybe there is already a little bit of Yoga in it. Of
course in Yoga you can do a lot of things but what is very
important, is to stay very simple. I tell the people, when
it is raining, the water falls down and it is wet - it's
evident. What I explain is exactly the same, you have to
follow the nature. When you wake up you have to breathe
the same way when you sleep. Through education, principles,
looking nice and so on you loose natures breathing technique. |
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| AP: |
How did start everything for you? |
| GA: |
When I was young, I was in Vienna and I had a very good
teacher for singing. He was the son of a lady who was singing
in the opera and as a young man he helped his mother for giving
the lessons in singing. But he told me, he couldn't sing wonderful
because he doesn't have the voice, but that I have the voice
but not the technique. So I learned with him singing, and
I noticed, when I was good singing, he was happy and now for
me it's exactly the same. When I see a young person good in
sports, breathing with the wrong technique, I don't feel good.
If I can show him to breathe in the right way, I feel better,
I am happy. |
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| AP: |
If you teach somebody for the first time, what will you
explain to him? |
| GA: |
Lay down, relax, feel the attraction of the earth and than
I have three words: Tarzan for chest breathing, Buddha for
down breathing and Galileo. When Galileo 400 years ago told
the people the earth is round, he was condemned! It was not
allowed to think this way because that would mean that the
people on the other side of the earth live with their heads
down. So I tell the people, here in Europe, now you think
you are in Australia and you try to see yourself as an Australian
would see you now - so reverse. You feel the attraction of
the earth not from up to down but from down to up. Why? If
you follow only the sensation you cannot know that, so the
people in the time of Galileo. The human being is an animal
but a clever animal. With this cleverness you cannot think
that you have your head down, not up, down under the pole
of the earth. That means you need a certain kind of gymnastic
for your mind. So I tell the people it is the same with your
body, if you follow your sensation, after one minute, two
minutes, you will think, I will die, I must breathe, it is
impossible; - good, think in the way to Galileo. In the fact
it's not so. If you think like a human being you know your
body is able, with one long correct breath to live much longer,
even if your are old. A very old lady or man would hold the
breath 20 seconds; but with the right technique 40 seconds.
A young person, sportsman, instead of two minutes, four minutes.
The principle is the same. It means you must go to a certain
level, you are anxious; and you learn to pass that trough,
it is exciting and you come in the "second breath"
and you feel happy and it's fantastic. So apnea records are
good, interesting, but they are not my job. Everywhere I am
interested in apnea for happiness of the human being. Through
this technique they learn to live with less stress and much
better. Especially the children should learn diving, reasonably
not for records, they would learn to breathe correctly and
I think later, when they are grown ups, they would have less
problems with drugs and so on because they would not be so
anxious about the problems of life. It is my philosophy but
it is very cheap and simple: |
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So, if you meet Guy Ackermann somewhere, ask
him for a lesson and if you are lucky and he has the time for
it, add a new experience of breathing.
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