Laird Hamilton on breathwork in sport
For those of you who are unfamiliar with his history. Laird Hamilton is regarded as perhaps the greatest big-wave surfer the world has ever known. Raised in Hawaii, by the age of seventeen he forged a name for himself as a top-level surfer. He decided at an early age that he was not going to become a full-time competitor. But decided to focus more on building his media personality through modelling and several movie roles.
His love for surfing combined with his acting career led him to innovate new ways in which he could surf bigger and bigger waves. The film Riding Giants chronicled the story as he and his crew rode some of the biggest waves on the planet. With the aid of their newly invented tow-in technique using jet skies. It was this technique which would lead to world records for the biggest waves ever ridden to be broken year after year.
Surfing Teahupoo
But it was his own surfing of the freak of nature wave at Teahupoo in Tahiti that would place him firmly on the map as the greatest big wave surfer to ever do it. Here Hamilton discusses the importance of proper breathing. Which helped him elevate his own capacity to deal with the conditions and situations in which big wave surfers find themselves. With these techniques can make the difference between life and death in the big wave surfing world.
But how important is it in terms of combat sports competition? In a sport where we regularly see ultra-fit competitors quickly fade during a fight. Could these techniques be the answer to the issue which plagues some of the sports biggest stars? Here Hamilton along with Joe Rogan put their arguments forward for why and how breathing could impact some of these fighters performances. Giving example after example of the proven benefits the exercises have given those who use them
Taken from JRE #1301 w/Laird Hamilton: https://youtu.be/FYsvhzhAK2g