phido06 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 breathing blocks are generally more "hype" than anything else. they don't really accomplish much, except from making people really tired and miserable... before rehearsal even starts. as an engineer who knows nothing about physiology, I say regardless of whether it makes you stronger or not... ...it builds character Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyri Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 /snip/...it builds character And thats what Corps is all about! A particular low brass sectional when our tech turned around and bolted, we were arced at home plate in a baseball field, when he was at the right field wall he told us to catch him. Ran the field thrice, dropped to our horns and then held a ppp bflats till the world started to spin. Then we went back to full line sectionals and went into tracking. Then the Tpet tech remembered the high brass hadnt done breathing block while in their sectional, so the whole brassline should help them ... it was all good though cuz we were in Madison, and you cant bag out when there are little kids and grey haired men watching you rehearse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KickBrass Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 So where I was for 08 the brass staff gave us a 'present' the first week of move-ins... a small piece of pvc pipe. Sounds harmless enough....... WRONG!!! They were about 2.5 inches long and varying from around 1 inch wide (sops) to 2 inches wide (contras). The goal was that every time we ran, we ran with the tubes in our mouths (breathing blocks included). We also did a smattering of other breathing exercises with them before sectionals daily. And yes, of course, the jokes were numerous about accidentally putting them in too far, or falling and killing ourselves, and there was literally no way to prevent drooling all over either. They were dubbed 'breathing tubes' *insert scary music* In reality, the goal was to force our mouths (and consequently our throats) completely open while we ran. It's hard to describe the sensation of breathing (and running!) with the tube in- it sorta forces you to breath in more air than you want, but you feel like you can never catch your breath. Toward the end of tour we stopped doing breathing blocks and did Indian Sprints with the breathing tubes instead. All in all we complained about them more than they actually sucked- and it was an innovative way to teach us to breath efficiently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazymello Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 So where I was for 08 the brass staff gave us a 'present' the first week of move-ins... a small piece of pvc pipe. Sounds harmless enough....... WRONG!!!They were about 2.5 inches long and varying from around 1 inch wide (sops) to 2 inches wide (contras). The goal was that every time we ran, we ran with the tubes in our mouths (breathing blocks included). We also did a smattering of other breathing exercises with them before sectionals daily. And yes, of course, the jokes were numerous about accidentally putting them in too far, or falling and killing ourselves, and there was literally no way to prevent drooling all over either. They were dubbed 'breathing tubes' *insert scary music* In reality, the goal was to force our mouths (and consequently our throats) completely open while we ran. It's hard to describe the sensation of breathing (and running!) with the tube in- it sorta forces you to breath in more air than you want, but you feel like you can never catch your breath. Toward the end of tour we stopped doing breathing blocks and did Indian Sprints with the breathing tubes instead. All in all we complained about them more than they actually sucked- and it was an innovative way to teach us to breath efficiently. I've used breathing tubes... we called them them that too. but we didn't run, we just did breathing exercises with them. We never ran with them. That is genius! I want to try it. I still have mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrnguy500 Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 So where I was for 08 the brass staff gave us a 'present' the first week of move-ins... a small piece of pvc pipe. Sounds harmless enough....... WRONG!!!They were about 2.5 inches long and varying from around 1 inch wide (sops) to 2 inches wide (contras). The goal was that every time we ran, we ran with the tubes in our mouths (breathing blocks included). We also did a smattering of other breathing exercises with them before sectionals daily. And yes, of course, the jokes were numerous about accidentally putting them in too far, or falling and killing ourselves, and there was literally no way to prevent drooling all over either. They were dubbed 'breathing tubes' *insert scary music* In reality, the goal was to force our mouths (and consequently our throats) completely open while we ran. It's hard to describe the sensation of breathing (and running!) with the tube in- it sorta forces you to breath in more air than you want, but you feel like you can never catch your breath. Toward the end of tour we stopped doing breathing blocks and did Indian Sprints with the breathing tubes instead. All in all we complained about them more than they actually sucked- and it was an innovative way to teach us to breath efficiently. That sounds intense. I bet your corps sounded top notch by the end of tour. Air=fuel=sounding good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathie Wiener Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 At Blue Knights, those of us from out of town really suffered the first week or so after move-in during the Breathing Blocks. The Denver altitude was killer, but it definitely increased my lung capacity and I was in the GUARD. Even pit did Breathing Block with the corps when I marched in the 90's. We did specific breathing exercises without running quite often as well and we did breathing exercises during the end of our first warm up for the day, mostly during leg lift exercises while we were lying down. Also brutal, but completely effective. Now that I look back we did a lot of breathing exercises and until I wrote this up, I never really realized it. I have no idea whether the whole corps still does all of this, but it was really helpful and it definitely brought the corps together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 It all sounds like a good way for doctors to convince people to stop smoking. I used to smoke back when I marched, but that was long before breathing blocks and I was a drummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyboy Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I just had to pass a breathing test to wear a full face rescue respiratior, I would love to use this piece of equipment for a "before and after" test on some horn players this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thePerfectbuzz Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 as an engineer who knows nothing about physiology, I say regardless of whether it makes you stronger or not......it builds character no, drum corps builds character.....breathing blocks build nothing. waste of time if you ask me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flervinuveling Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 not really anything to do with breathing block (but i will say that at madison we used shhhh on the exhale, not sssss... or maybe that was just me and i'm really non-perceptive), but has anyone ever looked at what the front of the arban's book says about breathing? "In inhaling, the stomach should not swell, but rather contract in proportion to the chest which expands... In exhaling, the stomach should then gradually resume its original position in proportion to the chest which relaxes." hehe.... pre-20th century trumpet playing. i mean, cornet playing. he also replied to a letter from a fellow cornet player thinking of switching to trumpet and stated that jazz ("jass" as they wrote it back in the day) was a dumb fad that would never catch on and that's all trumpets are good for. anyway, back to your breathing block discussion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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