Per the most recent Hit With Power podcast, I am posting this quick (and crazy!) tutorial on how to practice evolving your spirit shout. For purposes of efficiency, I get to my spirit shout after a few build up breaths in the video. It will likely take you several more breaths to get to get built up to a guttural scream, but that’s okay! Keep practicing. This is something I have done for 20 years, so it comes very naturally to me. The good news is that a primal scream lives in all of us, it’s just a matter of tapping into the emotions that power the spirit shout. There are many ways to get to this state of mind, but for now, just practice the feeling of getting that guttural breath and the sound of your spirit released. Much like hearing yourself on a recorder, it will sound funny at first and may even make you laugh – it may make you want to cry. That’s actually a great thing. It means you are able to tap into your emotions when you need them, and that is a huge asset when it comes to self defense. To give you an idea of how a spirit shout sounds in action, I’ve also posted a video of a simulated self defense situation called a Mass Attack from my black belt presentation performance at East West Kung Fu in Alamo circa 2007.
This is an excerpt from my most recent podcast to give you a preface of the drill:
“Vocalization can be difficult, but gets easier with practice. Self defense training is a great way to practice your SPIRIT SHOUT, but it’s not the only way. Your car, the shower, any closed space is a fine place to train, just make sure those who might hear know what you are doing first. The SPIRIT SHOUT comes from deep down in your belly, it is guttural, a primal scream rather than a throat scream. So, this week, practice this Spirit Shout drill. Find a closed room. Stand in wonder woman stance. Place both hands on your low belly and inhale, filling up the space under your hands. Then powerfully exhale, pressing out all of the air. Allow the sound to be a breath sound at first, then build up to a talking voice, yelling voice and then finally BACK AWAY.”