Breathing Styles (
Description

A Breathing Style being used to slay a demon.
Breathing Styles are swordsmanship styles that makes use of an esoteric breathing technique known as Total Concentration Breathing (
All known Breathing Styles currently taught within the Demon Slayer Corps are derived from Sun Breathing, the first one ever created. The majority of known Breathing Styles mimic a certain element of nature (i.e. flame, water and wind) and replicates it with the user's movements, techniques and abilities. The weapon attacks of Demon Slayers who use Breathing Styles are also longer ranged, possibly due to shockwaves or air pressure generated from their weapon itself when swinging and striking.
New Breathing Styles are always being created to suit a Demon Slayer's combat needs,[1] which results in new weapons being utilized in demon hunting (i.e. flails and whips). Such Breathing Styles embody a bigger variety of concepts, like animals, plants and emotions (i.e. serpents, flowers and love). When utilizing a Breathing Style, users automatically visualize themselves manipulating the subject behind their style, making it seem as if they were using magic, though those that are less apt and proficient in their style will visualize less of it than one who is.
As the different Breathing Styles were created by swordsmen combining what little they could of Sun Breathing with their own sword skills to display their maximum power, it is possible to mix different Breathing Styles if the user cannot master one particular Breathing Style alone in order to use the stronger aspects of different styles to compensate. Tanjiro, realizing that he could not master Water Breathing like Giyu Tomioka nor could he handle the strain of Hinokami Kagura, showed to be able to combine the two techniques together in order to have stronger strikes than when he used Water Breathing alone and move for longer periods of time than if he used Hinokami Kagura alone. He did this to save Hinatsuru from Gyutaro[2], and later used it once again during the Infinity Castle Arc to slay dozens of demons.
Total Concentration Breathing

Total Concentration Breathing being used to increase a Demon Slayer's speed.
Total Concentration Breathing (
Tanjiro Kamado displayed a technique called Recovery Breathing (
Total Concentration: Constant (

Blowing into a special gourd to rupture it.
Learning to maintain a constant state of Total Concentration Breathing requires tremendous effort, though, the skill itself is noted to be quite elementary despite the required effort.
The training process involves blowing into a special type of super durable gourd. The objective is to blow into the gourd with enough strength to make the gourd break apart. As training progresses, the gourd is replaced by larger and larger variations of the same type of gourd. The largest known gourd is about the size of a chair.
Known Breathing Styles and Users
- Note: The colors used to represent the Breathing Styles above are not necessarily based off of the color associated with each style's Nichirin Sword. For Nichirin Sword colors, see this page.
Breathing Styles Relationship Chart
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| Water |
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| Moon |
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| Flame |
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| Thunder |
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| Stone |
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| Wind |
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Flower |
| Serpent |
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| Love |
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| Sound |
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| Beast |
| Mist |
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Insect |
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Trivia
- The names of Breathing Styles are very strict. For example, the Flame Breathing (
炎 の呼 吸 Honō no kokyū?) should never be referred to as Fire Breathing (火 の呼 吸 Hi no kokyū?). - According to the second fanbook, Breathing Styles were not entirely lost to history after the demons were wiped out. Instead, they eventually became traditional dances.
References
- ↑ Kimetsu no Yaiba Manga: Chapter 90 (Page 17).
- ↑ Kimetsu no Yaiba Manga: Chapter 90 (Pages 8-19).
- ↑ Kimetsu no Yaiba Manga: Chapter 78 (Pages 4-5).