Breathing Style

A Breathing Style is a method of swordfighting that relies on Total Concentration Breathing, an esoteric technique that pushes the body well past normal human limits. Members of the Demon Slayer Corps train in these styles for combat, and long after the demons are gone the same forms survive as traditional dances.

Most styles imitate an element or concept from nature, such as flame, water, or wind, and reshape it into the user's movements and attacks. The blade strikes of skilled practitioners reach surprisingly far, a result of the air pressure and shockwaves their swings produce. As new combat needs arise, fresh styles keep branching off, some inspired by animals, plants, or even emotions, and some tied to new weapons like whips and flails. Many of these creations belong to a single user, while a few spread to other slayers. When a style is performed, the user pictures themselves wielding its underlying concept, which makes it look as if real magic is at play. It is also possible to blend two styles together: Tanjiro Kamado, unable to fully master either Water Breathing or Hinokami Kagura on its own, fused them to deliver stronger blows and endure longer fights (Chapter 90).

The tradition stretches back roughly five centuries ahead of the Taisho years. In the Sengoku era, Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the strongest slayer who ever lived, created Sun Breathing, the source of everything that followed (Chapter 178). When his students could not match his innate genius, he adapted his art into gentler versions tailored to each pupil's strengths. From this came the five core styles: Water, Flame, Thunder, Wind, and Stone, while his brother's failed attempt to learn the original eventually became Moon Breathing.

Over the generations the five fundamentals were handed down, while Sun and Moon faded into near obscurity. New branches arose to suit individual fighters, some dying out for lack of practitioners and others enduring through their teachability. The Taisho Era brought a surge of unique creations: Insect and Serpent grew from Water, Love emerged from Flame, Sound came from Thunder, and Beast branched from Wind. Flower and Mist, by contrast, were established earlier and outlasted their founders.

The catalog of recorded styles includes Water (Giyu Tomioka, Sakonji Urokodaki, Tanjiro Kamado), Thunder (Zenitsu Agatsuma, Jigoro Kuwajima, Kaigaku), Flame (Kyojuro and Shinjuro Rengoku), Sun or Hinokami Kagura (Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the Kamado line), Wind (Sanemi Shinazugawa), Stone (Gyomei Himejima), Mist (Muichiro Tokito), Serpent (Obanai Iguro), Sound (Tengen Uzui), Insect (Shinobu Kocho), Love (Mitsuri Kanroji), Flower (Kanae Kocho, Kanao Tsuyuri), Beast (Inosuke Hashibira), and Moon (Kokushibo). Their practitioners are almost always Hashira or otherwise highly capable slayers.