Using the tongue as a piston is not really that hard. The catch is succesfully applying the "tongue block", the rest of it is pretty simple. Usually if there are problems at this stage of the frenzel, you're doing something wrong in another step. Most commonly it's that even though you can control your epiglottis fine, when you start playing with your tongue you unconciously open it.
Sorry for the long post, but I'm going to explaing the tongue block in such detail that it should be clear to anyone.
Think of a bicycle pump. You have a cylinder and a piston. As the piston moves forward, it reduces the airspace and thus increases the pressure inside the pump. Now if the piston leaks or is to small in diameter, all it does is move air from the front to the back: as the volume in the front decreases, the volume in the back increases. Look at this fine picture:
Once the pressure in the piston (p1) grows bigger the pressure p2 outside the pump (in the bicycle tubing), the valve opens and the pressure equalizes.
Now then, what has this got to do with your mouth? Well, if you move your tongue up and back, all you're doing is moving air from the back of your mouth to the front of your mouth. As you raise your tongue, yes, the volume over the tongue decreases. But at the same time, the volume under the tongue increases and that's where the air goes. Unless you apply the "tongue block", your "piston" leaks.
Now let's look at your mouth.
Here the volume under the tongue and in the front of your mouth is the "back of the pump". The front of the pump is the airspace in your throat and back of the mouth and the "valve" is obviously your eustachian tubes. If you don't apply the tongue block the air will just leak to the front of your mouth (upper picture).
To apply the tongue block you simply raise the tip of your tongue behind your teeth (lower picture). Much the same way as you would say the letter "t".
Try exhaling and stopping the air with a "t" and the with just the tip of your tongue. You might also try reproducing
this .
The actual "piston movement" is actually pretty subtle. If everything is in place (epiglottis closed, softpalate neutral and tongue block in place) you should feel pressure right away when you move your tongue. If you don't, the air is escaping either thorught a leaking tongue block or down the epiglottis...The image above should make it clear that anything else is impossible.
Even if you can't equalize, but definately feel increasing pressure in your month, don't give up. You're half way there! All you need to do then is to lower the soft palate, and you're done.
If you don't succeed at once, don't give up. Persistence is the key here...If you do succeed, the congratulations. Now go do the same upside down, then upright in water, then upside down in water, then upside down in the water with empty lungs. Then repeat a hojillion times and you're done
Packing in short:
Think of your mouth as an airlock. In side the pressurechamber the pressure is greater than outside. If you open the door, the air will escape and the patient in there dies in horrible pain. Not good. So you need an airlock, which is a small room in between the chamber and outside air with 2 doors. You open the door that leads outside (mouth) while the door to the chamber (epiglottis) is CLOSED and enter the airlock (suck in air). You then close both doors (close mouth, apply tongue block). Then you increase the pressure in the airlock to match the pressure inside the chamber (tongue as a piston) and once that's done, you can open the door to the chamber (epiglottis) and enter the chamber (push in air). Pretty clear I hope?
So you need to:
1. Close your epiglottis
2. Open your mouth
3. Suck in air WHILE EPIGLOTTIS IS CLOSED with your cheecks etc
4. Close your mouth, apply tongue block
5. Push air as in frenzel while you open your epiglottis
6. Once the tongue is all the way back, close the epiglottis
Repeat until done.
Sorry again for the long post...
