Breathing For Karate - More To This Than Meets The Eye

Now that I'm thinking about my breathing, I've noticed two things: Firstly, nobody has ever given me any detailed instruction on it and secondly, it seems a pretty hard thing to do correctly. The second point may explain the first - breathing techniques are not for beginners. The act of inhaling and exhaling does much more than just supply oxygen and remove carbon dioxide, although in Western culture you would never know it. Eastern cultures believe that energy - the energy of the universe or Ki - is tied up with breathing. I don't understand this, but I do feel that correct breathing can intensify your power and I wonder if I was training in the East, if I would know so little about it from my Sensai. Correct breathing can help you store energy for the most powerful moves at which point to generate this power, you must give back the energy as a loud exhalation or Kiai. Most people more experienced than me still breath mostly through biological need - quick breaths at best, timed to their movements with little thought to their energy, however those much more advanced can generate additional power through correct breathing. Perhaps this is beyond the grasp of beginners busy with replicating form, but I feel it is a shame this is not more openly taught.