This lady I worked with taught herself circular breathing so she could smoke an entire cigarette in one long inhale. The breaks were really short.
She didn't know it was called circular breathing, or that you could use it to sing or play an instrument.. Just figured it out naturally by being a dedicated smoker.
As to Mr. Akiyama's 4 pack per day, do we know for sure how many were in a pack?
And those LDSaints