The benefits of discipline in our day-to-day lives are numerous, and those who practice the martial arts get to learn how to be greater disciplined and enjoy more of this benefit. This is because students learn how to do things like engaging in greater self-control, follow required rules and establish goals that are attainable and reachable while concurrently a challenge. As a result of taking advantage of everything that this craft offers, practitioners experience numerous discipline-related benefits.
One of the most misunderstood aspects of any martial art, much more so for those outsides of the culture, is that the focus is actually much more on gaining mental strength with improving physical strength also being important, of course, but it’s not the focus.
Control of Emotions
Being able to control your emotions in real-life settings is a skill that is so essential to have. If you’re a child, it helps to have that when communicating with your parents, teachers, and others. If you are a parent or teacher, you need to engage in emotional control when interacting with others. This skill is also essential to those in work environments.
And this is not just related to interactions with others. If you’re in the office and encounter an unexpected obstacle on the way to completing a project, how are you going to react to it? Are you going to experience a feeling of exasperation and defeat, or will you simply push over, around or through that obstacle despite how unexpected it was and reach your goal anyway? Regularly practicing martial art can help you find yourself much more often in the second category.
Note that having control over your emotions does not mean that you’re limiting them. Think of it more like you’re redirecting them. You’re narrowing the focus. In regards to that project at work, you’re keeping your emotional focus narrowed on your target, so much so that it doesn’t move even when you experience unexpected obstacles. You’re utilizing your emotions much more effectively.
Getting into the Habit of Regular Practice
Anything in your life that you want to reach as close to your potential as possible requires constant practice and dedication. Any martial art will help you create that drive as you must regularly train and practice to excel at it. You can carry this over to other areas of your life. If you’re dedicated to attaining an A in a class, scoring high on a test, being the top employee for a quarter or running that 5K in under 20 minutes, you should already be in the habit of regularly practicing and working towards your goals.
A martial art also requires that you constantly learn new techniques, drills and strategies, not just practice old ones, and the same can be said for new challenges that you have in your life. Regardless of what your goal is, the path towards them will most likely vary throughout the time that you dedicate yourself to it.
Narrow Your Focus
Martial arts’ effects on your discipline will also help you narrow your focus. It’s much better to have specified goals in mind as opposed to vague ones, and practitioners generally need to accomplish specific goals on a regular basis. Elsewhere in your life, do you want to “get good grades,” or do you want to “achieve a 3.9 GPA”? You can change the exact goals dependent on your stage in life at the moment, but, regardless, those in the latter group are going to be much more apt to achieve greater levels of success.
Keep Your Word
Participating in this practice also improves your discipline as it relates to keeping your word with others. You’ll be more apt to be wary of what you promise others, and you’ll be more apt to follow through on the promises that you do make. This will help people feel more comfortable around you and trust you and cause them to be more apt to make sacrifices for you once you’ve shown that you can be trusted. You’re also giving off this impression that you hold true to your beliefs and values, which others will be drawn towards.
Improved Diet
One of the skills that need to be controlled in order to succeed in a martial art is your diet and the benefits of doing this carry over to all areas of your life. When you eat healthier, related to both the amount of food as well as the quality of it, you tend to be more energetic, healthier and full of confidence. This also relates to being disciplined as you simply won’t crave foods that contain poor nutritional values nearly as often once you’re regular practicing this art.
Avoid Temptations
Martial arts also teach the avoidance of temptations. This relates to food, but it also relates to so many other things, and it does so in a manner where those end up not even being temptations anymore. You simply no longer have any interest in them. But, without this training, the bowl of ice cream, all of that time that you might have spent on social media and the binge-watching of that show appears so much more attractive and are, as a result, often done much more often than would otherwise be the case.
Less Apt to Be Offended
One of the most significant benefits of experiencing greater levels of confidence is no longer experiencing offense at what others may believe of you. Practitioners know who they are, what they believe in and what they believe is right, and the acts of others related to them are not going to be apt to offend them. This strength of character allows criticism and insults to not have much of or any effect. Since they know what they stand for, and they know that they did the best that they could, what does it matter what anybody else has to say about it?
