The martial arts are a training for the total person. Not only will you get into top physical condition by practicing them, but also you will achieve psychological well-being and the perfection of your personality.
The actual health benefits of the martial arts are too numerous to mention. However, we will list just a subset of them here:
Cardiovascular Health
Meeting your requirements of aerobic exercise can be a real challenge. According to current research, only one in five adults meets the standards. However, to properly condition your heart, you need a certain amount of cardiovascular activity. Training in the arts satisfies your needs for cardiovascular activity.
Muscle Tone
Training in the arts aids in developing great muscle mass and muscle tone. Punching and kicking demand a lot of strength from all areas of your body. The more muscle mass that you have, the more calories that you will burn.
Weight Loss
As just mentioned, enhancing your muscle mass can improve your metabolism. Also, a few workouts a week in the arts will burn a lot of calories.
Reflexes
You will develop fast reflexes by practicing the arts. By blocking and dodging the attacks of your opponent, you’ll get faster reaction times. Faster reflexes are important for many life activities.
Mobility
Many of the martial arts require mobility and agility. By practicing them, you will develop the ability to move faster and more efficiently.
Strength and Power
In addition to achieving proper form, strength is also needed for a proficient fighter. Practicing the arts will provide you with the opportunity that you need to train your body to become stronger.
Certain disciplines, such as Taekwondo, require a lot of strength to practice. The repetition involved in its moves will help build your body’s musculature.
Flexibility
Performing certain moves in the arts requires a lot of flexibility. The flexibility that you will achieve will help stave off the possibility of injury in your sports activities.
Stability and Coordination
Each discipline requires its students to have proper stability and coordination. With practice, you will improve both qualities.
Blood Pressure
All types of the arts need rigorous training that leads to improved fitness. One area of fitness that will improve is your blood pressure. The repetitive movements involved function like high-intensity interval training. This will enhance your cardiovascular strength, slowing down your resting heart rate and lowering your blood pressure.
Mental Health
Research has indicated that exercise can aid in improving your mental health. The arts can help relieve you of stressors and help you to focus better. Staying active also triggers the brain in releasing endorphins, improving your mood and extending your life.
Building Confidence
The arts are much more than just a physical workout, though. It is a way of life that changes you physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. There are five reasons that the arts have such a great impact on confidence.
1. It gives you the confidence to defend yourself against attackers.
The arts prepare you for real-life situations when you will need to defend yourself. This is not just a practical need. You will actually feel better about yourself and more confident knowing that you can protect yourself and deal with confrontational situations.
2. It makes you confident that you can achieve anything that you set your mind to.
When you first start training in the arts, you might feel really challenged by all that you must master and the strength of your opponents. However, the more that you train, the more that you will feel confident that you can match up with other people.
The fact that you are able to achieve this will give you the esteem that you need for all other areas of life. You will realize that nothing is impossible for you if you set your mind to it.
3. It makes you confident about the fact that you look great.
The total body workout that the arts give you will make you really confident about the way that you look. You will achieve a trim physique and will get the toned body that you want.
4. It makes you confident that you can perform under pressure.
When you train in the arts, you will be able to join competitions eventually. There is a certain amount of pressure that is involved in competing, and you will learn to get yourself in the mood for the experience. This will ultimately transfer to other areas of life as well where you need to handle a lot of pressure.
5. It makes you confident about your ability to socialize with others.
The practice of the arts is a social phenomenon. You will learn to interact with a wide range of people who share your love for the arts and friendly competition.
So, spending your free time developing your abilities in the arts can add a lot of quality to your life. Not only will you become proficient in the arts themselves, but also your abilities will transfer over to every area of your life.
