Tag: martial arts

Build Your Self-Esteem By Practicing Martial Arts

Posted on | by Jason

Martial arts have been practiced and utilized since antiquity, steadfastly carried forth through many generations of mankind in diverse societies, through times of peace and war. Their venerable age is verified by a number of ancient Egyptian, Indian, and Asian murals depicting hand-to-hand combat. Though these martial arts were developed primarily for self-defense in troubled times, scientific studies and millions of personal testimonies indicate their key role in molding respectable character, confidence, positive outlook, personality, and personal success. Research has shown a range of improvements in physical health, self-image, and social skills made by adult students when surveyed eight months into training. In children and teens, some improvements were made more quickly.

Martial arts and self-esteem

Self-esteem is basically what we think of ourselves. Perception of the self – your unique self- image – greatly influences how other people perceive and label us. Building self-confidence is a natural process that occurs while training in the martial arts. Men and women join for a range of reasons, but the multitude of benefits they typically find as students multiplies their returns.

A person who has high self-esteem may be very active in society, forming bonds that get things done, because he or she believes his or her contribution is imperative to a better life for all. Self- confidence gives you the power and the motivation to affect changes when and where they’re needed!

Testing your limits – and expanding them through interesting, powerful exercise – leads you to know yourself on a deeper level. Trust in yourself and your abilities developed over time gives you a new outward appearance as well. Understanding and accepting yourself, setting goals and reaching them, are self-perpetuating – success breeds success in other areas of life. When you know your worst, but choose – and know how – to bring out your best, all the time, you often create win-win situations and bolster your reputation!

Martial arts training improves physical fitness, toning muscles, losing weight, raising energy levels, boosting immunity, and generally making you look and feel more attractive. Naturally, this is a major boost to one’s self-esteem. As you advance through ranks and belt colors, your pride and pleasure increase your commitment to reach Black Belt, to win a competition, to break those boards, and so on. The intense focus you practice to control and execute the martial arts movements removes focus you ordinarily spend on fears, complexes, hangups, and such. It alleviates stress and builds self-confidence at a steady pace in most students.

Researches and studies

In 1986, Richman and Rehberg conducted a study to measure the influence of martial arts in a person’s self esteem. The study was conducted on a sample of 60 martial artists, who participated in the 1985 Battle of Atlanta tournament. They were split into four groups according to their expertise – group 1 with people who held white through gold belts; group 2 had purple, green, and blue belts; group 3 athletes had red or brown belts; group 4 held black belts. Karate Tournament Survey, which is a self-report questionnaire, was the tool used to measure the self-esteem of subjects. In the test, the people with higher belts displayed higher scores for “internal reliability.” Also, people with higher self-confidence were seen to have performed better during the tournament.

In 1990, Finkenberg performed a study on 100 females to test the same. Of the 100, 51 were subjected to practice Tae Kwon Do and the rest had to attend general health classes, both for a period of 18 weeks. Before and after these sessions, the sample was subjected to Tennessee Self Concept test. It was found after the test that the women who participated in Tae Kwon Do showed more improvements in self-satisfaction, personal self, social self, physical self, and self identity than the subjects who attended the health classes.
Self-satisfaction is trained and earned by continually achieving success. Self-confidence grows by reinforcing itself repeatedly, as you achieve personal victories in the martial arts. Almost everyone can benefit from a higher self-esteem and better physical fitness, so consider joining a martial arts class and see the differences you can make!

Adult Martial Arts for Physical Fitness

Posted on | by Jason

Martial arts are a great all-round fitness aid. Besides the obvious advantage of feeling more secure being able to defend yourself and others, martial arts for adults also help you feel more in control of your body, mind, goals, and destiny.

Improve endurance

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and kickboxing are expecially good styles for building stamina and resiliency because of their high cardio factor. Condition your body with regular workouts and don’t skip training. Martial arts training plus drills like sprinting stairs, shadow boxing, or skipping rope work wonders in tandem. Just remember, once you get the green light from your doctor, build up slowly to start a routine you’ll stick with and earn results.

The actual moves of many martial art styles may not be highly aerobic activities. But your training will definitely involve a fair bit of aerobic exercise. Warming up is the first thing most trainers will make you do even with milder, low-impact styles.

Build core strength

Learning to get and keep control of your body mass in motion is crucial to performing most martial arts. The ability to alternately restrain it and load and unleash it is a requirement to deliver precision strikes, blocks, kicks, jumps, and grips. Martial arts training develops this vital core strength.

Stretch yourself

A lot of moves hinge on the flexibility you have. Over time, your waist, neck, legs, knees, ankles, toes, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, and fingers will become stronger with increased range of motion, speed, and power. Stretching and controlling your breathing become deeper and easier with practice.

The heart of the matter

Heart disease is a one of the leading causes of death in adults and has been for decades. You can improve the health of your cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, immune, nervous, and other vital systems with an enjoyable martial arts routine. Getting in a fun, intense workout makes your heart work harder and get stronger – while relieving stress and relaxing you afterward. It also helps lower blood pressure and helps keep cholesterol at healthy levels.

Power up your body

Improved muscle tone and higher muscle mass increases metabolic demands on your body. This means you will burn more calories every day doing the same things you do normally. Martial arts have a tremendous impact on muscle tone and can prevent obesity and aid weight loss. This regular exercise also helps strengthen your bones and reduces chances of developing
osteoporosis.

Cut the stress

A great looking body is not worth much if you’re all wired on the inside! Martial arts can be a great de-stressor. Floor, bag, and partner drills, free sparring, and the shouts of some forms like Karate can help you let go of pent up tensions and frustrations like nothing else. And with a fit mind, your body will soon follow suit.

Full body workout

A high quality martial arts program is a great way to enhance your fitness levels of mind, body, and spirit. Consistent training will deliver a multitude of unique benefits to your self-confidence and outlook, not to mention the total body workouts that expand your capabilities and improve your physical health for a better life.

Martial Arts Help Keep Kids Safe

Posted on | by Jason

Their children’s safety remains for most parents a top level concern and consideration. We live in a perilous world where children are easy prey. Since we can’t be there for our children all the time, it is necessary we teach them everything they need to know about protecting themselves. Studies have indicated that children are at a higher risk from people they know than they are from strangers. Consequently, it is essential to have clear safety guidelines to help your children protect themselves from strangers and known people alike.

Communicate with children

Communication is a very important tool when it comes to the safety of children. Countless incidents have been ignored and missed in the past only because parents did not take the time engage and listen to their children. Children are young, naive, and unaware, which makes them susceptible to being lead astray. They often don’t understand what’s wrong and what’s right. Talk about feelings and events that a child experiences with him or her. There is much security to gained just knowing that you’re always available for them and they can trust you for everything.

Another important aspect of child safety is to not scare your children. Teaching your children to be suspicous about everyone and everything will only make them paranoid. The last thing you want is a scared, timid child with no self-confidence or interpersonal skills. Instead, teach them to differentiate between good and bad. Tell them that not all strangers are bad, not all friends are really good.

Teach them cues and signs that might indicate whether a peer, sibling, or adult is actually trying to harm or help them. Tell your children that it isn’t usually good if someone asks them to do things such as keep secrets or disobey their parents, especially when that person happens to be an adult. Point out safe places and safe people that they can run to in times of danger. Before you point out such places and people, check them out for yourselves first of course. Make sure that you too can trust them with your most valued blessings!

Karate keeps kids safe

Enrolling your children in a year-round, professionally structured activity that builds safety preparedness, awareness, self-defense ability, and self-confidence empowers them to survive and thrive in a competitive, unfriendly world. It also provides a healthy outlet for energy, stress relief, with diverse skill and character building benefits as well. Students and parents also tend to form a karate community, so kids interact with a peer group they can trust and rely on in times of trouble. The discipline involved in learning karate can train your child to be alert and observant at all times. And of course, the blocks, strikes, and kicks he or she learns to execute with power could really come in handy when it really matters!

Martial Arts and ADD/ADHD in Young Children

Posted on | by Jason

Attention deficit disorder, commonly referred to ADD, is a condition that afflicts a large number of young children in today’s society. The condition is characterized by a diminished ability to concentrate on a particular task for prolonged periods of time. In some cases, the condition can also lead to constant feelings of restlessness. In this case, it is referred to as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Both these conditions, in whatever degree, can seriously hamper the way in which a child functions both at home, at school, and in public. As a parent who has a child that is suffering from ADD or ADHD, it is extremely important to understand the condition before putting into place measures to cope with and counter it.

No need to be over-worried

The first thing to understand about the condition is that your child may not truly have it at all. Parents are often so worried about the way their children are developing that they often look to these conditions as possible reasons for skewed development. However, it is important to understand that children, more often than not, are naturally impulsive, curious, and restless. In some cases though, the condition can be quite pronounced. Another thing to remember is that the condition is treatable and certainly not permanent, as long as the right course of action is taken at an early stage.

Children who suffer from ADD/ADHD experience a range of symptoms and feelings that can be quite disconcerting for them. In many cases, a child can experience a feeling of disillusionment and disconnectedness with the environment around them. Simply reprimanding a child with ADD constantly is not the solution. A better course of action may be in empowering the child and building self-esteem and focus in a number of ways. Karate for kids classes are an exceptional environment for children of all abilities and conditions.

Do not rush to the doctor

A mistake that many parents of children who have ADD/ADHD often make is to rush to the doctor to have medication prescribed. However, in most cases, medication should be viewed as a last resort. Parents should take some time out to develop learning strategies that help their children cope with the pressures around them, whether this is at school or at home. When children begin to internalize these learning techniques, they will naturally build their cognitive function over time to appropriate levels. If parents are unsure of how to deal with problem, it is highly recommended to visit a psychologist to better inform and prepare themselves and find supportive resources.