Martial arts can provide numerous physical and mental health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health, increased strength and flexibility, reduced stress and anxiety, and improved mood. The discipline, focus, and respect that are foundational to martial arts are essential for achieving well-being, as they help individuals cultivate a positive mindset and develop healthy habits.
Practicing martial arts helps individuals master their mind and emotions, leading to greater emotional stability, assertiveness, and self-confidence. For Nathan Perry, learning martial arts has been an important part of wellness across all areas of his life, from self-defense to social interactions. Intense physical activity like martial arts has been known to increase neuron survival in the brain, which enhances learning and keeps cognitive functions working properly.
Martial arts can help combat mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, leading to a more balanced sense of self. Martial arts like Tai Chi focus on the breath and physical sensations in the body, providing stress relief and enhancing mental health.
Physically, martial arts can help cultivate sturdiness, faster reflexes, coordination of body and mind, flexibility, and balance. Emotionally, martial arts build focus, assertiveness, and stability, strengthening the mind and improving the sense of achievement.
Martial arts become a way of life, bringing together people of different walks of life, adding new life experiences not available elsewhere. It boosts self-confidence, increases awareness of eating healthy, improves mental focus, teaches good morals, and improves overall well-being.
Ongoing training in Arakan Martial Art can increase resilience to pressure, stress, and fear, helping practitioners cope with stressful situations. In a martial arts setting, practitioners are constantly challenged with new techniques, changing sparring partners, and evolving strategies, compels practitioners to learn new skills.
Self-defense classes can teach life-saving techniques, help get in shape, and help improve confidence. There is a common misconception that martial arts only benefit those who practice them for physical and mental health benefits.
📹 WHY MARTIAL ARTS WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE
#ufc #mma #martialarts #fitness #motivation #selfdefense #selfimprovement #selfcare #boxing #kickboxing #muaythai #jiujitsu …
Can martial arts make you stronger?
Martial arts target both lower and upper body muscles, providing a dynamic workout that can help tone muscles, develop stamina, balance, and strength over time. High-intensity training, such as High Interval Training (HIIT), can improve cardiovascular health. Martial arts can be an alternative to running for those who prefer a more strenuous workout. Fitness trainers at Roufusport near Greenfield incorporate martial arts into their routines, as a moderate level training can burn up to 500 calories.
Is MMA better than gym?
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) training provides a superior workout compared to traditional gym workouts. However, weight training should not be dismissed as a viable option. A sport-specific lifting program has the potential to enhance performance during MMA classes and facilitate the development of larger muscles. Evolve MMA provides complimentary introductory classes and trial classes with world champions, affording prospective students the opportunity to experience martial arts training.
What is the true purpose of martial arts?
Martial arts training offers numerous benefits to trainees, including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. It boosts physical fitness through systematic practice, activating the entire muscular system and enhancing strength, stamina, speed, flexibility, and movement coordination. Mental health benefits include self-esteem, self-control, and emotional and spiritual well-being. Some martial arts schools focus on therapeutic aspects, de-emphasizing the historical aspect of self-defense or combat.
Bruce Lee believes martial arts have the nature of an art, as they involve emotional communication and expression. Martial arts are also used in self-defense, military, and law enforcement applications.
How has fighting changed your life?
Regular participation in martial arts, such as BJJ, can provide numerous benefits, including self-confidence, respect, community involvement, physical and mental health, and toughness. These benefits are not easily quantifiable but are evident to those who know them best. A 19-year-old student started training BJJ in 2013 after watching UFC fights and feeling delusional. As a failed college athlete, the student needed something that scared them and kept them sane.
BJJ helped them overcome their lack of competitiveness and confidence. They found themselves completely helpless and out of touch with reality in their first class, leaving with a shattered ego and a bulging black eye. These benefits cannot be bought or paid for, regardless of financial wealth.
How does martial arts change your life?
Regular participation in martial arts, such as BJJ, can provide numerous benefits, including self-confidence, respect, community involvement, physical and mental health, and toughness. These benefits are not easily quantifiable but are evident to those who know them best. A 19-year-old student started training BJJ in 2013 after watching UFC fights and feeling delusional. As a failed college athlete, the student needed something that scared them and kept them sane.
BJJ helped them overcome their lack of competitiveness and confidence. They found themselves completely helpless and out of touch with reality in their first class, leaving with a shattered ego and a bulging black eye. These benefits cannot be bought or paid for, regardless of financial wealth.
Why are martial artists so calm?
Maintaining a calm and relaxed mindset is a crucial aspect of martial arts, as it allows for a more supple and yielding approach. The term “Jiu” in Jiu-Jitsu (Jujutsu) means gentle, soft, supple, and yielding. At Full Potential Martial Arts, students are encouraged to develop a deep sense of calm, which is beneficial in various aspects of life, including self-defense and work.
Master Kyuzo Mifune, a skilled martial artist, demonstrates this by staying calm and supple in the face of fierce grappling attacks. This calm mind, or “no-mind” (Mushin in Japanese), is useful not only in Jiu-Jitsu but also in striking aspects of martial arts like Karate. Skilled karate practitioners blend and flow around attacks when facing strong opponents.
As individuals learn and train in martial arts like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or karate, they may become slightly uptight due to their awareness of their movements, successes, and errors. However, as they continue to train, they can gain significant improvement by focusing on their mental state and internalizing the physical movements of the martial art.
What do martial arts teach you about life?
Martial arts can help individuals maintain discipline and focus in their work and training, preventing them from falling behind their peers and achieving their goals. By avoiding distractions and putting in the necessary effort, martial arts students learn to master techniques and develop courage. This skill is particularly important for children, who are often vulnerable to bullying. By acquiring the ability to defend themselves in compromising situations, martial arts students can walk through life with confidence, preventing emotional scars that could last a lifetime.
Instructors in martial arts can only guide individuals so much, and it is the discipline to the task that brings results. Overall, martial arts can help individuals overcome challenges and achieve their goals, ultimately leading to a more fulfilling and successful life.
How do martial arts change lives?
Martial arts training offers numerous benefits beyond self-defense and competition. It improves overall fitness by making the heart and lungs work harder, leading to improved physical fitness. People who train martial arts have better mobility and flexibility, which can be beneficial in various aspects of life, including academics and relationships.
Martial arts involve making quick decisions under stress, teaching the importance of working hard towards goals, reducing stress levels, improving focus, improving social skills, and improving physical health. Training in martial arts also helps in focusing on small details, being present and mindful of events, and making new friends.
Martial arts also provide a full body workout, leading to increased physical health and a stronger immune system. It also enhances coordination, confidence, agility, reflexes, and discipline. The more disciplined one is with their training, the faster they enjoy the benefits of martial arts.
In summary, martial arts training offers numerous mental and physical benefits, including improved problem-solving skills, work ethic, lower stress levels, improved focus, social skills, physical health, coordination, confidence, agility, and discipline. By focusing on these aspects, martial arts can help individuals achieve their goals and improve their overall well-being.
What is the biggest benefit of martial arts?
Martial arts offer numerous benefits, including improved physical health, increased flexibility, lower blood pressure and heart rate, enhanced mental well-being, reduced stress levels, enhanced focus and concentration, increased self-confidence, and improved coordination. These benefits are primarily derived from consistent practice over time.
The first training session can significantly impact an individual’s physical health, as striking movements can cause soreness in the arms and shoulders. Grappling arts require constant use of muscles, enhancing stamina and allowing for more activities outside of the gym. Additionally, martial arts increase Vo2 Max levels, indicating the body’s ability to absorb and use oxygen. This strengthens muscles needed for an improved cardiovascular system, increasing metabolism. Martial arts are also a fun way to burn calories, lose weight, and improve sleep. Overall, martial arts contribute to a healthier lifestyle and overall well-being.
How do martial arts affect you?
Martial arts practice can provide numerous benefits, including a sense of calm, confidence, and renewed peace with life purpose. It also offers physical exercise, boosting mood with endorphins and boosting confidence. Mastering martial arts helps channel energy towards positive activities, promoting emotional regulation and self-confidence. It also helps in overcoming setbacks and fostering resilience.
Martial arts also strengthen the mind, teaching resilience and the importance of not letting life get you down. Overall, martial arts can help individuals develop greater emotional stability, assertiveness, self-confidence, and self-esteem.
How did MMA change your life?
Mixed martial arts (MMA) training can significantly boost self-confidence and self-esteem. It not only teaches practical self-defense skills but also enhances physical appearance, enhancing confidence in daily activities. MMA training also enhances social skills, enhancing confidence during social interactions.
The intense physical workout in MMA gyms releases dopamines in the brain, promoting calmness, relaxation, and mood elevation. This activity also reduces stress. MMA gyms foster a positive environment, encouraging students to be patient and persistent during training sessions. This positive mindset can be maintained in various aspects of life.
MMA can also serve as a form of destructive therapy, as studies show that expressing anger or frustration on inanimate objects can lower frustration and stress. Overall, MMA training provides a positive and effective way to improve one’s confidence and overall well-being.
📹 How Martial Arts Can CHANGE your Life
Today we look at how Martial Arts Can change your life! Music by: https://www.patreon.com/RiftiBeats Our website: …
Hey Mario, I just wanna say as a 14 year old guy who started his fitness journey about a month ago, you have given me the fuel to keep going. Your words help inspire me to try and become a better person and athete. I wrestle and play lacrosse, neither of which I’m very good at. But I trust myself and I have you to thank for it. Keep it up 👍
When he said “taking martial arts seriously for 3 months you’ll be better at fighting than 90% of people. Such Fax. Been doing Muay Thai every weekday for 4 ish months and I am better than everyone at the gym other than the coaches and fighters. This pretty much applies to everything. If you put more effort into something than anyone else, you’ll progress faster than anyone else
I actually started martial arts when I was 16 -17, earned my black belt in 2020 and then got serious about my health in 21. Its 23 and now I’ve dropped body fat significantly, finally started lifting, and on my way to a 3rd degree black belt. Also just turned 25 Sunday. God blessed me with martial arts and now i cannot imagine my life without it. Keep fighting brothers and sisters and my GOD bless you all.
Hey Mario, I am entering high school now and a lot of your advice has helped me. For my whole life up until 8th grade I was fat and didn’t play sports and then over the summer I lost 40 pounds and started mma. It’s helped me a lot on losing the weight and I’m gonna start going to the gym as well as doing calisthenics. Your advice has helped me a lot and I am gonna be joining the wrestling team next year and hope to be in ufc someday. Thank you Mario
My parents didn’t have the funds or even thought about putting me into any forms of self defense martial arts. My only form of martial arts practicing(barely) was my uncle who always forced me and my year older brother to spar and throw punches to each other without any protection besides a mattress. Sometimes my uncle stepped in to choke both of us out. (Half playfully and serious) While the memories and trauma weren’t great. It’s made me more tougher and resilient. I’m genuinely surprised I didn’t grow up being a delinquent or worse. I’m glad I went through it and I’m not some soft soy boy.
Dude, good article, I’m 38, lazy, out of shape you’re 24 and have a lot of experience already, started as a young teen and now can continue on for many years and master even more fighting styles….another 10 years you’re only 34 with say 3 or 4 fighting styles (boxing, kickboxing, taekwondo, jujitsu) all learned, 10 years for me I’m 48 and maybe got lucky and learned say jujitsu, now I’m older and probably not as strong….all down hill. You’ll be at your peak instrength or at least around it. I would’ve like to have learned SOMETHING 10 or 20 years ago, now I’m still a loser, tall, over weight, unattractive, dumb, and don’t even any skulls whatsoever and failed at trying to be a pro poker player or just succeed as a crypto investor or gamer. No wonder women don’t ever approach me, to all of you dudes and ladies out here, don’t be like me, don’t let things pass you ht and develop social anxiety and hate your life with no fulfillment, get out there and go for what you want.
some one told me that body builders are the best i responded : not really look at the best body builders and they are not the best looking even though they have the biggest muscle but some one with less muscle and better athleticism will look better to the normal public i mean body building is about looking gold to your self and other guys who do body building but not looking good to the normal public and most people are not body builders and some body builders may look good but they are not good Body builders . Bodybuilding is a middle ground they are not pound for pound as strong as a athelete but in terms of absolute strength they weaker then professional strong men and power lifters and simple reason body builder don’t train to traget the core but using a belt or setting down while atheletes and power lifters use their cores and can generate force Faster and body builders will lose to in most real life activity cause they don’t work their core and body building hates training for strength and only do hypertrophy traning and making most of the muscle useless weight all though traning for strength will increase hypertrophy to not as much just hypertrophy and most healthy people are atheletes and best looking and it’s not even close and letting a average jeo rate will better cause they can speak from the point of the average person and not a body builder in their one Buble
I also started Martial arts when I was 6, but I did itf taekwondo instead. Fast forward to 8 years later, I am a black belt with 3 DANs and I am very proud. When i was a begginer, everyone else was older than me, and had a black belt. Most of them quit, and now im the big guy. I can say that it has helped me in a lot of things, both physical and mental.
I started martial arts training when I was 15 and that’s also when I started my fitness journey. Although before that I did take Tae Kwon Do for a whole summer when I was 11 and did acrobatics and parkour moves when I was 14. At 16 I’d say that was when my confidence peaked back in 2019 while my strength and skills improved in such ways I didn’t think I could do and this was before the whole covid lockdown happened, back then I felt like I was just unbeatable.
When i was 8 i got my black belt in taekwamdo, i started when i was 5. After that I I didnt workout at all and i got extreme lazy and skinny fat up until about a year ago when i started working out again. Im 17, turning 18 soon and im starting to get into fighting again. I have multiple friends who are experienced in BJJ, mua tai, taikwando, boxing and kickboxing. Ive been sparing with them for about a month now, not consistently, just sometimes when we hangout or have gloves, and ive already noticed massive improvement. I cant afford a gym so i just spar when i can and practice my form in a mirror.
I’m currently on 7th grade, I’ve trained martial art for 1 year now, i realise how little my time to be a champ are, i only have one year to compete before I’m in 9th grade, i gotta compete with people who have been training since elementary school. Just tasted defeat for the first time, i feel like I’m not training enough, not trying hard enough, feeling so weak and worthless, I’ve defeated a couple kid, but it’s because they’re just as inexperienced as me, i just win by physical advantage. Do i have the time to train my ass off in one year and be a champ before 9th grade, idk man… 😔
I also enjoy using my muscle for a sport, and for me it is boxing. I do question the way you present your obvious passion for combat sports. And imho I think you are doing a disservice to martial arts. The thing is, it is amazing that you gained and built confidence from martial arts. And it is great that you are sharing your passion for that with the world. Where I question your approach is that you are very against anything else other that what you are passion about, even to the point you put out a article that was sort of against boxing. We have choice in life. Choice to have different hobbies, play different sports etc. I think we should embrace and enjoy each other’s journeys, especially the fitness journey. While I do understand bodybuilding has a heavy connection to PEDs, the sport isn’t terrible if it means that someone has interest enough to pick it up and start using it to gain their confidence and health. Sport training can also be an option for those who have interest, but again, this could be more intimidating for some and not to mention some sport training is really hard on the joints so from a longevity perspective it isn’t always the best option. All that to say, just understand how you are projecting your points out into the world. Your platform can’t just be about putting down one form of fitness for another. Just present your approach in a vacuum and you’ll have athletes and fitness ppl follow you. But the way you are doing it right now is very toxic and I would say not a good role model for the ones that we should really be focussed on; the younger generation.
Tbh facts,when i was younger iwas big but weak asf,i got into many fights but lost all of them,i dont know how to fight all i do was push my enemy away,i dont know how to punch,kick,defend etc. But then 4 years ago i decided im gonna start learning a martial art,and that was boxing(self taught),holy shit it gave me much more confidence and instead of picking fights,i avoided them and even if i got in one i would win it,i may not be good at kicking but my punches were way better and my defense was better than before and 4 years later im as of now in my greatest shape of my life(my diet is still going) ive been lifting and dieting for 4 months now and boxing for 4 years(lost 50+lbs)
Been in that situation before was excluded during my middle school and high school days and felt like an outsider. I’m so glad I turned my life around in July 2010 after sophomore year and very soon it’s my 13th anniversary. I took up Muay Thai in July 2010 mma in December 2016 and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in February 2017 and the rest is history
Hey Mario I need help with something. So on my push day the last exercises is skullcrushers and they feel nice and don’t really hurt my elbows because I can do them with 30 lbs on an ez bar and train to failure within 11 reps, this is because I do banded dips before this which tires my triceps. On the other hand my upper day is a little different, the last exercise is still ez bar skullcrushers but since I don’t do any tricep exercise before this, I do them with 40lbs. This has been going good because I can train them 8 reps to failure but the problem is I have some elbow pain while doing them, I record my lifts so when I reviewed it, my arms were flaring a bit out to the sides but I think this is ok, I tried unflaring them in the next set but it still hurt. What do I do? Is this elbow pain fine? I can’t lower the weight to 30 lbs because then it would be wayyy too easy (I don’t have 2.5 plates). And I like the exercise and don’t want to change it. Btw it still hurts when I flex after the workout, just to let you know I’m 13.
MMA or any martial art IMO should preferably be done after pursuing a certain sport. It helps in developing a certain fluidity. I did gymnastics as a kid and taekwondo after that and realized how much more powerful I was than the other kids in class. Adesanya was a dancer and kinda explains why his footwork is so good. Ofc there are tons of exceptions but as I said before, it’s just my opinion 🙂
I agree with you on everything, but one thing you made me realize is that martial arts have eroded my fear to try new things. For instance, I’m also learning how to dance now, and I wouldn’t have even considered doing that just half a year ago. I go to classes five days a week (split between kickboxing, Jiu Jitsu, and savate), and it’s done wonders for my mood.
Well after Training to be a Muay Thai fighter and fought at stadium level in Thailand during from 91-95. Getting beat up for a fight purse that’s way (i mean WAY LESS) compare to working at McDonald, I feel like a 54 years old man in a body of a 90 years old xD. Yup, It does change me life mate xD. But not the way you think. You would be surprise how fighting in the ring really does, In a lot of ways’ humbles you. For me, it makes me really Hate Fighting (can you imagine fighting a guy that you hardly know about who have done nothing wrong to you, and both of you beating each other up for other’s amusement ? It’s really degrading if you think about it. Just my though) and always do my best to avoid them of even going to a pub for sip of whiskey or anything. You learn what it’s like to be put in your place. It taught me not to be a bully, since now I know what it’s like to be bullied. I learn Control, since you can’t fight well when your emotions are not in check when you are having a fight in the ring. To face your fear and learn to control it. That’s what I have learned if you count Muay Thai as a martial art. So yeah it does change me live a lot mate. Now I’m currently practicing silat. I love it hahaha xD Another lesson = when you knock out someone just remember, that bloke you fought inside the ring, they are just the same as you. A man trying to make ends meet by doing what they know. You feel great at first, but when the adrenaline drops, you really felt like the worst guy on the face of the earth.
100% agree with everything you say. When I was a kid my dad wanted to do a martial art. My great uncle ran a judo school and that was what my dad wanted me to do. During the 70’s and 80’s the UK had a few world and Olympic champions. However I was more interested in football (soccer to our USA friends). I was okay to good at this but it was what most kids did. Judo just never sparked my imagination. I told my dad I’d prefer karate. He just didn’t seem to be that enthusiastic about me doing karate. I also told him I wouldn’t mind giving boxing a go. He wasn’t that enthusiastic about me doing that either. However, I now believe that I would’ve been pretty good at boxing. I’m now 52 years old and three years ago I started doing a Korean martial art. My fitness, confidence and general well-being has improved massively. I no longer have backache. My overall strength has increased massively confidence is back to where it was 25 years ago. The sense of community is also a massive benefit. Basically, it is never too late to start something new.
Thanks for the article man. I couldn’t agree more with what you said. Starting martial arts saved me from going down a very dark path when I was younger. My first teacher was from the Shaolin San Kung Fu system. I had never had any good role models around me growing up, and I was doing some not so great things. Learning from them showed me that I could become something better than I had been. It wasn’t a system I stayed with for various reasons, but I’ll always be grateful for learning it. It made a huge impact on everything I have done from that point.
The thing which really captivates me about martial arts is that it’s something you can carry with you for every moment of your whole life. I remember a story from one martial artist, a practitioner of Wun Hop Kuen Do who started his training in the 1960s: he and a friend of his wanted to learn kung fu, so they were scouting around San Francisco Chinatown for a teacher. There was a waiter at a particular restaurant who they thought seemed so graceful and confident and assured in his movements, they thought he must know kung fu. He did, and became their first teacher. Sports like basketball, tennis or football might be fun and keep you in shape for a while, but have you ever looked at someone and thought they seemed so graceful and assured in their movements that they must be a tennis player? And even the best players usually quit before they hit middle age; when you rack up a lot of residual injuries, and then stop training, that’s a recipe for some really tough twilight years, but martial arts have hundreds of years of accumulated knowledge on how to keep training into your old age.
Outside of the work I do every day in the actual AA programme and my faith, nothing in my life has been so fruitful and fulfilling in maintaining my sobriety, which is life and death for me, as my discovery of JKD at Chesapeake Jeet Kune Do here in Virginia. We have a patient, challenging, and encouraging Sifu, and my teammates surround me with a spirit of good will I never knew existed. Even though I’m a newcomer it’s already been a blessing beyond my wildest dreams.
My journey was a bit different. I did Taekwondo for about ten years when I was a kid starting at 8 till I was about 17/18. My dojang starting a steady decline in quality and even as a student instructor there wasn’t much I could do. Ulitimately when I was making the transition between high school and college I decided to quit Taekwondo, my dad who trained alongside told me I could test for my 4th dan then I could quit, so I did. I tested and quit pretty soon after. For about 5 years I didn’t really practice or exercise, college and working various jobs didn’t leave me much time for martial arts, and I didn’t really have much interest in training nor time because of college and work. But being stuck in the pandemic, especially perusal a lot of Cobra Kai, I starting missing taekwondo so I signed up earlier this year at another dojang owned by an old instructor who used to work at my dojang. I also started doing Hapkido and Kickboxing and I’ll be testing for my green belt soon which is halfway to black in hapkido. MY body still has a lot of catching up to do but I think I’m getting there.
People talk about confidence growing from training in generel, but from what I’ve Martial Arts is a few steps above that, at least. I think it’s from both the fitness but also the massive social aspect of training and growing with your training partners / martial arts studio. Going to seminars, hanging out together after training or in the free time / aka meeting and becoming friends. For me here in Germany it has on top of that really helped with learning the language as well.
I’ve been on a “self-martial arts” journey for probably around two decades now. So many different styles, so much reading, so much perusal YouTube (especially you, Ed! 🥰), practicing on my own–empty handed and weapons–I’ve just never been financially stable enough (disabled, mental health reasons) to join a gym/dojo. I’ve been thinking about trying to get into some school lately but finances aren’t always the greatest and this pandemic sure doesn’t help. But, you are an inspiration! Now…which school do I go for? There’s shockingly a lot here in Lancaster, PA.
Repping for the KY and KY-adjacent, I would also argue that a dojo can be good for developing read-the-room literacy. Some training environs do this better than others–I have attended a bajillion workshops on various subjects, and it seems like the ones that foster personal exploration through interpersonal exercises do the best at growing room-reading skills. But that holds just as true for a psych training as it does for a martial arts workshop–both can encourage or discourage that kind of thing by virtue of how they’re structured.
I mean it is quality of life improvement. My life has drastically improved since I started BJJ. I really don’t want to be punched in the face so I don’t really do a lot of striking, but I role with spazzes on purpose so I’ll get the knee or elbow to the face. They don’t really effect me that much anymore.
I always wanted to train in martial arts but lost confidence trying judo and karate as a kid/teen. I’m terribly stiff and basically turned into the joke of class. I’ve had some Kali training but sadly the gym closed so my alternative (which wasn’t really a good one) was the regular gym. But nowadays, as I’m getting older (I’m 45 now) I’m slowly losing interest bc lifting weights bores me to death, most of the time and let’s face it: 20+ years of weightlifting can take a toll on your body if you’re not surrounded by professionals perusal every move while doing squats and deadlifts and all that stuff. But your articles really got me thinking ‐ why t f not spicing it up a little and learn some martial arts?! I’d love to take some wing tsun classes….🤔😍
Oh! Your last name is German (and it means: Steele! :-D). Never realized that before. Do you know some German? Great article and thanks for the personal insights. That really helps and it’s really motivating. I started martial arts together with my daughter. she being 2 years old – which is great – me being 43 years old – which is better than nothing, but it still leads to injuries or sickness every 6 months or so when I don’t realize to control myself and start going the pace of 20 and 30 years old when the adrenaline kicks in.