It’s might be easy to write off martial arts as an after school hobby for kids, but it’s anything but that. With the number of martial arts practitioners in the US numbering well over 3 million, there’s obviously something to the phenomenon.
In fact, while the martial arts trend in the United States dates back nearly a century, the Eastern tradition of martial arts dates back thousands of years. Though they originated as combat techniques, the benefits of martial arts go far beyond simple self-defense.
If you’re interested in finding out how martial arts can benefit your family, you’ve come to the right place. Here are just a few reasons the family that kicks together sticks together.
Fitness
Let’s look at the most obvious benefit first. It can be tough to set good exercise habits, but martial arts is a fun and effective way to get fit and stay fit.
For one thing, martial arts is a multifaceted exercise program. It gives you a full body workout like few other things do. There are several reasons for this.
Firstly, the practice itself involves many different muscle groups. From kicks and punches to grapplings, martial arts engages your whole body.
Beyond that, any good martial arts program involves other physical fitness practices. Usually, stretches, running, and calisthenics is all part of a typical martial arts class.
This benefits kids and adults in different ways. For adults, it can be an excellent way to either stay in shape or to get back in shape if you fell off the exercise bandwagon.
For kids, it sets healthy fitness habits. Exercise is important for kids and adults alike, but setting positive habits for kids at an early age will make it much easier for them to maintain those habits as they get older by making exercise fun.
Luckily, there are plenty of programs for kids out there. Martial arts schools like this company know how beneficial martial arts can be to children.
In short, fitness is both one of the most self-evident and important benefits of martial arts.
Discipline
Are your kids having a tough time getting homework done or focusing on schoolwork? Martial arts may help solve that problem.
As much as martial arts trains the body, it also trains the mind. One of the key tenants of martial arts is self-discipline. When it comes to kids, this is one of the most important things to learn.
By imparting the importance of self-control, patience, and focus, kids learn how to apply those lessons in every part of their life. As a result, things like academics naturally benefit from participation in martial arts.
But kids aren’t the only ones who benefit from these lessons. Adult life is fast-paced and packed full of information. As such, it can be easy to get off track and forget to set good habits.
Similar to its effects on children, the discipline imparted by martial arts will extend to every part of your life. Learning self-discipline means that things like dieting, housework, and other less-than-fun responsibilities will come much more naturally.
Finally, it benefits the family unit. It’s no secret that families fight. Between the close-quarters, conflicting interests, and complicated interpersonal dynamics, maintaining a peaceful house is often easier said than done.
Through the discipline learned in martial arts, communication becomes easier. Sometimes, the only thing keeping a disagreement from exploding into a full-fledged shouting match is a little self-control. Martial arts provides the skills to practice that self-control when it’s most needed.
Ultimately, the values your whole family will learn in martial arts will make your home life, school life, work life, and life in general much easier to navigate.
Self-Defense
Last but certainly not least, martial arts teaches self-defense. After all, the original purpose of martial arts was quite literally life or death combat in war. While you won’t be fending off invading armies with your bare hands any time soon, bad things can still happen to good people.
Whether dealing with a home invasion, street robbery, or another type of crime, adults who are well trained stand a much better chance of making it through such an encounter unscathed. More often than not, criminals are looking for easy victims. When you make yourself a formidable opponent, you deter criminals from targeting you.
As much as it can help adults in dangerous situations, it can also help kids. Again, criminals look for easy victims. A child who knows how to defend themself stands a far lower chance of being the victim of a crime.
Beyond that, bullying is unfortunately still a thing that occurs. Even though violence should always be a last resort, childhood can be tough, and sometimes a kid may have to stand up to a bully. Hopefully, this doesn’t happen, but if it does, knowing how to defend yourself is crucial.
Even though the likelihood of having to use martial arts in a real life combat situation is thankfully pretty low, this is definitely a case of “better safe than sorry.” Why not be prepared for the worst?
As a side note, having an outlet for normal aggression in martial arts can be great for both kids and adults. Learning to defend oneself is great, but pairing that with the opportunity to safely and healthily work out some anger is another phenomenal benefit that can help to bring your family together.
The Benefits of Martial Arts are Abundant
These are just a few of the benefits of martial arts. In reality, it’s hard to summarize the many ways martial arts will help make your life and your whole family’s life easier.
Now that you know how a physical practice like martial arts can improve your life and your family’s wellbeing, take the next steps. Read on to learn how to care for your mind while you care for your body.