subject: Martial Arts Training Has Myriad Benefits [print this page] The benefits of martial arts training on your body, mind, and spirit are almost impossible to overstate. While it's not true that martial arts can turn anyone into an enlightened master or an unstoppable juggernaut, martial arts training WILL have profound benefits to anyone who earnestly pursues the study.
The Basics...
All martial arts schools have a few basic attributes in common.
First, they improve basic physical fitness. Some may focus on power while others attend more to flexibility or accuracy, but there is no martial art that doesn't improve the fitness of it's practitioners.
Second, they improve focus. All martial arts require that a degree of attention be paid to your own body kinesthetics as well as your opponent. The simple fact that doing a technique wrong can hurt you is enough reason to learn to listen to your body.
Finally, they improve self-knowledge. Whether you're in a more 'enlightened' art like Aikido or a more 'down-to-earth' art like Krav Maga, you cannot learn a martial art without learning about your own capacities and abilities, and how to exceed what you thought were fundamental limitations.
...and Beyond
If you get into a martial art and honestly pursue it, you will find several other benefits of martial arts training that become clear over time:
Doing forms (or kata or whatever your art calls them) improves your three-dimensional perceptions, your ability to visualize, and your muscle memory.
The biomechanical understanding that comes with the study of martial arts techniques can be applied to almost any physical endeavor from sports to manual labor.
Martial arts training universally stresses the importance of effective breathing - a skill that will improve physical and mental performance under absolutely any stressful circumstance.
Another universal aspect of martial arts training is a complex concept called 'flow', 'kime', 'optimal experience', or a variety of other names -- but which boils down to the ability to be "in the zone." The ability to focus on the entirety of your inner and external environment without letting your conscious thoughts interfere with your reflexes and actions is another talent that has applications everywhere from the workplace to the pool hall.
If your art emphasizes sparring or outright combat, the sheer physical nerve that you develop by being actively attacked by another person can serve you in excellent stead if you are ever the victim of social or physical violence outside of the dojo -- not to mention the martial arts techniques which will probably come in handy as well.
There are few human endeavors which so gracefully blend the mental, physical, and spiritual as the martial arts do. Whether your needs are as simple as a decent cardio workout or as complex as spiritual enlightenment, martial arts training can improve anyone's life -- including yours.
