What connects the following people?
Angela Merkel, Vladamir Putin, Babe Ruth, Lou Reed, Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Pressley, David Mamet, Seb Coe, Theodore Roosevelt, Robert Downey Junior, David Allen and Gandhi?
They all practised martial arts and they all credited that practise as helping to shape them positively.
Martial arts are the king of self development, nothing else gives you more benefits,
Physical benefits? Check! Psychological benefits? Check! Social benefits? Check!
Growth? Community? A chance to learn something new?
Martial Arts Has it All: Motivating! Challenging! Empowering!
Too many of us are sedentary in front of a screen for the bulk of our lives nowadays and the impacts are being felt not just by us but by our family, friends, colleagues and doctor.
Studying a martial art is the most effective time management strategy for personal growth,
In this previous blog we discussed the physical, psychological and social challenges associated with middle age.
Training martial arts helps you to beat inactivity and poor physical condition by getting you physically fit.
Training in Internal martial arts such as tai chi and more broadly qi gong is now regularly seen as a stress management tool as well as believed to lift mild depression and anxiety.
Training in martial arts each week provides you with a new community and important peer group, one which is supporting and will help you forge new friendships.
Need more convincing?
Did you know UFC champions Bas Rutten and Georges Saint Pierre both took up marital arts to build their confidence to overcome bullying growing up.
Now think about this:
Both velvet underground front man Lou Reed and renowned actor Robert Downey Junior claim martial arts helped provide them with the focus to beat their addictions.
Research suggests a dose of between two and a half and seven and a half hours of exercise each week is optimum for the general public. Two sessions a week of training in a class format is therefore a great place to start reaping the above benefits.
Try different classes and keep trying new things until you find something you really connect with.
Have you had a positive experience from training in martial arts? please share your story.