Why are Martial Arts Good For Your Health?

Everybody knows that an education in the Martial Arts in one of the best ways to build self discipline, self confidence, hand eye coordination, balance, and of course personal defense.  This is all very, very true.  In my over 25 years of teaching experience I have seen numerous students- both kids and adults- make incredible strides in all of these areas.

But there are some aspects of Martial Arts that are also greatly beneficial that perhaps you were not aware of.  One of which is the improvement of different aspects of your physical body.  Learning a Martial Art should not be so much about learning a specific style, rather it should be about learning Body Qualities. 

This means that you should learn how to efficiently use your muscles, your skeleton, and your internal body as well.  Your muscles should be relaxed, allowing your skeleton to hold up your body, and then movement should come from the power core muscle groups.  This usage of the body is what is referred to as internal power because the internal core muscle groups power the movement of the entire body.

Internal power is extremely beneficial in all kinds of ways.

First, we like to call using internal power “predator movement.”  Not because we have plans to go hunting, rather because predatory animals use their bodies extremely efficiently- with internal power.  For example, a tiger is light on its feet, but incredibly powerful.  It is very relaxed, but also very explosive.  You would be afraid to attack a tiger not because of what “technique” it knows, but because it is a tiger.

This is useful to us in a few ways.  First, in self defense it isn’t a technique that will save you, it is how you think about what is happening and how you move with the situation.   

Second, by having all of your movements come from your core muscle groups, your central mass becomes very agile and strong.  In internal martial arts we call this high level of dexterity with the core muscles being “alive,” or “intelligent.”  Having an intelligent core means that your organs are held in place better, your nervous system in your spine responds better, you are less likely to hurt yourself my missusing your body, and you are less likely to fall down because your balance will be so good.

By constantly but gently using the core body mass, most students loose unwanted weight as they burn more calories, and develop a trimmer waist.  Many of our students who suffer from back pain have been able to reduce or even get ride of it by strengthening their core body intelligence. 

I myself have gone from having a useless right shoulder from a sports injury to complete, pain free functionality.  One of my students used a cain when he first started with me, and now he hasn’t needed it in years.

Internal power doesn’t produce miracles, but it does enable you to use your body effieciently, intelligently, and correctly. By applying these principles that we teach every class to your daily life you will begin to notice some strong personal benefits.

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