Getting Fit With Martial Arts
To many, martial arts often seem too aggressive and barbaric. However, what they are missing to notice is that they can greatly contribute to your fitness, both physical and mental. Also, many have regarded martial arts as “boys’ sport”, but today there are more and more women who take part in them; either because they want to boost their confidence, learn self-defense or simply get fit.
There are a lot of different martial arts and practices, and some of them are similar, while others are completely different from one another, but they all share some common benefits. Whether it is about boosting someone confidence or getting them fit, they all bring something to the table, so let us see how you can choose your favorite martial art for getting fit on many levels.
Benefits of Martial Arts
Stress relief
By practicing martial arts regularly, you can greatly reduce daily stress. Not only do you get to literally kick off your stress and negative energy, but you also get to practice mindfulness, focus and overall inner peace. Since they do include a form of fighting, you can easily relieve stress through the most natural way and pump up your endorphins and adrenaline, which leaves you in peace after each session. What is more, many traditional martial arts will teach you how to meditate and be present in the moment.
Self-defense
This is an important benefit, especially to women. They get to build some muscle and become physically stronger, but they also learn a trick or two how to protect themselves. There have been many cases of people attacking or attempting to rob female MMA fighters without knowing their power, and all those women have managed to successfully defend themselves. So, that is really reassuring.
Getting Fit
Besides letting you vent and learn how to be tough, martial arts do wonders when it comes to getting fit. Whether your goal is to lose weight or gain muscle, you can easily manage that by picking your favorite martial art. Each training is physically challenging and there is a lot of for your core and muscles, because you need balance and flexibility in order to move freely in the ring or when learning self-defense.
Best Martial Arts for Getting Fit
Taekwondo
The most popular Korean martial art, Taekwondo, focuses on kicking and it is really a great way to burn some calories. The majority of this martial art trains you to perform head-height kicks and to improve the speed of your kicking, and since the legs have some of the biggest muscles in our bodies, you are bound to burn plenty of calories. Also, this martial art includes plenty of aerobic and cardio exercises, which are great for gaining muscles and losing weight, but also for strengthening your core and developing great stamina and endurance.
What is more, once you gain enough experience, you can easily practice this at home with a partner. All you should do is make sure to review the best equipment at Fighting Report and find what you need for successful and safe training.
Krav Maga
Since this martial art was initially developed for the Israel Defense Forces, it is clear that it can do wonders to your body and discipline. It focuses on building strength and endurance and when you train it, you are using your entire body. This art includes dozens of moves, most of which are borrowed from other martial arts, but they are all designed to teach you how to neutralize your enemy in the fastest way possible and save yourself. And none of that can be done without some muscles.
That is why you can burn up to 800 calories in one hour! Krav Maga will help you develop sturdy but flexible muscles for moving quickly and it will strengthen your core since it involves takedowns, fast reactions and even running.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu focuses on ground fighting and grappling, which can do something a bit different to your body than other martial arts. It mainly pushes you to “win” by using your flexibility and agility, and it really builds your physical strength. This is due to its focus on taking down a much bigger opponent than yourself, so you need to learn how to lift bigger weights, grapple and learn how to wiggle out of any situation. Also, your endurance will improve, as well as your reflexes, and all that hard training will burn you many calories and build your muscles in no time.
Even though some of them are aggressive, martial arts are far more beneficial to us than any other sport. They teach us to stay calm at any given situation, they reduce stress and they can do wonders to your body if you train hard. So, find your favorite, try as many as you like and you are bound to learn something great from each one of them.