Martial Arts for Adults

(Courtesy of Fitday.com)

Chances are, you have seen someone participate in martial arts, but you may not be aware of its many exercise benefits. No matter if you are interested in improving your cardiovascular health, losing weight or simply improving your mood, martial arts may be just what you need.

1. Improved Cardiovascular Health

One of the most important exercise benefits associated with martial arts is an improvement in your cardiovascular health. Your cardiovascular system is composed of your heart, as well as the veins and arteries that transport blood. A weak cardiovascular system can result in shortness of breath, weakness, fatigue, and in severe cases can even cause a heart attack. Research has found that the only real way to improve the status of the cardiovascular system is by participating in activities that stress the heart. Cardiovascular exercise consists of walking, biking, swimming and of course participating in martial arts. For best results, try to get in at least 30 minutes most days a week.

2. Weight Loss

Weight loss is another great benefit associated with martial arts. In one pound of fat is equal to approximately 3,500 calories. Therefore, in order to lose one pound of fat in a week, you must eliminate 500 calories from your diet each day. By participating in one hour of moderate intensity martial arts, you can definitely burn 500 calories. You will be well on your way to great weight loss results.

3. Increased Muscle Tone

By participating in martial arts, you can greatly improve the amount of muscle mass you have in your body. The more muscle you have, the more toned your body will look. The higher your muscle mass, the higher your metabolic demands will be, and subsequently the more calories you will burn each day, thereby helping prevent obesity and even leading to potential weight loss. High levels of muscle mass also lead to increased agility, thereby preventing falls as you age.

4. Improved Reflexes

In order to be a good martial artist, you must have very fast reflexes. Research has found that by participating in martial arts, you not only improve your reflexes while performing the activity, but actually experience faster reaction times during all activities of your life. This is very important in a number of daily activities, such as driving and even cooking.

5. Improved Mood

Researchers have found that participating in a regular exercise routine is one of the best ways to improve your mood. Performing martial arts is not only a good way to relieve stress and frustration, but may actually help to make you happier. You won’t only feel the effects during the activity, either. The endorphins released by physical activity appear to be active in your body for as many as four hours after exercise.

Martial arts are an ancient method of training your mind, body and spirit to act as one. Martial arts practitioners strive for harmony, but also learn effective and often devastating self-defense techniques. Children who get involved in martial arts reap many benefits in several areas of life. Most martial arts originated in Asia and include karate, kung fu, jiu jitsu, aikido, tae kwon do, judo and muay thai.Ready more: http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/exercises/5-exercise-benefits-of-martial-arts.html

What Are the Benefits of Martial Arts for Kids?

Fitness

Fitness is a crucial element to all martial arts classes, especially where children are involved. Warmups with jumping jacks, pushups and stretches are common, and the movements of the martial art itself often challenge your muscles and cardiovascular system. Martial artists are known for being toned, flexible and physically fit, and your child will be no different.

Self Defense

The ability to defend yourself against an assailant is an empowering feeling. Most martial arts use self defense as a cornerstone of the entire program. The precise methods will vary from discipline to discipline, but you can be certain that with regular practice, your child will learn to defend himself in a variety of different ways. Many martial arts schools also teach street-smart techniques to kids to help avoid problems altogether.

Self Discipline

Martial arts help instill mental focus in your child, giving her the ability to concentrate on a task and see it through to its conclusion. The discipline that is taught in the dojo in regard to uniforms, customs and techniques often translates into other areas of life, including school and household chores.

Respect

Martial arts are all about respect. Punching, kicking, throwing and locking are all secondary to the respect that is shown form the moment you walk into a dojo. Children learn to bow to the masters who came before them, and to their current instructors. They also learn to treat other students as they wish to be treated. Quality martial arts instructors press upon the respect issue regularly and instruct students to practice respect for self, parents, teachers and peers at every opportunity.

Self Confidence

A child who is involved in martial arts is generally a child who is confident in herself. Working through a martial art and the belt ranking system gives a child measurable goals to follow that are realistic to attain. The sense of accomplishment a child feels by mastering a new technique or graduating to a new belt follows him everywhere he goes.

Benefits of New River Tang Soo Do for Kids:

We accept all kids at 6+. Children between 4 – 6 years old are given try out classes to see if they are ready to start their journey at a very young age. When a child starts their Tang Soo Do journey, here are some of the benefits they will receive:

Discipline
Students are often required to maintain stance for periods of time. For young students, this can often be difficult yet beneficial to learn at such a young age.

Eye-hand coordination
Often times martial arts is the first organized physical activity that a kid joins. Young martial artists usually have advanced eye-hand coordination when going into other sports. All sports require this ability – Tang Soo Do builds this early with kicking and punching on targets and more.

Exercise
With parents working more than ever and the world around us being more dangerous, it can often be difficult for kids to receive proper exercise. Schools are cutting recreational programs and video games are often the preference of children. Our classes are 60 minutes of exercise.

Self-defense
In addition to the kicks and blocks that we teach, students 6+ are required to learn basic self-defense techniques for testing. These start out as basic wrist groups and advance to bear hugs and more with the progression of rank.

Fun
Whether it is kicking at targets, taking class with friends and family members, or free sparring, there is plenty that kids enjoy and love about Tang Soo Do. Ask their head instructor who joined when he was a kid.

Respect
The core of our class is around respect. Classmates and instructors are addressed as sir or ma’am. Young students learn to become good sports by bowing to their partner and shaking hands. Group classes are lined up by rank, and junior members must wait for their senior before sitting.

Confidence
Many kids suffer from low self-esteem. Tang Soo Do assists kids by helping them feel as a part of a winning team, and taking them through a progressive journey as a martial artist and feeling the accomplishment of earning belts.

Benefits of New River Tang Soo Do for Adults:

Perhaps the most to benefit from Tang Soo Do are adults. With work, family, and so much more, adults can benefit from some of the aspects as children plus more:

Flexibility
As adults age natural flexibility tends to decrease. This is often further compounded by today’s careers of being in front of a computer for 8 hours a day. Our students regain and often gain new flexibility from Tang Soo Do.

Muscle
Maintaining stance or movement for a period of time is similar to lifting a weight at a gym. Both require a particular muscle that would not otherwise be used. Stances, kicking, and blocking as well as much more that we do can help with this.

Exercise
60 minutes of class burns up to 600 calories according to webmd.com. Our class is constantly moving from line drills to forms to free sparring. One of our goals is to make sure you receive a great workout every class.

Discipline
For many adults, it may have been such a long time since you last had a coach or trainer pushing you to work harder. Running outside or going to the gym on your own is great for working out, but nothing is like having a certified instructor pushing you to be your best.

Stress Relief
Forget about everything that happened earlier today at work, or everything you have to do later. With constant movement and focus, you will for one hour be a thousand miles away from your stresses. Experience harmony between mind, body, and life.

Fast Workout
Our classes feel fast because they are, and because they are so much fun. As an adult, you have much to do so all we ask is for an hour of your time each class to give you the best possible workout possible. This allows you to receive a great workout while not sacrificing your schedule.

Benefits