17 - Learn self defence . . . the benefits of martial arts are enormous!

Reason for this Goal:    The benefits of martial arts and learning self defence to be able to protect yourself in a situation where you are being confronted or attacked could just save your life.   Taking self defence classes and/or learning a martial art to develop your self defence skills has numerous benefits beyond protecting yourself.

Being able to protect yourself is your ultimate way to preserve your health and your life.  

Top benefits of martial arts!

The top benefits of martial arts and reasons to learn self defence include:

1. Learn self defence skills - Learn the right techniques like blocks, strikes and defensive manoeuvres to be able to defend yourself from attack.  Learn the best skills that will work for you in a wide range of confrontation situations.  
2. Improve your overall physical health - A key benefit of learning self defence and specially a martial art, is all of the physical conditioning that you will do. Your physical health will skyrocket if you really apply yourself and train consistently.
3. Improve your confidence and projection of confidence - When you learn self defence, your confidence will improve such that you won’t be a target in the first place. Attackers are typically going to avoid people that project a high level of confidence, looking instead for those that are projecting weak body language. 
4. Increase your flexibility through stretching - Stretching is a key part of conditioning required of martial arts. Being able to have good range of motion in training is important and has numerous health benefits. 
5. Improve your reaction time - Your reaction time to a threat when confronted with a situation where you need to react quickly will be significantly reduced, the longer you train and practice.
6. Develop your awareness - Training in martial arts gives you an overall awareness of your surroundings.   
7. Integrate you Body-Mind-Spirit - My Karate teacher taught about the importance of understanding and developing a deep connection between our body, mind and spirit.  Meditation is an important tool to do this, and an important part of the training. 
8. Learn how to avoid dangerous situations - The ultimate goal of martial arts is to not have to use your self defence skills in the first place. It is better to remove yourself from a dangerous situation if at all possible.

There are many self defence programs and martial arts which will teach you all of the skills and provide the benefits noted above—such as Karate, Taekwondo, Jujitsu, Aikido, Judo, Boxing, Kickboxing, and Mixed Martial Arts.

Finding the right program comes down to finding out what martial arts studios exist within your neighbourhood or city, and choosing, based on which martial art appeals to you, with a heavy emphasis on finding the martial art that has the best teacher to teach you this important life skill.

Suggested Target Goal:  Take martial arts lessons weekly for 1 year and learn self defence.
Outrageous Goal:   Earn your black belt in a martial art, and train for life.

I joined a Karate club in my early twenties and trained 2–3x/week for 7 years, working my way through the belt system and achieving my 2^nd degree Black Belt.  

For me, Karate became a way of life and taught me so much more than just how to defend myself.  My Karate Sensei became my mentor and led me to the field of personal development, and a desire to become a better person.  

The benefits of martial arts were truly life changing for me. 

Return to health and fitness goals.

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Last updated: May 13, 2020