What has Martial Arts done for your life?

[JowGaWolf]

It has improved my ability to determine which over the counter pain killer is best for different types of pain - "No, you don't want Tylanol for that, you need Motrin" J/K (kinda)

Hey, real talk, tho - OP you mentioned a friend who has less "road rage". That can go both ways. Not everybody finds the whole zen peace of mind thing. Some people are still jerks, they just become WELL TRAINED DANGEROUS jerks.

If you are not already training, START! That is the best way to find out EXACTLY how MA will effect your life.

True on all counts lol. Especially the pain killers. I'm one of those guys that doesn't get Zen from martial arts. My Zen outlet is gardening, art, my pool, hiking, and a hammock when available.

Not everyone takes a martial arts to be kind in peaceful. I know I take it with understanding that I have to be brutal if I actually have to use it for self defense. So far I haven't had to use it, so it's really not a benefit that I can claim in that area. I completely agree with you.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Hi,
I've been looking up the benefits of Martial Arts on Google, and it's the usual this that and the other.
The best answers I've gotten online was through forums, like a guy who mentioned that after 3 months of training in martial arts he no longer had road rage.

Does anyone have any experience they want to share here?

I think it'll be good motivation for people intending to get into Martial Arts, when they hear some concrete benefit... You'll be doing God's work...

Thanks in advance!

Excellent questions!

What has martial arts training done for me?

In my first few years (I started at age 46), I received the following benefits:
1) Lost weight.
2) Increased cardiovascular fitness.
3) Learned the basics of the style I was studying (Isshinryu Karate).
4) Began to gain confidence that I could defend myself from some forms of physical violence.

As I continued to train, I believe I have benefited from martial arts in the following ways:
1) I got my breathing under control as I worked out. More importantly... I learned more about the importance of proper breathing as it pertains to many things, including my martial arts training. It also pertains to life in general. Everyone who is alive breathes, but very few people breathe properly; they've never been trained to do so for the most part. Breath control is basic to proper martial arts training; it informs everything.

2) I began to explore stance training. Every form of martial arts has stances. Some are rigidly described and trained, others are looser and more-or-less ignored. What is seldom explored is how small changes in stances affect everything else. Like breathing, finding the proper stance is locked into proper training. Unlike breathing, stances are personal. Not in the larger sense but in the smaller sense. One learns the basic stance and then must experiment to make it work for the body mechanics their personal body type.

3) I began to explore the importance of transitions. Moving from one stance to another must be done with speed, precision, and power, but must also include the above-mentioned breathing and stances. Efficient body movement becomes part and parcel of the training itself. This is best understood by remembering the martial arts movies we have all seen where the hero simply shifts their body to avoid a punch or a kick. This is simplistic, but it shows a fact; body movement and transitions are as important on their own as attack and defense with arms, legs, and other body parts. The first rule of karate, they say, is "Don't get hit." Transitions are the ticket to a deeper understanding of how not to get hit.

4) Focus, or in Japanese, 'kime'. Focus is the ability to pay attention to the parts of a fight that matter and to pay less attention to the parts that do not matter. A simple example is keeping attention on body movement and not looking at the opponent's head or eyes; they feint a move but do not make that move; you are not fooled because you were not giving your attention to their traditional cues. A poker player would call it a 'tell' that an opposing player has. It is focus that allows the mind to begin to process the chaos that is a fight and keep track of what is happening that matters. This is not always intuitive, that's why magicians fool people; they know what the eyes track by nature. Focus is a way of finding the truth behind the movement.

5) Controlled relaxation. Not everything is done with tenseness. The term 'Chinkuchi' has been described as the tenseness of the muscles upon impact. But the important part of that phrase is 'upon impact'. As one explores movement in general, and power generation, one begins to appreciate that being tense at all times leads to exhaustion and less power, not more. Controlled relaxation is not simply being a limp noodle, rather it is learning to flow and move efficiently, which normally requires that the muscles be loose and relaxed, but to bring together the specific groups of muscles and body structure alignment at the right place in the right moment to effectively transfer energy explosively. Relaxed hands move fast; upon impact they 'power up' to provide the rigid structure required to transmit core power to the target.

6) Balance as a key component of martial arts training. While this is taught early and often as "a person's unbalance is the same as a weight," it is only deep examination and exploration that begins to highlight the small and subtle ways in which balance can be gained or taken. It is not the gross movements that are the most effective, it seems to me, but rather the small and intentional movements that either confer balance or take it away. As one begins to understand the absolute importance of good body mechanics, one must also explore the corollary, which is what happens when good body mechanics are turned into bad body mechanics with a nudge or a push or a twist. A simple example would be what happens when a simple and seemingly gentle push in the midsection changes a person's posture only slightly, learning them the tiniest bit forward, and then this unbalance is exploited with a powerful punch or kick. After much experimentation (and having been the subject of same), I can say that there is much to be learned here, and that these tiny details can make a world of difference in overall effectiveness.

Now, having said all of that, there are benefits for me that go well beyond martial arts itself.

I find myself more often trying to apply the lessons I have learned in martial arts to my personal and business life. Keeping my balance on the mat also can be useful when trying to keep one's social or philosophical balance in a meeting at work. I know it doesn't sound like it, and I'm admittedly not very good at it yet, but I have learned enough to know that I should be doing it more.

Think about it. "Don't get hit," and "keep your balance," and "controlled relaxation" and "breath effectively" and "focus on what matters" can all be applied to nearly every aspect of real life outside of self-defense and martial arts.

This is why I have mentioned to people on Martial Talk that I find I am becoming more interested in the 'do' or 'way' of karate then I am the 'jutsu'. I find I am upon a path. I like being on the path. The path has no end, no goal, in life, one simply moves along it. I am currently doing a very poor job of applying what I am learning in martial arts to other aspects of my life, but I am at least awake to the understanding that I should be doing it.

So that's where I am at. A karateka who studies karatedo. What have I gained? It might be better to ask what I have not gained. My life is very different now than it was before I started on this path. I believe I will never return to being the person I was before I started training. And I would not want to.

 

[Buka]

its sent my chi levels through the roof, changed my body language to one of calmness and confidence and low level menace. Type A males catch my eye and give the nod of recognition they save for other predators'. Type B males engage me in conversation to win my approval and type c males look at the floor as I walk past so as not to gain my attention. If I'm in a queue people ask me if id like to go first, street gangs cross the road when they see me coming or at the very least move out of the way to leave a respectful distance as we pass . Strange women keep approaching me in bars and telling me how much they like me or gigling like a school girl at my terrible jokes.

all in all its been quite a positive experiance

 

[DanT]

Cool... That's actually my goal, to reach your level, of confidence and competence at the martial arts. But I'm in my 30s, do you think it's still possible for me to get there?

How hard do you think I should train? And I assume you'd highly recommend my getting into sparring as well for my training?

I actually did Wing Chun for 2 years, up to level 3 (dark blue sash) before moving on to kickboxing for another 2 years. Although I almost never did any sparring. I probably only sparred like 6 times in those 2 years. But I trained seriously enough till I even had a six pack. It was very intense training but I loved it. However it didn't help me with my stress and dealing with real life situations.

Looking back now, my training was probably closer to something like dancing than martial arts. Heh...

How hard you should train is dependant on how good you honestly want to become. The thing that dominates my schedule is martial arts, I train full time (5-6 h a day, 5-6 days a week), because that's what I do in life. Wing Chun and Kickboxing are great arts to learn. 30 is nothing. I train with someone who started in their 50's and finished the Wing Chun curriculum (over 10 years). They still train now even in their 60's. Obviously starting younger is great but it's not like you have a time machine. Start training! And yeah sparring should be one of the main aspects of M.A training in my opinion. I haven't trained in a style yet that hasn't emphasized sparring. Dark blue is what? Chum Kiu level?

 

[jobo]

Cool... That's actually my goal, to reach your level, of confidence and competence at the martial arts. But I'm in my 30s, do you think it's still possible for me to get there?

How hard do you think I should train? And I assume you'd highly recommend my getting into sparring as well for my training?

I actually did Wing Chun for 2 years, up to level 3 (dark blue sash) before moving on to kickboxing for another 2 years. Although I almost never did any sparring. I probably only sparred like 6 times in those 2 years. But I trained seriously enough till I even had a six pack. It was very intense training but I loved it. However it didn't help me with my stress and dealing with real life situations.

Looking back now, my training was probably closer to something like dancing than martial arts. Heh...

getting to a point were your confident you can take 80% of people out takes some dedication, but a short time period, a couple of years working on techneque and fitness should do it. Getting the other 19.999% could take a life time. It really depends on you. I'm not sure martial arts helps stress, I find the learning stressful, but learning relaxation techniques' does wonders for you martial arts

 

[Buka]

What it's done for me....

Gives me something to talk about on this forum, and that's a lot of fun for me. And as I've said, some cool t-shirts. One of which I'm wearing now. I might even wear it to work today, hidden under my uniform shirt. I'm felling that frisky.

It's allowed me to help change the lives of a lot of people, a lot of families. And not just small changes, some drastic ones. If I never accomplish anything else in life from here on out, I'm perfectly okay with that.

Other than that, not much, you know, introduced me to my wife, several life long best friends, got me every good job I've ever had, small kind stuff like that.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

And as I've said, some cool t-shirts.

The shirt I am wearing now says "Heavily medicated for your protection." Hmmm.

 

[kuniggety]

I don't think I ever got discipline out of martial arts. If anything, I try to avoid any rigid discipline applied to my martial arts training. Like Tez, I learned and have plenty of discipline from my 15 years in the armed forces.

What it gives me: fitness, fighting prowess, and confidence. Confidence is a result of the first two. There's a certain confidence in knowing that you're way more fit and can handle a physical confrontation with the vast majority of the population. I don't need to pick fights to prove my pecking order as I get both the confidence and humility that I need on the mats. A little of this might be what jobo is talking about with his chi. As a kid and a young man, I was shy and didn't exactly have the ladies fawning over me. The older I get, the fitter and more confident I get (I've also learned assertiveness from my job) I get, I get hit on quite a bit.

 

[jacksmall]

different things at different times for me. when i was younger, it gave me the opp to learn about myself (Bruce Lee's "self expression" thing) and self defense, now it continues to provide those things but i will add the physical benefits of flexibility, strength maintenance, etc. as well as mental calmness.

 

[gerardbu07059]

I am 62 and I still training in hapkido and kendo. Is never too late to train. As we age certain martial arts are better than others. Like at my age bjj would not be something i would start new at my age. Too many pain killers i would need to take.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[Balrog]

I think it'll be good motivation for people intending to get into Martial Arts, when they hear some concrete benefit... You'll be doing God's work...

That's never my intention and never will be. I believe that religion is best left at the door along with your shoes.

Having said that, what has m.a. done for me? It's given me goals and structure in my life. It's kept me out of trouble and off the streets, so to speak. But the most important thing is that I met SWMBO through Taekwondo. Yesterday was our 24th anniversary.

 

[Druid11]

Hi,
I've been looking up the benefits of Martial Arts on Google, and it's the usual this that and the other.
The best answers I've gotten online was through forums, like a guy who mentioned that after 3 months of training in martial arts he no longer had road rage.

Does anyone have any experience they want to share here?


I think it'll be good motivation for people intending to get into Martial Arts, when they hear some concrete benefit... You'll be doing God's work...

Thanks in advance!

I've been doing Karate consistently for little over six months now. Martial arts are certainly a stress reliever for me. I work in high stress job (I'm a ICU nurse) and Karate does allow me to blow off steam. It has not erased my road rage nor has made me a totally zen person (hiking actually works better for me to reach a more zen state). What it has done is helped me push past limits I thought I had. My instructor is very good at getting to know you and then making you push past your perceived limits both physical and mental. I've stood there in class a few times either thinking or saying, "Yeah, I can't do that." Only to have my instructor ask me to just try and sure enough I manage to pull it off.

I wound up seriously pushing myself during my yellow belt test recently. Without going into detail, I got seriously ill the night before the test (at work to make it even more fun) and I really didn't think I was going to make the test. After a few hours I felt a little better, but I probably should have just called my instructor and told him I was sick. I decided to go and see what would happen. I let the instructors know there that I had been ill and they told me just to sit down if I needed to, but I made it through the test. I wanted to die by the end of it and apparently as white as my gi, but I did it. I'm also not sure it was even really a particularly smart thing, I wouldn't advise doing it to anyone else as someone who works in the medical field (even some of the instructors basically told me they thought I was a little crazy to come after the test), but I pushed myself beyond what I thought I could do and way out of my comfort zone.

And in a strange way I think this has inspired me to try to push myself in other aspects of my life. I recently took an employment opportunity I don't think I would have went for six months ago. I was very comfortable in my job (I'd been there for eight years), but reached about as far as I could go in terms of advancement. This opportunity was offered to me and I realized I had to give it a try and push myself out of my comfort zone or was going to be sitting in the same spot in another eight years. I'm also going back to school to get another degree (which I'd been putting off for ages). I can't say that these changes in my life are 100% due to training martial arts, but I think pushing myself on the floor has somewhat inspired me to push myself off the floor.