Martial arts training provides many mental and physical benefits. Because of that, martial artists are incredibly skilled. What qualities do martial artists possess that other people typically don’t? And what makes for a solid martial artist? Let’s see now
A martial artist is confident, has low overall aggression and stress levels, performs well under stress, and is disciplined. Because of that, they’re highly skilled individuals. These qualities will come naturally from martial arts training, especially because you’ll overcome many obstacles along the way.
Of course, no one is perfect, even not the most disciplined martial artist. However, learning to fight has granted them many benefits and changed their perspective. Thus you can do the same by following the process and training in any fighting style.
One of the most crucial aspects of training is consistency. If you find a high-quality martial arts school, you’ll be solid. You’ll learn to fight while improving your physical and mental health.
Eventually, these qualities come with practicing the fighting style. The artists are disciplined and thus experience these benefits to a high degree. Let’s dive into these qualities and how you can notice these benefits yourself.
1. Confidence
“Confidence for an athlete has been previously thought to be high and stable in order for an athlete to have success. Research in the confidence-performance relationship found that performance affects confidence, and confidence affects performance. A change in either will elicit a change in the other, for good or bad.” (Source)
Many studies showed that confidence correlates with performance. Because martial artists must continuously perform well, they must be sure of their skills. Martial arts training will grant the trainee confidence by overcoming various obstacles.
Although confidence isn’t everything you need to succeed, it’s up there. But don’t think it’ll come easily. You would have to invest countless hours to notice the slightest results.
From personal experience, confidence comes with overcoming many challenges. For instance, my view of myself skyrocketed once I began winning fights. Thus you’ll gain self-confidence when you prove to yourself you’re capable.
Here’s what an interesting survey of over 2,000 people in the UK has found:
- 85% of women do not believe they are attractive
- Only half of the men believe they are intelligent.
- More than half of young people often worry about what other people think of them
I want to focus more on the study’s second finding, only half of the men believe they’re intelligent. Which group do you think will act more confidently and allow themselves to achieve more in life? My guess is the group who already believe in themselves and in their skills.
Martial arts will help you be more confident, proving that you’re worth it. It’ll become an obsession of yours and make you feel more satisfied with your life.
So, self-confidence is the first quality.
2. Low violence/aggression levels
Being calm is challenging. You’ll have to be willing to work hard and invest effort in training to achieve that. By doing so, you’ll notice your overall aggression levels reducing with time. As a result, you’ll become more peaceful.
Martial artists aren’t violent because they know to release built tension and aggression in training. Therefore, they end up being calm. However, most people don’t discharge this tension, and thus they’re stressed. Not being violent comes from having an outlet, such as fighting.
However, one can become more peaceful by performing other actions. For instance, the Shaolin monks are the calmest group of individuals. If you’re unfamiliar with them, they’re monks practicing Kung fu.
In their training, they practice many fighting techniques. Because of that, they release the aggression we previously mentioned. Therefore, they’re more peaceful.
However, that’s not all. They participate in many meditation drills. As a result, they’re less violent and experience less stress. Hence combining meditation drills in your life will reduce stress and anger.
“Martial arts apprentices turned out to present a statistically significantly lower level of hostility and of the general aggression index than combat sports athletes.”
(Source)
So, in order to call yourself a martial artist, you have to be less stressed. However, these two traits come together. Once you naturally become one, your confidence levels will skyrocket, and your stress, violence, and aggression levels will inevitably decrease.
Thus, you don’t have to overthink things. Just let it flow into your life naturally.
3. High pain tolerance
Taking a hit without moving an inch is a skill you can develop. Martial artists have to be at the top of their game. As a result, they must be capable of getting punched. Such a trait is highly desirable and tough to achieve, especially among people who want to become solid fighters.
Martial artists have high pain tolerance because of the amount of training they were through. In most fighting styles, getting hit is part of training. Consequently, you’ll learn to ignore the physical pain of getting punched. You’ll know your pain tolerance has increased once you notice that.
Not being capable of getting hit and not moving an inch because of it is an excellent and highly beneficial skill to work on. If you’re scared of getting hit, you’ll be in trouble in real fights. Let’s see why.
If you can’t close the distance between yourself and the opponent, you won’t be able to win. You’ll hesitate to move forward if you’re afraid of getting hit. In martial arts training, you’ll learn to advance without worrying.
As a result, closing the distance will come naturally, and you’ll be capable of disabling the opponent quickly.
Eventually, knowing to punch isn’t everything you need to know. In Boxing, you’ll go through drills where you’ll get hit many times. Thus you’ll become familiar with this sense and reflect it in real fights. Hence Boxing trainees are solid fighters.
If you’re willing to learn more about the benefits of martial arts, follow the link to an article of mine.
Picture a scenario where you encounter an attacker. Do you think you could beat him if you were afraid of him? Well, the answer is most likely no. Because you won’t close the distance, you’ll end up not attacking and staying on the defensive, diminishing your winning chances.
The following video is a demonstration of two distinct martial artists fighting. You’ll notice how well they take the hits and therefore are elite fighters.
4. Discipline and consistency
Starting new activities in life is challenging. Because of that, to succeed, you must stay consistent. In martial arts, it’s the same. To master a fighting style, one must invest considerable time and effort. Thus martial artists have a high degree of discipline and consistency.
Solid martial artists are disciplined and consistent because they have mastered the fighting style. As a result, they invested many hours to reach where they were. For instance, you’ll have to train for over two years to get a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu.
Most people will quit at first because they won’t see any results. Consequently, you’ll be solid for the rest of your training once you get through this phase.
The start of your training process is the ghost town phase. You’ll invest plenty of effort and won’t see any results. Thus keeping up with training will be incredibly demanding. However, you can speed up that process by training at home.
I wrote a complete guide to training martial arts at home. If you’re interested in doing so, I encourage you to follow the link. It’s one of my best articles.
Eventually, that’s the most challenging part of martial arts training. Martial artists do it well. However, you will find it difficult to stay disciplined. The primary point here is to keep up with your training schedule, which can be difficult.
If you want to learn how to stay consistent with your martial arts training, follow this link.
5. Perform well under stress.
Most dangerous situations will be stressful because they involve risk. Because of that, you must learn how to act under a lot of it. If you don’t, you may not perform as you wish. One can go about it in many ways. Let’s look into one of them.
Martial artists perform well under stress because they train to react to these stressful situations. As a result, overcoming such scenarios will be easier. Martial arts training betters performance under high anxiety because you’ll go through stressful drills. Thus you’ll react appropriately to such situations in the future.
“Our results indicate that doing an additional martial arts training once a week may lead to better performance under anxiety, although it cannot prevent that performance decreases under high anxiety compared to low anxiety.”
(Source)
Functioning better under high anxiety is highly desirable. If you succeed in improving it, it’ll reflect in your entire life. For that reason, many people desire to better their performance under stress.
However, many don’t succeed since they’re incapable of staying consistent. Because of that, keeping up with training; is crucial. If you want, you won’t experience any benefits at all.
6. Adaptiveness and being dynamic
Today, knowing self-defense; isn’t understanding how to fight. Instead, being capable of adapting is more substantial. As a result, many self-defense experts suggest learning martial arts, such as Krav Maga. Because of its dynamic nature, one can react to any situation.
Martial artists are dynamic because they can react to any situation. As a result, they’re solid fighters in every scenario they encounter. For instance, martial artists will respond to an attacker with a knife differently than an attacker with a pistol.
Some martial arts are more dynamic than others. Consequently, learning them will assist you in becoming more adaptive. The following list is adaptive martial arts.
- Krav Maga
- Mixed Martial Arts
- Kickboxing
- Boxing
- Judo
- Jiu-Jitsu
- Karate
- Wrestling
- Muay Thai
Learning one of these fighting styles will allow you to become a solid combatant. In fact, the best fighters come from one of these. As a result, if you choose an adaptive martial art, you’ll do yourself a favor.
I recommend learning dynamic martial art because you never know what you’ll encounter. For instance, you’ll react differently to an attacker with a knife rather than an attacker with a pistol. Because of that, you must have an adaptive fighting style.
How can I become a martial artist?
Eventually, many factors influence your skill. Because of that, focusing on primary aspects of training; will be ideal for progression. Martial artists are trainees who stay consistent and trust the process. Because of that, they’re in their position.
You can become a martial artist by sticking with your training and investing plenty of effort. As a result, you’ll progress quickly and effectively. For instance, if I keep up with Karate training for over two years, I’ll become proficient in Karate. Thus I’ll become a martial artist.
The primary point is to keep up with training. As a result, you’ll progress eventually. Most people quit in the middle of the journey and thus never become solid fighters.
However, you can speed up the process by following one action; training at home. You’ll have a massive advantage if you can progress outside your martial arts gym. Hence you’ll advance more quickly than ever.
Again, you’ll have to follow and trust the process. Thus you’ll become capable of using the martial art you’re doing in real fights. You’ll become more confident and have better self-esteem, which is crucial for self-defense.
Conclusion
Martial artists are highly skilled individuals. Because they’re masters of their martial arts, they can fight appropriately. Additionally, some qualities define most of them.
Yet, martial arts training provides many benefits that contribute to these qualities. For instance, your confidence will increase while learning to fight. Because of that, if you keep up with training, you’ll develop these qualities in your life.
I recommend learning martial arts because you’ll become a more capable person. Additionally, you’ll gain many positive benefits that’ll change your life, such as reduced stress and higher self-confidence levels.
I recommend reading an article about whether you can learn to fight by watching videos. It correlates closely with this piece of research.