Martial arts are an excellent platform for self-improvement. I’ve been on my self-growth journey for around 2 years now; I know one thing, I can’t even imagine returning to who I was back then.
Martial arts are a solid platform to improve yourself both mentally and physically. This is one of the primary reasons many people start their fighting journey. But, eventually, there’s no better way to improve yourself than to invest time and effort in your body and personality.
The key phrase here is investing both time and effort in yourself. I know how difficult it can be to take the time to better yourself.
We’re all so busy with our lives that we never have time for what truly matters. This is what society preaches, at least. If you’re not busy 24/7, how can you expect to see results that matter?
Sometimes, it’s essential to take time off to invest in ourselves. This doesn’t have to be sports; it can be staring at your wall for 10 minutes and thinking about what matters to you. Likewise, it can be meditation or any sport.
I’m confident that if you take the time to invest in martial arts training, you’ll see rapid results. You’ll even see results after the first session, as you’ll be happier and more likely to continue training.
Indeed, stepping out of your comfort zone can be difficult. But, if you take that initial step, the world opens up.
Here’s how martial arts and self-improvement link:
#7 – Better physical shape
The first benefit of martial arts regarding self-improvement is getting a better physical shape.
This is a reason I see many people start their journey. For example, I started my boxing journey not only because I wanted to know how to fight (although it was a significant reason) but also because I wanted to get in shape quickly.
Martial arts are a great source to burn plenty of calories and start your self-improvement journey. For example, intense boxing training can burn up to 800 calories if you want to know the precise numbers.
Such a number will be the difference between losing and gaining body fat. So, the next time you think of ways to get into shape faster, consider martial arts.
#6 – Increased confidence
Investing time and effort to better yourself is the best way to increase your confidence. You’ll begin to appreciate your hard work and, thus, begin to love yourself.
We’ll discuss self-love in the following section, so let’s stick to confidence.
Confidence is how you act around other people in different situations. It’s also how you react when you’re alone. For example, do you believe you can achieve incredible feats in life? Or perhaps you see yourself as inferior to others.
Eventually, being more confident will help you achieve more incredible things in life. It’ll also help you act more responsibly and effectively around others.
Therefore, being more confident is a fantastic thing to have in life. Now, martial arts will help you be more satisfied by being a platform that allows you to invest.
It’ll get you many benefits going your way and make you work hard for them. Is there a better way to increase your confidence and appreciate your efforts – than to work extremely hard on yourself?
#5 – Higher self-esteem
I promised we’ll also discuss self-love, so here it goes.
Loving yourself is something we all should strive to achieve. However, many distractions stop us from getting to this destination.
However, you can start to invest time in yourself and thus increase your confidence and self-esteem.
One study examined the effect karate practice had on participants’ self-esteem. Here’s what it found:
Visual inspection showed that fourparticipants improved their global self-esteem. Self-efficacy was improved in three participants
SOURCE
It’s all about how you treat yourself. Treat yourself poorly, and don’t expect your mind to follow up. However, invest time into bettering yourself – and expect great things to happen.
#4 – Reduced stress, violence, and aggression levels
Are you constantly stressed or worried? If so, here’s how to reduce that.
We’re all always busy. With hard work, you can reduce your base stress levels. Always being stressed is known to have adverse effects.
For instance, look at what this medical article suggests:
Stress that’s left unchecked can contribute to many health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
SOURCE
Let’s look at how dogs act to understand how martial arts reduce stress. Imagine an extremely energetic puppy. Let’s say you’re not taking your puppy to run for 2 weeks straight. How do you think it’ll act?
It’ll most likely remain energetic and even become aggressive and stressed. We’re the same as dogs; we need to release the tension we build because of various events (some are negative and others positive.)
This one study found that martial arts reduce aggression and violence levels; you can imagine how it does that (think about the dog analogy I mentioned earlier.)
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
This table assesses the point I made in this section.
#3 – Being more mindful
Mindfulness. We all know this word, but few truly understand what it means and why it benefits our lives.
Besides martial arts, I’m also a big fan of meditation. In my view, meditation and martial arts provide very similar benefits, and that’s because they both allow you to focus on a single task without your mind wandering around the planet.
When you’re fighting a stronger opponent than yourself, you’re not thinking about anything other than the fight. Likewise, when you meditate, you’re trying not to think about anything other than one anchor (I do breathing meditation, more on that later.)
For instance, when meditating, you only focus on your breath. Now, your mind naturally wanders to other thoughts. This is a part of the practice. The same goes with martial arts, such as boxing, BJJ, MMA, etc…
#2 – Better productivity
Everyone wants to be more productive. Today’s world is filled with people trying to do more in less. However, it’s not as simple as most people think.
There’s a common misconception about work. People want to do more work in less time but do not put in the effort to achieve this goal.
Eventually, you want to improve your focus and mindfulness to see results in your productivity. We already understand the effect martial arts can have on your mindfulness.
If you can focus for more extended periods without your mind wandering to different thoughts, you’ll be more productive and do more in less time (inevitably.)
Consistent and dedicated martial arts practice will help you be more productive. So don’t hesitate to start training in martial arts if you want to see results in your productivity.
Here are the best martial arts you can learn! (The link leads to another article of mine.)
#1 – Knowing self-defense
The last benefit is knowing how to fight.
Self-improvement is about learning new skills and improving your mental and physical self. This is why knowing to fight will allow you to:
- be more confident
- learn a new, highly effective skill
You’ll also be able to defend yourself and others who might need a responsible person if they get into a dangerous situation.
Your role in society will suddenly change. For example, you’ll be responsible for defending people who have never learned the art of fighting. And how do you think you’ll feel due to that change?
I bet you’ll feel better.
The purpose of all martial arts is to teach people how to fight. Thus, the one step you need to take is to choose a martial art and start training.
Remove all doubts; start right now.
I’ve written a complete beginner’s guide to boxing, and I recommend everyone who wants to try boxing out to read it, so read it by following the link.
Final words
Martial arts will significantly benefit your life. The key benefit they provide is that they allow you to invest time and effort in yourself. That’s how you increase your confidence and self-esteem naturally.
If you haven’t done so, consider choosing a martial art and start training. You can select any fighting style, and you’ll experience similar benefits.
The benefits range from various mental and physical benefits, such as better physical shape and being more mindful.
So, what are you waiting for? There’s one task ahead of you: step out of your comfort zone and start training.
Few people will take action after reading this article. So, be one of the few.
And, if you want to read more about the best martial arts in the world, follow this link to an article I wrote on the topic.