The mental benefits of martial arts are actually endless, but two important ones you may not know about are confidence and self respect. Most people see martial arts as a purely physical sport…. But there’s a lot of mental stamina and self talk required to really knock it out of the park. We help hundreds of people in our Mixed Martial Arts & Fitness Academy community transform into their best versions of themselves through the power of martial arts and self defense. Here’s how:
Confidence is a Huge Advantage of Martial Arts
There’s probably an area of your life that you already feel confident in, like how you handle tough situations at work or your ability to be there for your spouse when they need you. You might already feel confident in your body and even hit the gym every day.
But do you feel confident in your ability to protect yourself? If push really came to shove (literally), would you know how to defend yourself against an attacker? Would you know how to save the lives of the people you love?
These questions are not fun, but you know what’s less fun- not knowing self defense in an emergency and wishing you did! Learning self defense to keep yourself and the people you love safe is so important. It’s why we have the goal of teaching EVERYONE in the Kanata area how to defend themselves against an attacker. It’s not just because it saves lives, either: imagine how much more confident you could be
if you were 100% certain in your ability to handle any physical situation that came your way. That knowledge of self defense would just be one more thing for you to feel confident about. It’s a huge mental benefit of martial arts.
Self-Respect: A Little-Known Benefit
So we all know confidence is great to have – but why is self respect important? Because once you learn to respect yourself and your body, you begin making better choices. Once you start taking martial arts classes, you may notice you feel more energized. You may start to want to eat healthier and think, “I wouldn’t be respecting my body if I ate this… I want to feel amazing so I’ll skip the chips.” You may also find yourself wanting to take a walk in the afternoon or finally making time to teach your kid how to play soccer.
This just makes you even more confident because you’re doing what’s right for you, you have more energy to do things that benefit you, and you feel in alignment with your best self. The voice in your head saying “Let’s eat better” or “Go for that run” is finally being heard.
Another thing – when you respect yourself, you start to treat others with more kindness and empathy because you see and respect them, too. This makes OTHERS more confident because they feel understood, and then they pass that feeling on to others… and there’s a compound effect in the community. Magic? We think so. And it’s all because of this little old sport we call martial arts.
How these Mental Benefits Change Lives
This happens all the time – a new student will come in to start training, and within months, they’ll get a promotion. Or negotiate a better salary. They may even find the courage to ask someone on a date. Or speak their mind to a disrespectful colleague. These things don’t just happen out of the blue – they happen because martial arts classes build confidence and self respect. Plain and simple. Again, when you respect yourself, you also start to treat yourself better. You start to realize that you deserve better treatment from others, professionally and personally, and you find the bravery within to stand up for what you want.
Are you starting to see how the mental benefits of martial arts can seriously change your life? Just these two benefits- the mix of self respect and confidence- can help you realize that other people’s judgments can only get to you if you let them.
When YOU know how awesome you are because you leave your martial arts class feeling super accomplished, you’re not going to shy away from creating awesomeness in your own life. You make bold decisions in your life, embrace new opportunities, and do the things you never thought you could do. It’s awesome!
Okay, one more thing. In terms of textbook mental health, martial arts provides serious benefits. Staying active, engaging in social communities, achieving new goals each week- these are the basic building blocks of mental health that martial arts classes can provide. Your mood and health can improve tremendously right alongside your mindset.
Confidence & Self Respect- Join Us to Learn More!
So, to conclude- some of the best benefits of martial arts classes are the improvement of your mental health, the boost in your confidence and the surge in your self respect. If you’re ready to take your workout to the next level, learn a life-saving skill and become a more confident person, then martial arts is definitely for you. Check out our Mixed Martial Arts & Fitness Academy Adult Martial Arts classes that Kanata is raving about- you’ll love them: Adult Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
