Focus On

Health

Many people try to divide the makeup of a human being into different parts, and emphasize one or the other to improve their health. For example, most people work hard at developing their bodies, but forget about their minds and emotions. Some people work on their emotions, but they forget to work on their moral health. The martial arts community realizes that to build good health you have to work on the body, mind, emotions, and morals.

In the martial arts, a healthy body is of the utmost importance. Although stretching may be difficult in the beginning, it improves your body through the component of health called “flexibility.” You improve your strength and endurance through aerobic activities like sparring and the repetition of basic skills. Better flexibility, strength, and endurance will make punches and kicks faster and more powerful. With a healthy body, there’s potential to become a great martial artist.

Next, martial arts training strives to create a healthy mind. The mind’s importance in the martial arts is seen by the statement “the mind leads the body.” If the mind is not healthy, then the body can’t be led in a proper way. A clear and focused mind is a sign of health, because learning will come easily to the person who trains with a mind like this. In addition, a mind that learns problem-solving skills through difficult situations in training is healthy.

Thirdly, emotional health is necessary if you wish to excel as a martial artist. Feelings of doubt will be replaced by belief and confidence in yourself with every success in your training. Enthusiasm and love for learning and achievements will further fuel your development in every area of training. Controlling your emotions, like keeping your temper or not being fixated on something stressful, is also a sign of good emotional health that will help you become better as a martial artist.

Lastly, the moral health of any martial artist must be excellent. The hard training can make you powerful and your skills should be used for good rather than evil. Good moral health is seen in having respect for others specifically, and for life in general. A martial artist who can forgive and cooperate with others possesses moral health. Honesty and integrity are also symptoms of good moral health that come from martial arts training.

Most people on the outside think a good martial artist is someone who is skillful physically and in good shape, but those on the inside know that great martial artists are skillful in every way because they are healthy in mind, body, emotion, and morals.