When one has not practiced or researched traditional martial arts, the first thing that often comes to mind when discussing the arts is a system of combat that includes fancy flying side kicks and lethal techniques that can be used for self-defense and competition. While it\u2019s true that many traditional styles of martial arts, and eclectic systems such as MMA, include these types of techniques, perhaps the most overlooked elements of great benefit are those of health and fitness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is safe to say that all systems of martial arts provide movements that offer physical benefits such as strength, flexibility, cardio-pulmonary health, and more.\u00a0 Some arts, of course, will demand more physical strength, while others will require more flexibility, or balance, or speed for competition.\u00a0 In any case, a person\u2019s physical well-being will improve over time.\u00a0 Although almost any style will provide a variety of fitness benefits, it\u2019s fair to say (admittedly, with a bit of stereotyping) that different styles will generally focus on different things.\u00a0 For example, many Korean styles have high, powerful kicks; many Tai Chi styles focus on slow, deliberate movements that instill strength and balance; many Japanese and Okinawan styles work toward a balance of the whole body being able to deliver strong, fast techniques; Aikido, Judo, and Brazilian jiu jitsu involve a lot of rolling, falling, arm bars and locks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regardless of the style, all forms involve movement of the entire body in different ways, and often require moving different parts of the body simultaneously.\u00a0 One example is when one delivers a punch and kick at the same time, or two blocks, or two kicks (by someone with great physical ability).\u00a0 Rolling and falling is a good way to massage the body, including the internal organs.\u00a0 All movements practiced in the martial arts offer great benefits to the muscles, bones, soft tissues, organs, circulatory system, and really, the entire body.\u00a0 Additionally, much mental focus is required to practice and perform martial arts.\u00a0 This type of physical and mental training is a reliable way to reduce stress and provide overall well-being.\u00a0 Practice carefully to strengthen and restore the body.\u00a0 Practice carefully to protect, not damage, the body.\u00a0 Most importantly, practice often.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When one has not practiced or researched traditional martial arts, the first thing that often comes to mind when discussing the arts is a system of combat that includes fancy flying side kicks and lethal techniques that can be used for self-defense and competition. While it\u2019s true that many traditional styles of martial arts, and … Continue reading “Health and Fitness in the Martial Arts”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[20,19,21],"class_list":["post-264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-and-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health-and-fitness-in-the-martial-arts","tag-martial-art-fitness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwest-isshinryu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwest-isshinryu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwest-isshinryu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwest-isshinryu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwest-isshinryu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/northwest-isshinryu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":390,"href":"https:\/\/northwest-isshinryu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions\/390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwest-isshinryu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwest-isshinryu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwest-isshinryu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}