The mental benefits of martial arts are actually endless, but two important ones you may not know about are confidence and self respect. A lot of people see martial arts as a purely physical sport…. But it actually requires a lot of mental stamina and self talk. We help hundreds of people in our Black Belt Plus community become confident and proud of who they are 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 your performance at your job 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 how confident do you feel 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 protect 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 how to protect yourself and the people you love is so important. It’s why we want to teach EVERYONE in Burleigh Heads 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. Knowing how to keep yourself safe would just be one more thing for you to hang your hat on. 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. When you decide to take martial arts classes, you may notice you feel more energized.
You may start to want to eat healthier and think, “My body doesn’t feel so great when I eat pizza- maybe I’ll choose a salad tonight instead.” 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. Then you become even more confident because you’re doing right by your body, 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 patience because you see and respect them, too. This makes OTHERS more confident because they feel your kindness, and then they pass that feeling on to others… and there’s a compound effect in the community. It’s kind of great, isn’t it? And it’s all because of this ancient practice we call martial arts.
How these Mental Benefits Change Lives
We see it all the time – a new student will come in to start training, and within months, they’ll get promoted at work. Or negotiate a higher 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. Period. When you respect yourself, you also start to treat yourself better. You start to see how you can reach new heights in martial arts classes, and you find a bravery and confidence within yourself that you never knew you had.
Are you starting to see how the mental benefits of martial arts can really change your life? Just these two benefits- the mix of self respect and confidence- can help you realize that other people’s judgments can’t hurt you.
When YOU know how awesome you are because you’re kicking major butt in your martial arts classes, you’re not going to shy away from creating awesomeness in your own life. You feel empowered to take risks, embrace new opportunities, and do the things you never thought you could do. It’s awesome!
Okay, one more thing. In the classic mental health sense, the benefits of martial arts are countless. Staying active, engaging in social communities, consistently accomplishing 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 taking your workout to the next level, learning a life-saving skill and transforming into a more confident person sounds good to you, come by the studio and see these benefits in action. Check out our Black Belt Plus Adult Martial Arts classes that Burleigh Heads is raving about- you’ll love them: