Adult Karate and Fitness
For one reason or another you wanted to start up your martial arts journey. Maybe it was for a stress relief, to get in shape or learn self defense. A lot of time it is to get in shape. Some people (including myself) do not want to get on a boring treadmill for their workouts. So to get in shape you started your journey in the martial arts…..hopefully at Rock Solid Karate in Gainesville, Georgia ;) In the martial arts we are constantly seeking improvement. There is always room for improvement. In fact my Instructor used to ask us, “what’s the biggest room in the world?” We would answer back, “The room for improvement sir!” So with that being said what are you going to do in addition to your martial arts???
Martial Arts is just the Beginning
In the beginning we see improved flexibility, stress relief, maybe we shed some pounds and we learn how to defend ourselves. However there is a time where we may hit a plateau in our fitness aspect of our journey. In the beginning you may shed 10-15lbs really quickly and than you do not see any improvements. That is because you have to constantly be making improvements. I personally like to make small improvements and sacrifices (baby steps) to my training regiment to get results. So maybe you train twice a week but you eat horrible during the week. Try having a better work week with your meals and splurge on weekend. Now you are going to get some more results as it results to weight loss. Maybe your flexibility isn’t what you want it to be. Instead of just stretching when you come to class take a couple minutes in the morning or at night to do 10-15 minutes of stretching. Little tiny baby steps to help you always be constantly improving. These do not have to be life altering things like quitting all carbs cold turkey. Just subtract things out of your diet little by little. Even something like your coffee can be improved. Replace your creamer to maybe a more healthy almond milk creamer. Slowly but surely these improvements are going to make you healthy, happy and fit. I can assure you if you start to eat better and cut out the fried foods you are absolutely going to feel better during the day and have more energy. All of this will relate back to you being a more balanced martial artists!!
Back to the Punches!!
If you want to get better at something do it 100 times. Plain and simple.In your martial arts journey some techniques are going to come more natural to others. Maybe you excel at forms and weapons but not at sparring. Maybe you want to have a better axe kick. I know when I was sparring and competing a lot I wanted to have a better axe kick. Other people did have a good one and were scoring on me with it. I stayed at the dojang one night and said I am not going to leave her tonight until I get this thing right. I pulled out a bag and practiced throwing the axe kick with my front leg until I could barely lift it up anymore. The next sparring session I threw it as much as I could. It didn’t go well so I stayed at the dojang again and did it 100 more times with some tweaks. The next sparring session went much better. I went on to use that kick successfully and won a lot of tournaments because of a kick that wasn’t even in my arsenal at one point. If you want to get better at something do it over and over and over again and you will most certainly get better at it.
I hope this helps give you a little push. Don’t just let your two or three times a week of training be all that you do for your health and exercise. Martial Arts is a lifestyle. Constantly be improving to become the best you that you can be. I promise you will love the results. Now ask yourself what change you can make today that will make you healthier!! Maybe that choice is to begin your training!! Maybe you have already started training and you need to have more strength or flexibility. Pick something and do what is necessary to get a little better and a little healthier.
