Did you know that the martial arts industry brought in a staggering $5 billion in 2019? Moreover, there are over 80,000 businesses related to martial arts worldwide. This is a highly competitive field that has grown tremendously in recent years. And it’s easy to see why. When you train in martial arts, you become more confident and capable. Moreover, you also whip yourself into shape very quickly.
The myriad of benefits offered by martial arts is undeniable. For this reason, the surge in popularity is well justified.
But at this point, you may be wondering: what is it that makes martial arts so appealing? To answer that, I’m going to cover 10 reasons why you should train in martial arts today.
1. Self-Defense
The first and most obvious reason you should train in martial arts is self-defense. While I genuinely believe that most people are good at heart, that doesn’t negate the fact that there are some psychos out there.
The world is rife full of people who want to inflict pain and do evil.
And if you’re not prepared to deal with these scoundrels, well, you may be put in a compromising position that could have been avoided.
When you train in martial arts, you’ll learn how to defend yourself and your loved ones. Consequently, this investment in yourself will pay dividends if push ever comes to shove.
No longer will you be at the mercy of anyone who tries to make you a victim. As a result, you’ll be able to confidently hold your own and stand up to tyrants who attempt to impose their will on you.
Indeed, this is one of the most valuable assets that training in martial arts will provide you with.
2. It Will Make You Fearless
When you train in martial arts, it will help diminish your fears. And this is understandable. When you train, you’re going toe to toe with someone — and as a result — you will get thrashed around, dinged up, injured, and hurt.
It comes with the territory.
But by facing these situations voluntarily, it toughens you both physically and mentally; making you less afraid of other circumstances because you know how to handle yourself — as well as others.
And this can go a long way in your everyday life.
If a drunken idiot who’s twice your size wants to make a pass at your girl, you’re ready. If an aggressor hopped on drugs makes you the target of their aggression, you can throw down.
Now, let’s be clear; you don’t train in martial arts so that you can go around beating people up. No. You train in martial arts so that you’re ready if anything unexpected were to happen.
3. It’s Therapeutic
Life is tough. Stress and pressure can weigh you down. This can result in an accumulation of tension — that if not released — can be detrimental to both your physical and mental health.
Training in martial arts is a release.
It’s a form of therapy that allows you to forget about your problems and focus on the moment. When you’re on the mats training, it’s hard to think of anything else.
When punches are coming at you, or when you’re being grabbed, tossed around, and having your face smashed into the mat or smashing someone’s face in the mat (in a controlled and safe environment of course), all you can think of is what’s happening right here and right now.
And this release of aggression and tension acts as a therapeutic agent that relieves you of your stress.
It’s the most ironic thing in the world that you can walk away from getting your face smashed feeling better than you did going into it.
4. Connections
When you train in martial arts, you will develop enduring friendships with many people. Most of the time, you would have never expected it either. People of all walks of life participate in martial arts: bankers, accountants, construction workers, teachers, engineers, store clerks, you name it.
And since you’re all sharing the same experience of training, improving, growing, struggling, etc, a bond is inevitably formed.
These people become somewhat of a second family.
You see each other pretty much every evening in class and you take note of one other’s improvements on a regular basis. So it doesn’t take long to become a tight-knit group.
Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that every one of your training partners will be your best friend and you’ll have each other over every year for Christmas. But it does mean that you’ll have additional contacts and friendships in your circle of influence.
And you never know what kinds of unexpected opportunities can present themselves due to these alliances.
5. Confidence
Training in martial arts will no doubt give you confidence. You’ll be tested, stretched, and pushed past limits you didn’t know you had. And that’s one of the most beautiful things about it (in my opinion), is that it forces you to step beyond your current scope of what you think is “possible” for yourself.
When you’re fighting (or even drilling for that matter) and you execute a technique or pull off a submission you didn’t know you could do; that’s motivating! It’s encouraging! And it builds your confidence.
It grows your level of self-worth! Why? Because in a small way, you realize you’re more capable than you’ve given yourself credit for.
Most of us sell ourselves short. We say we can’t do X, Y, or Z for whatever bullshit reason, and what’s worse – we believe it. Training in martial arts will help you smash those limiting notions to pieces.
And as a result, a more confident and self-assured version of yourself will emerge.
6. You’ll Be Humbled
There is no room for ego when you train in martial arts. Especially when you’re first starting out; you will be crushed, submitted, and tossed around like a rag doll — all the time.
This has the humbling effect of putting you in your place.
The reason this is so pertinent to life is that it allows you to keep a level head. While you may become more confident and self-assured, you’ll also have a sense of humility. And these two variables working in unison help to keep you balanced and in check.
It’s a beautiful combination and one that will help you live a more happy, content, and stabilized life.
7. Discipline
To become proficient at martial arts (or anything else for that matter), it takes dedication, focus, and persistence. In other words, you need discipline. It requires a certain level of self-control and resilience in order to keep showing despite the submissions, falls, hits, and injuries you’re bound to incur.
As such, discipline will be a determining factor in whether or not you persist.
And the beauty about it is once you’ve built self-discipline in martial arts, it will translate into every other area of your life. You’ll eat cleaner, exercise more, clean your apartment, focus more deeply on work — the list is unending!
Martial arts can become a catalyst for self-improvement by virtue of the discipline it can instill into your lifestyle.
8. You’ll Learn About Yourself
I remember one time at the gym, a girl was rolling with her training partner, and she was becoming upset because she kept getting tapped. But instead of looking at it from the perspective of, “Hey, I need to train more and improve because what I’m doing isn’t working”, she got flustered, teary-eyed, and threw a tantrum in class.
Totally made an ass of herself.
To me, this was suggestive of how she deals with her problems — when things don’t go her way, she throws a hissy-fit. And almost certainly, she carries that attitude with her wherever she goes.
If I were a betting man, I’d say this was not a one-off occurrence.
How you are in the ring or on the mats is how you are in your life: If you’re timid, scared, possess a negative attitude, or you’re unwilling to push and give it all, this is indicative of how you are in your day-to-day experience outside of training.
More than likely, you’ll shy away from challenges, difficulties, and confrontations in real life. You probably always seek comfort and don’t like to “rock the boat” around others; always playing it safe.
However, if you enjoy pushing yourself, learning more in training, and most importantly — being okay with failure and looking silly, this will be reflected in your life as well.
You’ll most likely speak your mind, go for what you want, take risks, and be totally fine with looking silly in front of others.
When you spend time training in martial arts, you’ll learn these things about yourself quite quickly. It’ll be an eye-opener and something that will help you become more conscientious.
9. It Keeps You in Shape
You will get an incredible workout when you train in martial arts! The rigorous exercise coupled with the intense exertion of your entire body will keep you in a peak physical condition.
Many people join martial arts simply because they got tired of the monotony of lifting weights at the gym.
The same routine over and over becomes repetitive and boring. As such, they want to do something that’s more fun and engaging while at the same time offering the same health and physical benefits as your standardized workout.
Martial arts are the key to that kingdom.
Whether you decide on BJJ, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, etc. You can feel great knowing that pretty much any martial art will provide a fun environment, in addition to a great exercise session that will keep you fit and healthy.
10. It’s Fun
Last but certainly not least; training in martial arts is fun! When you get taught a new technique and you recognize the power you can yield, it becomes addicting!
And not just because of the cool moves, but because of everything!
The exercise, the people, the intensity, the camaraderie, the overwhelming sense of personal satisfaction you get from taking care of yourself and learning new things.
All of it coalesces together to produce an experience that will keep you coming back each week.
Are You Ready to Begin Training in Martial Arts?
The martial arts have been around for thousands of years, and have changed the lives of countless people the world over within that time frame. Will you be the next one?
It could very well be a decision that can change your entire life for the better.
