Use the Martial Arts to Kick the Blahs...If you only knew, you'd be here, now!

photo by Marco Bellucci/flicker

If you knew what we do and how we do it you would be here training with us now!

There is a tribe of you out there. Your life has slipped into a routine and you are living a more sedentary life than you'd like. You aren't feeling as healthy or as strong, or perhaps as young and flexible as you once did but you are searching for a way to exercise that won't bore you to tears or tear you to shreds.

What we are doing is such a positive synthesis of mental and physical training that it has kept some of our students focused and motivated for over a decade!  In the last month I've heard from 4 adult students who have lost more than 25 pounds, one of them more than 80! Several of these students are off of blood pressure meds or other meds due to their improved state of health.  You begin to have a new found confidence and you look forward to a place that will challenge you in a positive and interesting way.

If you could feel the benefits of what we are doing and the fun and engaging way we practice martial arts, you would be with us already!

There are millions of us out there, adults, practicing martial arts, becoming more fit, stronger, calmer and healthier.  We are proud of our sore muscles and increased skills. We get a thrill from those moments when our increased coordination shows up to help us avoid an accident or injury.  We become more engaged in life through our Martial Arts practice because it challenges us to become life long learners. Students of movement, motion and emotion. What a strange and wonderful symmetry of subjects. Many of us want to be like Helio Gracie, practicing martial arts in a meaningful way into our 90's!

I'm so glad for the physical and mental benefits of martial arts but what I value the most are the relationships and friends I've found. This is a practice that you can share for decades.  If you are someone looking for a positive change in your life I highly recommend that you try martial arts.  There are many types of arts, teachers and ways of training, one of them may be the key to unlocking a treasure chest of living victories.  I see it in our school everyday; the student who reports that they've touched their toes for the first time in years (after a few weeks of classes) or the student who now takes the stairs 8 times a day instead of the elevator, or the youth student who tried out for the talent show because of her confidence found through leading the warm ups at the beginning of class, or the student who found himself doing a forward shoulder roll when his dog tripped him up on their morning jog. (he rolled and popped up injury free rather than face planting in front of an oncoming car).  All these daily living victories add up to something that's worthy of your time, interest and dedication. Give martial arts practice a chance to surprise you and you might find that it's the change you want and the challenge you need! 

The secret to 6 pack abs is...

The practice of Martial Arts as a Way of Life

           The discipline of Martial arts have persisted for over a thousand years.   Through the discipline of regular practice, week after week, year after year our training is built on a culture and a tradition that has embedded a process of self-discovery. Martial Arts practice is used to produce a more fit and healthy body;  increase muscle tone, fat reduction, improve endurance,  increase flexibility, coordination, and agility.   
     The discipline of years of practice is an investment in your future.  It's not an easy path, but it's one worth taking. The discipline of self-defense; whether by the use of realistic fighting tools, learning to handle verbal assault, or coping with the adrenal stress response can help you in an emergency but it can also help you learn to cope with the stresses of everyday life.    
     For most however, it becomes a training tool that brings out the best in us by providing us with a multitude of benefits that can only be fully attained in such a discipline. If you want to change your body, get fit and have 6 pack abs, it's going to take self-control, consistent practice, nutritional education and heaping spoonfuls of discipline.

 
The warrior/scholar philosophy challenges us to be more disciplined with our practice, mentally and physically while facing  our most negative emotions, e.g. fear and anger.  We not only learn how to combat stress but to keep a positive attitude in our daily lives.  In addition we learn to be self-disciplined and to concentrate on tasks that are worthy of great efforts.  Often times it is not the physical techniques we practice that provide us with the greatest personal growth, but the focus that we put into the practice. It boils down to the simple act of showing up to class and putting forth the effort on a day, or even during a season that we don't feel like it week after week, year after year.