Many people think TaeKwonDo is a Martial Art only for self-defense. While this is partly true, the sport has much more to it including many physical as well as mental benefits,
Among the most beneficial health effects of TaeKwonDo are Weight Loss, building of strong bones and muscles, cardiovascular health, flexibility as well as agility and reflexes.
In addition it has mental health benefits as well which include increased self confidence and focus as well as reducing stress and improved cognitive function.
In this post I will go over each one of these benefits so you can see for yourself what I am talking about.
Physical Health Benefits
Weight loss
Are you looking for a fun way to reduce weight? Practicing TaeKwonDo will help you achieve that. Since martial art involves the vigorous movement of the feet, body, and arms, there is no definite way to know how many calories you will lose in just one session.
By learning to move your feet and arms in a repetitive way every day, your body will use all the energy. Eventually, the vigorous exercise will then use the reserved body fats.
This will help you lose weight gradually. By practicing TaeKwonDo, your metabolic rate will increase at a higher rate. Hence, your body will learn to burn more calories. This is a sure way to help you keep fit for a long time.
Build strong muscles
Tae Kwon Do not only involves fighting your opponent, but it also involves strenuous activities such as sit-ups, pushups and among other activities. The practice will also require you learning to punch, grapple or sparring against a stronger opponent.
In return, your muscles will become stronger to take down any opponent. If you keep on practicing TaeKwonDo often, it will tone your muscles as well as making them bigger. In return, you will remain fit thus slim chances of becoming obese.
Since Tae Kwon Do involve feet, arms and body movement your feet will also need to be strong.
If you continue to practice kicking, your legs muscles will gradually become stronger and bigger as well. Strong muscle legs will help you make an agile, strong kick to take down your opponent during the defense. Remember, you will build strong muscles gradually only if you practice TaeKwonDo for a long time. It does not come as easy as you think.
Strong Bones
A bone-building process does not come easy. However, practicing TaeKwonDo will help you achieve it. To make your bones stronger entails you putting much weight on your bones.
The osteoblasts will then lay down new bone matter on the bones thus making them denser, thicker and stronger all at once.
The TaeKwonDo practice involves a lot of kicking, punching, and grappling to mention the least. Such vigorous activities add more weight on your bones. Since breaking bones is inevitable during a TaeKwonDo practice, the osteoblasts will lay more down bone matter.
In return, the broken bone will heal with a scar but with an increased bone matter thus becoming stronger than before.
Just like the muscle strengthening, bone building process will also take time. The more you practice TaeKwonDo, the more you will be able to build your bones.
The best thing with the bone-building process is that you will have fewer chances of getting osteoporosis. You will also not be prone to bone breakage as you practice TaeKwonDo with time.
Improves Cardiovascular Health
Making your heart strong requires a strenuous exercise that will make your heart endure the stress. While TaeKwonDo is a self-defense activity, it does contribute a lot in making your heart strong.
The frequent punching, kicking, and sit-ups exercises are what a TaeKwonDo will need to make their heart strong.
With a strong heart, you will be able to endure long hours of practicing TaeKwonDo move. In addition, your heart will be able to pump more blood and oxygen in your body not forgetting your muscles.
The more oxygen your muscles get, the more you will be able to endure TaeKwonDo moves. You will not get tired fast, and you will be able to kick and punch more and faster.
Having a strong heart will also make you less prone to heart diseases such as stroke or arterial diseases among others. In addition, your cholesterol level, blood sugar, and blood pressure will be moderate. With a frequent Tae Kwon Do practice, you will live longer and disease free.
Flexibility
Apart from the frequent kicking and punching exercise, Tae Kwon will increase your flexibility. Before you begin the TaeKwonDo practice, you will need to stretch your muscles for 20 to 30 minutes.
It helps to get your body ready for strenuous activity. After you are through with a TaeKwonDo practice, you will take a few minutes to stretch again. By doing so, it helps prevent an injury such as muscle injury, back pain among others during or after a session.
Furthermore, the more you stretch your body, the more your muscles become flexible thus helping you kick and punch further and more agile. What’s more, you will acquire the ability to balance your body as your practice TaeKwonDo move.
Agility and Reflexes
By frequently practicing TaeKwonDo moves, your body will be become flexible and agile to kick and punch without experiencing any strain. Due to continuous workouts, your reflexes will become more alert in case of any lurking danger. These abilities will also come in handy in other areas of your daily lifestyle.
TaeKwonDo moves entails strenuous workouts that uses strong muscles, strong bones, and body flexibility. By acquiring these elements, your body will stay in shape throughout.
You will gain body balance. Your bones will acquire endurance, and your muscles will become stronger, bigger, and toned. Your overall health will become perfect.
Mental Health Benefits
Increases Self Confidence
It is hard to imagine that a martial art such as TaeKwonDo can boost your self-confidence. Well, it is true. Since TaeKwonDo involves learning different moves every day, learning a certain move requires focus and disciplines.
Once you master a certain move and perfect it, it will boost your self-confidence. You will experience great pleasure knowing that you have mastered a hard move.
The martial art will also boost your self-confidence by learning to protect yourself in case of lurking danger. Knowing you can protect yourself all the time no matter the situation will keep your confidence in check.
It is not an everyday occurrence people are able to protect themselves despite a higher crime rate. Therefore, learning TaeKwonDo is good for your mental health as well as your safety.
Another way learning this practice can boost your self-confidence is by toning your body. A frequent TaeKwonDo practice will give your body a total body workout. Toned strong muscles, lean body, strong bones, and a good heart will take your self-confidence a notch higher. In addition, everybody will admire you for achieving a great body.
Increase Focus
TaeKwonDo workout involves great focus. To master the moves, you will keep repeating them until you master them. This calls for a great focus on your part. Certain moves are hard to learn.
It can take weeks or even months to learn such moves. Without focus, you will continue to fail. Therefore, concentrate on one move at a time until you master all of them.
Learning to focus on TaeKwonDo will also help you in other ways. For instance being on the road requires a person to pay attention to small details. This is among the many ways it can help you. Paying attention is an ability one can learn if you put your mind into it.
Reduces Stress
You may not believe this but Tae Kwon Do is a great way to relieve stress. When exercising, your brain produces a chemical known as endocannabinoids. This chemical helps to calm your nerves by producing a calming and a relaxation effect in the brain.
The frequent TaeKwonDo workout also helps in the production of serotonin hormone in the brain, known to many as a stress reliever hormone. The happy hormone is responsible for making someone happy and calm. This hormone has helped people with depression to become stress-free.
Another way you can reduce stress through TaeKwonDo is by using the available punching bags or kicking dummies in a workout session. By doing this, you will be able to get rid of your anger.
The harder you kick a dummy, the less anger you will experience. Instead of piling up the anger inside, get rid of it by joining TaeKwonDo sessions. You will feel much better afterward.
Improves Cognitive Function
Just like the other workouts, TaeKwonDo practice will help you learn how to focus on small details thus helping your cognitive level to be active. Every time you practice, your brain becomes active.
Whatever ability you learn during the practice, you will be able to apply it in other areas such as a classroom. During a TaeKwonDo practice, your body is able to pump fresh blood as well as oxygen in all areas of your body.
This helps your brain to stay active and fresh throughout the day thus better cognitive functioning.
Learn Respect
One rule of TaeKwonDo is to learn respect. You will respect your teacher by bowing before and after the session. You will also learn to respect all the commands given to you by your tutor. In addition, you will come to the Tae Kwon Do class while clean.
Since the workout is an ancient martial art, you will be stepping on a holy ground thus being clean is mandatory. TaeKwonDo also requires you to respect those in higher authority than you are.
When you learn to respect, you will be able to apply the ability in other areas as well. The Tae Kwon Do teaches you to be humble and respectful to everybody; thus you will be able to master the moves easily. If you become arrogant and disrespectful of the martial art, you will not learn what the workout entails.
Self-Discipline
Apart from learning to respect others, TaeKwonDo teaches you to respect yourself. The more you master the punches and the kicks, the more you will advance in the class. Therefore, the ancient workout requires you to learn self-control, self-discipline, and respect to become an expert.
You will be able to apply these abilities in other areas as well. For instance, children who practice TaeKwonDo improve in their studies. They also learn to behave properly. You do not just use Tae Kwon Do moves to show off to your friends since it is against the ancient workout’s rules.
Final Thoughts:
With so many benefits beforehand, the ancient workout is really remarkable. There is no greater exercise than TaeKwonDo. Apart from the health benefits, you will achieve, there are also some great abilities you will gain such as self-respect, self-discipline, self-control, improves concentration and not forgetting acquiring fast reflexes.
With such abilities, you will be able to apply them in other areas of your life such as at work, in school to mention the least. If you have not enrolled in a Tae Kwon Do class yet, ensure that you do. You will not regret it afterward.
