Did you know that there are mental benefits of taekwondo aside from feeling amazing after a workout? A lot of people see martial arts as a purely physical sport…. But to be successful at it, you need quite a bit of mental stamina and self talk. We help hundreds of people in our Vasquez Taekwondo & Haidong Gumdo Academy community build confidence and self-respect through the power of martial arts and self defense. Here’s how:
Confidence is a Huge Advantages of Taekwondo
It’s likely that you already feel confident in one area of your life- your job, your role as a parent, or your studies, for example. You might already feel confident in your body and even work out regularly.
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 save the lives of the people you love?
Self-Respect: A Little-Known Benefits of Taekwondo
These are scary questions, but they’re necessary, and fear can sometimes motivate you to act appropriately- nothing worse than 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 have the goal of teaching EVERYONE in the McKinney area how to defend themselves against an attacker. It’s not just because it literally 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 feel confident about. It’s a huge mental benefits of taekwondo.
How These Mental Benefits of Taekwondo Change Lives
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. Once you start taking 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 bike instead of drive up the street or finally making time for a hike with a friend. This just makes you even more confident because you’re doing right by your body, you have more energy to do things you love, and you feel in alignment with your best self. That little conscience in your head guiding your decisions is finally being heard. Also, and this is huge – 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 understood, and then they pass that feeling on to others… and there’s a compound effect in the community. Magic? We think so. And it’s all because of this ancient practice we call martial arts.
Confidence & Self Respect- Join Us to Learn More!
This happens all the time – a new student will come in to start training, and within months, they’ll get a promotion. Or negotiate a higher salary. They may even get the courage to ask someone out on a date. Or speak their mind to a disrespectful colleague. These aren’t just crazy random happenstances – they happen because martial arts classes build confidence and self respect. Period. Again, when you respect yourself, you also start to treat yourself better. You begin realizing that you deserve better treatment from others, professionally and personally, and you find the courage to stand up for what you want.
Do you see now 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 only get to you if you let them. When YOU know how awesome you are because you leave your martial arts class feeling super accomplished, you’re not going to shy away from creating awesomeness in your own life. You make bold decisions in your life, embark on exciting new adventures, 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 taekwondo for kids are countless. Staying active, being a part of a community, achieving 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.