Some of the Benefits

Some of the Benefits

Some of the benefits resulting from martial arts practice are simply the benefits of exercise, and similar benefits may result from enrolling a child in any sport that features extended body movement and regular exercise (Gummerson, 1992a). These physical benefits include a healthier body, a more oxygenated brain, and a better processing of the potential dietary culprits of hyperactivity— processed sugars and high-fat junk food. Nutritionist Nicholas Kirwan state, “Often sugar makes the situation worse. Hyperactivity can be caused by hypoglycemia or, if it is caused by allergies, it can be worsened by excess sugar consumption because of the adverse effect of sugar on the immune system. Hypoglycemia is a common condition where the blood sugar levels fluctuate excessively and dip below fasting levels. It is caused by eating too much sugar and refined carbohydrates. Many hyperactive children eat a lot of sugar and junk foods - when these are taken out of the diet and replaced by complex carbohydrates or snacks containing protein, behaviour improves dramatically.”

Additionally, a sustained commitment to martial arts practice (or a sport) may result in the child and parent paying better overall attention to diet, sleep routines, and daily schedules, leading to a healthier, happier, and more predictable child (Abernathy, 1995).
The real benefits of martial arts practice are mental (some would say spiritual) rather than physical. Most martial arts incorporate meditation and relaxation training, learning how to focus and release energy, moving in tandem with a partner as well as striving to excel alone, and achieving mind-body unity. The physical exercise and mastery is, really, the means to a non-physical end. Whether one calls this state of mind enlightenment (Back & Kim, 1981), self-knowledge (Wiley, 1995), or achieving balance (Wiley, 1995), what the practice of martial arts ultimately works toward is a healthy mind, a healthy spirit, and a healthy body (Reid & Croucher, 1995).

These mental benefits are achieved partially through the challenging physical training, and partially through the incorporation of philosophy into the training. The specific philosophies differ considerably from style to style, and even school to school, but the basic principles they share include respect accorded to “seniors” (such as instructors and parents) as well as peers, consideration of the younger and weaker, perseverance at difficult tasks, and, most importantly perhaps, integrity of self and doing what is “right” (Vockell & Kwak, 1990, Abernathy, 1995, Wiley, 1995).

These positive effects are documented. “Indoctrinated with the idea of respect,” martial arts students tend to become better classroom students (Vockell & Kwak, 1990, 61). A number of authors see this characteristic as the key to what makes the martial arts an effective way of transmitting desirable moral values.