It’s a new year and with a new year often comes new goals, particularly for our physical health, but after the year of 2020, also our mental health.

Safe coping mechanisms for mental and physical health are difficult to come by. When faced with the issue of how to stay healthy we have many options to pull from. A solution for both of these problems can be found in martial arts.

Everyday Health states “By burning calories and toning muscles, martial arts help you lose weight and maintain a healthy body weight. It also creates stamina. Since martial arts provide a full-body workout, they increase overall stamina and endurance.”

A mother of children (anonymous) who participate in karate definitely seeing the benefits of mental health for her children. She shares, “It gives them an outlet for their energy. They can work through things by kicking and hitting stuff. It gives them an outlet for their frustration and I think it overall helps them.” Sensei David Street founder and chief instructor of Elite Martial Arts in Essex states, “Martial arts develops you physically, mentally and spiritually. And when we say spiritually we’re talking about emotions.” Sensei Dave says they teach discipline through structured programs. He also feels that the mental discipline of setting a goal, working through obstacles, and achieving the goal helps them understand the process of mentally how to go from point A to point B when it comes to setting goals.

While many could recommend marital arts as a good practice for mental and physical health Sensei Dave believes that it will only help you if you enjoy what you’re doing. So, if you’re looking for a new hobby to improve not mental and physical health in 2021 give martial arts a try.