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Beating Stress With Martial Arts
March 27, 2006
Are you a busy executive or mom trying to do everything?
Are you getting so stressed out that it seems like you’re
not accomplishing anything? If so, you can use martial
arts to combat that stress! Many of the skills and
techniques used in martial arts training are the same
skills and techniques you can use to rid your body of
stress.
So, you might be wondering how a skill that is commonly
depicted as a fighting tool can actually reduce stress…
Some of these common images of martial arts aren’t
completely accurate. The cartoons, video games and movies
showing martial arts as a fighting tool are only showing
you one small facet of the art. The skills necessary for
training martial arts can teach you how to balance your
mind and body and give you the confidence you need to face
the stressful events in your life.
HOW DO YOU DO IT?
One of the techniques used to create this balance is using
breathing and meditation techniques to help you connect and
control your mind and body. There are different types of
meditation: sitting, standing, kneeling and moving. Find
the position that works best for you. Here’s how to start.
1. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.
2. Breathe deeply. To make sure you’re breathing deeply
enough, put your hand on your stomach. If your stomach
isn’t pushing out as you breath in, you’re not breathing
deeply enough. Try to pull the air all the way to your
navel before you let it out.
3. When you breathe out, keep your tongue on the roof of
your mouth. This keeps helps minimize your saliva and
swallowing.
In the Chinese way of thinking, breathing like this is
completing a path: The mouth is a gate and the tongue on
the roof of the mouth allows your vital energy called “Qi”
or “Chi” (both pronounced “chee”) to circulate throughout
your body. Chi is what helps your mind and body connect.
After you’ve gotten the physical aspects of breathing down,
you can start counting your breaths – this is a form of
meditation that many experts teach during stress management
courses. Start short and work your way up.
1. Begin with a count of 4 as you breathe in and a count of
6 as you breathe out.
2. As you go along, extend the in and out until you can get
a count of 6 as you breathe in and up to 24-30 as you
breathe out. Just remember that you want a short, deep
breath in and a slow, long breath out.
WHY DOES IT WORK?
This mind and body connection through breathing works
because stress is a mental state that manifests itself as a
physical symptom in your body. This physical symptom then
acts as a trigger to tell you to do something about it. As
you become more aware of your body, you’ll be able to
notice the “trigger” before it becomes something unbearable
such as a severe neck problem or a migraine headache. Once
you notice your trigger, you can stop and do something
about it such as practicing a breathing technique. For
example, I used to get stress-induced migraines that would
leave me out of commission for a whole day. Now, I’ve come
to realize that it actually starts in my lower back as a
small thing. If I let it go, it works its way up to my
head. Now, when I noticed this trigger in my back, I stop
and do my breathing. It allows the issue to surface so I
can deal with it and I don’t have to deal with a migraine.
We all have those moments from time to time when we
experience stress (some more frequently than others). The
overall benefits of training martial arts for the mind and
body (including self-awareness, self confidence, focus,
concentration and physical conditioning) all lead to
reducing that stress. You owe it to yourself to start
relieving the stress in your life with the skills taught
through martial arts. The best place to find these skills
is at a fine martial arts school. Why not give it a try?
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. To make
it even easier, I’ll help you get started. Just contact me
and I’ll send you my free report on how to pick a martial
arts school.
Sincerely,
Robert Jones
Master Instructor
Acadmey of Kempo Martial Arts
P.S. My 3 studios are located in Lynnwood, Kent, and
Bellevue, Washington. If you live near one of those
locations, please contact me.
Masterjones@kungfutemple.com
1-800-508-6141
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