When you look at the defensive lineman on your favorite pro football team, it’s unlikely that you would consider him an expert in martial arts. But many pro football players—and other athletes—understand the value of the martial arts when it comes to preparing themselves physically for competitive sports.
Players at all levels of sports can benefit from martial art training. When you consider football, for example, players need power, they need to be quick, they need hand strength, they need upper body strength and the list goes on and on. Players must need to use their body in the most efficient manner possible and they must also use it as a weapon of sorts.
Practicing martial arts such as Kung Fu and karate allow players to learn how to make the most of every move they make. This comes in handy because many players have to deal with the fact that they may not be as big or as fast as the competition. What the martial arts teaches is that with the right technique you can still overpower an opponent.
What follows are some of the reasons martial arts can benefit athletes looking to up their game:
- Improves posture. Posture and stances are one of the first things you learn when training in the martial arts. Correct body alignment and where your center of gravity should be are things all athletes need to understand.
- Increases balance. Balance is important to all movements, whether side-to-side or up and down. And if you don’t have balance you are at the mercy of your opponent.
- Promotes flexibility. When you are flexible, you are able to bend without breaking. You also are able to quickly change positions. These are two things that athletes must master to be successful on the court or on the field.
- Improves coordination and timing. To be effective in competition, you must be able to make a well-coordinated movement at just the right time. Martial arts teaches you to do this.
- Emphasizes focus. If you cannot focus on the task at hand, you will not be able to achieve it. Martial arts allows you to perfect a move, technique or mindset until it becomes second nature.
- Builds strength. Without a fit body, it will difficult to execute moves fast and at a high rate of intensity. And the stronger a body, the less likely it will succumb to injuries.
Ultimately, the martial arts are popular with athletes because the skills learned allow a person to improve mentally, physically and athletically. And that is true whether you start every Sunday in primetime or play only a few times a month at the local park.