9 Reasons Why Self Defense Class Give You More Than Fighting Skills
If someone attacked you on the street, would you know what to do?
Most people wouldn’t.
That’s why self defense classes are becoming so popular. The world can be a dangerous place, but if you know how to protect yourself, you don’t have to worry.
One female boxer learned this when she had to put her skills into practice by fighting off two handbag thieves. A women’s self-defense class can teach you how to do the same.
However, life-saving skills aren’t the only things you’ll pick up in these classes. In this post, we’ll give you nine other ways they can benefit you.
The Benefits of Learning Self Defense
Self-defense classes aren’t all about punching, kicking, or head locking opponents into submission. Here are some of the other things they can teach you.
1. Build Confidence
Learning self-defense and martial arts can be a great way to build confidence and improve your self-esteem.
You’ll learn how to do things you never thought you were capable of. As you become fitter and more skilled, you may even surprise yourself with what you can do.
This won’t just change the way you perform in the gym. The confidence you build there can help you at work and in social situations, too. It can completely change the way you carry yourself.
2. Be More Mindful
We all find ourselves running on autopilot sometimes.
Whether we’re doing mundane tasks at work, saying things without thinking, or struggling to control our emotions, we can all benefit from being more mindful.
Self-defense classes can help you to practice mindfulness by forcing you to think about how and when you make certain movements. It’s about technique and strategy, and you can’t just pick it up right away without thinking. This means that each time you join a class, you’ll practice mindfulness.
The benefits of this can spill out into your life outside the gym, too.
You may find that you become more aware of your nutrition and start paying more attention to what foods you put in your body, the timing of your meals, and how you feel when you eat. You may also find that you have increased bodily awareness, which helps you to improve your posture or identify the sources of aches and pains more easily.
3. Join a New Community
One of the best things about joining a self-defense class has nothing to do with fitness or martial arts. Instead, it’s all about the people.
When you sign up to a new gym, you’re jumping into a brand new pool of people. You’ll meet lots of new training partners, and some of them may even become your friends outside of the gym.
When you train together, you build bonds. There’s an extraordinary sense of community among dedicated training partners. This is because you sweat it out side-by-side, challenge each other, and learn new things together.
It’s great to meet like-minded people. They’ll also keep you on track with your training, encouraging you to join classes when they do. You never know, you may end up making some life-long friends.
4. Feel Safe
When you know you can protect yourself if you need to, you have peace of mind.
You’ll be safe in the knowledge that you’ll be able to defend yourself, disarm an attacker, or find a quick way to escape if you need to. This can help to put your mind at ease, so you can feel safer and more relaxed.
You won’t have to constantly look over your shoulder when you’re walking on the street or worry about what could happen. Instead, you can walk out into the world with confidence.
5. Learn How to Handle Pressure
It’s easy enough to learn a few self-defense moves and think “if someone attacks me, this is what I’ll do.” However, if the time comes, you may not be able to use them.
When we’re in dangerous situations that cause shock or distress, our bodies go into fight or flight mode. However, there’s one more reaction that people don’t talk about. In reality, it’s fight, flight, or freeze.
While some people are able to think on their feet and act right away, others find themselves freezing up like a rabbit in headlights. If you’re one of the latter, you may be completely unable to fight back.
The only way to avoid this involuntary response is by training yourself out of it. Self-defense classes will give you an opportunity to do that. You’ll drill certain moves over and over again so that eventually, they become second nature.
You’ll get used to having to react quickly in high-pressure situations, and this could one day save your life. It may come in handy in other areas, too.
6. Get Fit and Healthy
If you find traditional ways of working out boring, self-defense classes could be a welcome change.
Running on a treadmill or lifting weights can be incredibly arduous if you don’t enjoy it, so why not find another way to get fit? In self-defense classes, you’ll focus more on learning new skills than burning calories, completely reps of running laps.
Your mind is focused on learning rather than sweating. This means that you can hardly realize you’re getting a workout!
If you can’t seem to find a type of exercise that you enjoy, give self-defense classes a try. The idea of learning new techniques and progressing will keep you coming back for more. Each time you do, you’ll be working on your fitness, too.
It’s not just your physical health that will benefit. Your mental health will be better off too. This type of exercise can ease the symptoms of depression and anxiety. This is because it releases feel-good chemicals in the brain and gives you the motivation to get up and get out of the house.
7. Learn Self-Discipline
Do you struggle to stick to exercise regimes, schedules or new hobbies? Self-defense classes can help you to build the self-discipline you need to keep at it.
When you train, you’ll form a camaraderie with your training partners and coaches. That, coupled with your willingness to learn and improve, will motivate you to keep coming back to class time and time again. You may even surprise yourself with how dedicated you become.
8. Protect against Intruders or Attackers
Do you ever worry about someone breaking into your home or attacking you on the street? Learning a few martial arts skills can give you some essential techniques to use in times of trouble.
If something happens to you, you won’t be completely helpless. You’ll be able to use those techniques to protect yourself or defend someone if you need to.
These aren’t the only things you’ll learn. Your coaches will also give you some other tips you can use. These may include numbers you can call for special services or products that may come in handy in emergencies.
There are some self-defense products you should always keep in your bag just in case, such as pepper spray cans or self-defense keychains. However, there are also more effective things you can buy to stop people from getting into your home or workplace. Fightingchancesolutions.com has door sleeves and barricades that will keep you safe.
A good self-defense coach will know all about products like these and be able to point you in the right direction.
9. Be More Streetwise
We all know that it can be dangerous to walk down dark alleys at night, that we shouldn’t wear headphones when walking alone, and that we should cross the street if we think someone might be following us.
However, these common tips aren’t enough. You need to learn some real techniques to be more street-smart.
Self-defense classes can help you do that. They’ll make you much more aware of your surroundings, so you’ll be less susceptible to attackers, pickpockets or muggers.
10. Improve Your Balance
Yoga, gymnastics, and ballet are all great ways to improve balance, but they’re not for everyone.
If your balance isn’t what it could be, self-defense classes can help you to improve it.
You can’t fight if you’re flailing all over the place. Your strikes won’t have any power and an opponent will easily be able to trip you over or disable your attacks. Instead, you have to learn how to get into the right stance, plant your feet, and move in ways that maintain your balance and poise.
When you’re executing each move, you’ll have to control your body. Each time you do, your core muscles will be put to work. This is what will develop the balance you need.
Discover the New You
Now that you know how self defense classes can help you, the next step is to find a gym near you.
Once you get started, you may find that these newfound skills completely change your life. You’ll challenge yourself, learn and grow in new ways, and even find out some new things about yourself.
A venture into self-defense could be your first steps on a journey to a new you. To find out more about how to better yourself, read our step-by-step guide to self-discovery.