Having trouble staying and being active? Do you hear the word gym and feel the rise of panic start in your bones that makes you want to scream and cower away from the boring physical activity? Perhaps you’d find benefits in a martial arts class rather than forcing yourself to do something that you literally cannot stand. With classes such as Tai Chi, Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai and kickboxing there might just be something in all of that that’ll catch your interest and make you want to attend rather than thinking about the gym and making you want to cry instead. What exactly are classes like Tai Chi and what are they good for? Can you get more out of them than just kicking and punching air? If these are any of your questions than you should change your outlook and seriously consider what Tai Chi would offer you.
What is Tai Chi?
If you’re expecting Tai Chi to be nothing but a martial arts self defense class you couldn’t be more wrong with your assumption. While it began as a self-defense class it was quickly changed to be a form of exercise that has many other healthy benefits attached. In fact, Tai Chi is considered to be meditation in motion. It promotes deep breathing and gentle movements that help to center the body and even clear the mind.
An ancient Chinese tradition, Tai chi is now a form of careful exercise. It is both self paced and non competitive. A careful flow of gentle exercise, with tai chi your body is constantly in motion. While it is not yoga or palates, tai chi does include breathing techniques, physical posture and meditation.
Who is this good for?
This form of low impact exercise is good for almost everyone. In fact, 3.71 million individuals from the age of six years and up participated in these programs. So long as you are not an individual who has serious health ailments or are pregnant than this is the exercise for you to sign up for and get started with. Considering that a one out session can burn roughly 500 calories. Imagine how good for you this would be if you could take these classes multiple times a week!
What has this been known to help with?
Improved joint pain and better sleep quality are among just a couple of the benefits that come with this form of exercise. It is also known to lower blood pressure and boost the immune system as well. How could any of this sound like a bad idea when the benefits you will be getting are all positive. Not to mention as you age it also improves flexibility and muscle tone. As we age muscle tone can severely decrease, helping to prevent that could do wonders for the aging process.
The next time you find yourself considering signing up for any of these martial arts classes keep in mind that you’re getting more from them than just learning how to defend yourself, the benefits are much stronger than that. Take a class and center yourself, kickboxing classes, martial arts classes and all others are the types of classes that you should be taking for you. Take care of yourself today and have a little bit of fun while you do it.
Considering that these classes have been around for 2,500 years there has to be something going right with them, finding out for yourself is one of the best decisions you could possibly make.
