Did you know that there are mental benefits of Taekwondo aside from feeling amazing after a workout? A lot of people see Taekwondo as a purely physical sport but there’s a lot of mental stamina and self-talk required to knock it out of the park. We help hundreds of people in our iYa Taekwondo community transform into the best versions of themselves through the power of Taekwondo and self-defense. Here’s how:
Confidence is a Huge Advantage of Taekwondo
There’s probably an area of your life that you already feel confident in, like how you handle tough situations at work or your ability to be there for your spouse when they need you. You might already feel confident in your body and even work out regularly.
But do you feel confident in your ability to protect yourself? If it came down to it, would you know how to defend yourself against an attacker? Would you know how to save the lives of the people you love?
Self-Respect: A Little-Known Benefit
These are scary questions, but they’re necessary, and fear can sometimes motivate you to act appropriately- nothing worse than not knowing self-defense in an emergency and wishing you did! Learning how to protect yourself and the people you love is so important. It’s why we want to teach everyone in Sacramento how to defend themselves against an attacker.
It’s not just because it saves lives, either: imagine how much more confident you could be if you were sure you could handle any physical situation that came your way. That knowledge of self-defense would just be one more thing for you to feel confident about. It’s a huge mental benefit of Taekwondo.
How These Mental Benefits Change Lives
So confidence is important, yes – but why is self-respect important? Because once you learn to respect yourself and your body, you begin making better choices. Once you start taking Taekwondo classes, you may notice you feel more energized.
You may start to want to eat healthier and think, “I wouldn’t be respecting my body if I ate this… I want to feel amazing so I’ll skip the chips.” You may also find yourself wanting to bike instead of driving up the street or finally making time for a hike with a friend. Then you become even more confident because you’re doing right by your body, you have more energy to do things that benefit you, and you feel in alignment with your best self.
The voice in your head saying “Let’s eat better” or “Go for that run” is finally being heard. Also, and this is huge – when you respect yourself, you start to treat others with more kindness and empathy because you see and respect them, too. This makes others more confident because they feel understood, and then they pass that feeling on to others… and there’s a compound effect in the community. And then the world becomes a better place. It’s all because of this little old sport we call Taekwondo.
Confidence & Self Respect- Join Us to Learn More!
We see it all the time – a new student will come in to start training, and within months, they’ll get a promotion. Or negotiate a higher salary. They may even find the courage to ask someone on a date. Or speak their mind to a disrespectful colleague. These are not coincidences – they happen because Taekwondo classes build confidence and self-respect. Plain and simple. Again, when you respect yourself, you also start to treat yourself better.
You recognize that you can push yourself to new limits in Taekwondo classes, and you gain bravery and confidence you never knew you had. Are you starting to see how the mental benefits of Taekwondo can change your life? Just these two benefits- the mix of self-respect and confidence- can help you realize that other people’s judgments can only get to you if you let them.
When you know you’re awesome because you leave your Taekwondo classes feeling super accomplished, you’re not going to shy away from creating awesomeness in your own life. You make bold decisions in your life, embrace new opportunities, and do the things you never thought you could do. It’s awesome!
One last thing. In the classic mental health sense, the benefits of Taekwondo are countless. Staying active, being a part of a community, achieving new goals each week- these are the basic building blocks of mental health that Taekwondo classes can provide. Your mood and health can improve tremendously right alongside your mindset.