Kalynn Amadio is a 3rd dan black belt in WTF style tae kwon do and the webmaster of Taekwondo-Network.
Are you a type A, go getter, do ten things at once type of person?
Do you get bored easily with the same old-same old?
Want to know the best way to combat that boredom and bring your health and fitness to a new level?
I spent years trying different healthy workouts beginning with aerobics.
It began in college during the Jane Fonda years when I followed the lead of the girls in my sorority. We put a video tape in the VCR, moved the coffee table out of the way and proceeded to jump, bump and squeeze our way into shape.
This was followed, post-college, by aerobics classes at the gym where I wore cute little leotards and colored tights. I could admire myself in the mirrored wall while following the movements of an enthusiastic instructor. And if I was lucky I’d meet a nice guy in the weight lifting area and, well, that’s another topic.
Marriage brought children. After my first child, via an unexpected, painful, emergency C-section, I bought a step. Once again, I found myself, moving the coffee table out of the way, putting the video tape in the VCR and climbing my way to fitness. It took about a year after my son’s birth to get back into my pre-baby clothes (plus 7 pounds).
Baby number two, via a less painful moderately expected C-section, I bought a slide. The slide was kind of fun. You put little nylon booties over your sneakers and slid back and forth following the video tape in the VCR. What followed was another year to fit into pre-baby clothes (plus 4 pounds).
Somewhere along the way, I took up running as the main stay of my healthy workouts. Oprah was running marathons which meant anybody could do it. I set my alarm for 5:15 AM Monday through Friday and braved the weather to run 2 ½ miles through my neighborhood before my husband had to leave for work. By 6:30 AM he was gone and I was home with my two sons for the day, feeling healthy, workout complete.
Baby number three, another son via a very uneventful, planned and surprisingly painless C-section, I added biking to my morning routine. Now I had variety! I could run the same route every morning. I could bike a different but longer route every morning. Or there was always the stack of video tapes if I felt like moving the coffee table.
Boy was this living!
It took another a year to get back into my pre-baby clothes with zero pounds added.
Fast forward three years, morning workouts were still a habit and boring as hell. I didn’t even feel like I was exercising any more because the routines were all so familiar to me, the required effort level was dropping, lower and lower.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Let me give you the answer to what you’ve been seeking. It’s the real deal and I am proof positive that it works. I discovered the benefits of Martial Arts.
Martial arts training is a complete healthy workout in every sense of the word. Not only do you increase your physical fitness level in ways you never imagined, but you exercise your mind as well. There is, of course, the standard learning curve to starting something new. But in addition, martial arts training requires you to use your brain.
This kind of healthy workout is very similar to learning ballroom dancing. There are specific steps to be performed in a specific order at the right pace. You work to learn the proper martial arts techniques to build a solid foundation. You exercise your mind to remember what comes next while you work your body to new levels of fitness.
One of the best benefits to martial arts training is that it can be done as a family. It’s a great way to spend time with your children in a healthy, fun activity. You’ll never get bored because the workout changes every time you go to class. Increased flexibility, strength and confidence are a small sample of the benefits package.
Unlike those aerobics classes, when you get good at the routine, not only does it change, but you earn a belt that tells the world how hard you’ve worked and where you stand in the process.
For a goal oriented, boredom busting, healthy workout, you can’t beat martial arts.
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A Career in the Martial Arts: From Student to Instructor
By: John Graden | 06/07/2009If you are a martial arts instructor today, odds are that you began teaching classes for your instructor shortly before or after you earned your black belt. You became a good teacher, but you were still under the control of your instructor, and you loyally taught and followed his syllabus.
The Golden Child of Martial Arts
By: John Graden | 05/07/2009In time, like me, many of you became the “golden child” of your martial arts school. You trained harder than anyone, and you were the best or one of the best students in the school.
The Rainbow of Rank
By: John Graden | 05/07/2009As a kid, you can’t choose your school, your parents, your city, your neighborhood, or much of anything else about your environment. You have no control and, when the situation is negative and intimidating, that debilitating feeling can stick with you for life. Martial arts changes all that. The rank system provides a direct path to respect that you control by training hard, following the rules, and enduring.
My Kung Fu is Better Than Yours
By: John Graden | 05/07/2009At some point while you were dutifully teaching classes for your instructor, I bet a few students and/or parents let you know that they preferred your classes to those of your instructor. At first, you thought they were just being polite, but then you began to notice things your instructor did that you would not do ‘if it were your school.’
Black Belt Scandals
By: John Graden | 05/07/2009Here in the Tampa Bay area – the 12th largest TV market in the U.S. – the local CBS TV affiliate did a three-part series called “Black Belt Scandals.” The series exposed a local instructor who had White-Out® on his rank certificate. You could see a 3 was replaced with a 7. He even had a fake chiropractor’s certificate on the wall.
The Core Dynamics of Starting a Martial Arts Business
By: John Graden | 05/07/2009When I created National Associations of Professional Martial Artists (NAPMA) in 1994, there was little useful information available to the industry as a whole. Owners were struggling because they simply didn’t know any way of running a martial arts business other than the system they had inherited from their instructor, which we know is usually a recipe for disaster.
What is a Martial Arts Professional?
By: John Graden | 05/07/2009When I created Martial Arts Professional magazine, I purposely put Martial Arts before Professional. In my view, the martial arts come first. Very few school owners are “professional” before they are martial artists.
Sparring
By: Al Dawson | 04/07/2009Article on Sparring in martial arts, boxing and wrestling
About Alternative Health
By: Kalynn Amadio | 01/08/2008 | Alternative MedicineAlternative health is continuing to gain popularity as people seek more ways to maintain health without drugs or invasive measures. Alternative Health can be easy to achieve if you have a plan.
8 Easy Ways to Ensure Healthy Travel Out of the Country
By: Kalynn Amadio | 28/04/2008 | Travel TipsDevote as much time to planning for your health on vacation as you do the fun activities you will be engaged in. It's the only way to truly enjoy your travel abroad. Read 8 specific tips that will secure your health while traveling.
7 Steps to a Healthy Brain
By: Kalynn Amadio | 19/04/2008 | WellnessYou know that physical exercise is necessary to a healthy lifestyle. Does your fitness routine include exercise for your brain?