As you’ll know if you’ve been a client of mine (or spent more than 3 seconds in my company, actually…!) I am a BIG fan of martial arts and boxing. They are all excellent for cardio fitness, weight control (if that’s what you’re after), body conditioning, core strength and coordination – it’s also REALLY fun to hit stuff 
?As important though, are the other things you’ll get from training:
- Confidence in your body: I don’t just mean “Yay me!” confidence, although this is of course great! I mean confidence in the utility, strength and capability of your body.
This is a precious thing, particularly (but not only) for women and girls. I’ve lost count of the number of female clients I’ve had, who after even a few weeks of boxing/MA training, start to see their bodies in a WHOLE new light – it’s fantastic.
This physical confidence can have an amazing impact on other parts of our lives too – I’ve had many, many clients tell me they’ve been able to be more self-assured and assertive as a result of this kind of training. I wonder if it boils down to something as simple as girls not being encouraged to “rough and tumble” when we’re little, or maybe the assumption that we’ll always be weaker and more fragile than the boys. Then when we do start training like this, we’re delighted and surprised that we CAN be fierce, strong, quick and forceful!
- Boost to mental health: Quite often when I suggest this kind of training to a new client, they can be quite reticent – I think they think we’re going to do some Rocky-esque, blood-spattered, violent brawling…. (which, to be fair, if you catch me on a bad day, we might….heeheeheee!!) They soon realise that, along with all the physical and psycological benefits, there also comes a fantastic mental health boost:
- You need to be fully “in the moment” when training, so it’s great if you have a busy mind, are prone to anxiety and have trouble switching off
- It is excellent for stress relief – all those lovely endorphins rushing around can make you feel great for days afterwards!
There is a good reason why GPs recommend exercise for people suffering from stress and some depressive illnesses, and boxing/MA is a great choice.
There hasn’t been ONE SINGLE instance of me trying out this kind of training with a client and them asking me to drop it from sessions, so if you’d like to give it a go, have any questions, or any comments about your own experiences, I’m always happy to hear from you u 
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