One of the most common misconceptions about yoga is that it is just for relaxation or it is just stretching. However, that is not true. You won’t believe it until you have tried it yourself. Another thing that is often believed is that if you are doing weight training or martial arts you don’t need yoga. But the reality is the opposite, if you include yoga into your training plan, it will benefit you a lot. Let’s have a look at how yoga can compliment your martial art training. Before beginning if you want to buy any martial art, gear or apparel then head to Elite Sports. There you can get MMA, Muay Thai, Boxing, BJJ spats for men, women and kids as well as training gear.
It helps you clear the mind
While martial arts is one of those activities that strengthens the mind and helps with other mental issues like stress, anxiety etc. but including yoga to your practice will enhance the results. Women sometimes think if Martial Art and Yoga for women and if they practice both.
The yoga poses you will be doing that help you practice breathing which help calm and bring peace to your mind. Each of the poses you will be doing are connected to breathing thus connected to the mind. Breathing and clearing the mind is one of the main focuses of yoga. Another aspect is that you force yourself to forget the worries of the world and clear yourself into nothingness. This brings peace and helps clear the mind.
With consistency and time you will learn how to phase into that portion of the brain every time you need it. Either it is on the mats or in daily life. The strong mental clarity that is needed in martial arts can be achieved and mastered with yoga.
It is just like stretching
Yoga is not just stretching that you are already doing pre and post workout. However, you cannot know it unless you have tried yoga for some time. Even if you go to a yoga class you will feel like just stretching. But the poses you will be taken through are more than a stretch. With time, you will feel and acknowledge it as they show their benefits.
It can help you move better, connect your body and mind, strengthen the body, reduce injury risk. You will be releasing excess energy out of the body and relax the mind, to make it simple. This can be crucial, coming out of the workout class or beginning your day as you can be more present and go through it actively.
Flexibility and Yoga
Some people think that to do yoga you have to be flexible. While some think that it just brings flexibility to the body. Either of them are wrong, you don’t have to be flexible to do yoga, but if you are that is good. It is certainly not about touching your toes everyday unless you can.
Practicing yoga will improve your flexibility, mobility, and range of motion as it releases the tension in joints and muscles. This can help you perform better in martial arts. For instance, high kicks, punching better, moving the hips, performing submissions and takedowns. Take your time and don’t rush things to see the results.
Yoga helps with joints mobility
Intense and heavy training can lock and tense up the joints. Sure the stretching helps loosen the body before training, but yoga has many poses other than your regular stretching. These will make you flexible, which is much more than just being in odd shapes and pose. Yoga helps keep the body and joints lubricated and functional. So the fact that one can do yoga poses comes from strong joints. This is really helpful for martial art practitioners which prevents injury and makes your hits strong.
Yoga helps strengthen your body
Core body strength helps you in yoga, and practicing yoga with martial art will give you a strong and stable body. Start from the beginning and work your way up from there gradually. Even if you can do some pro yoga poses in the beginning, this does not mean you should do them all the time. This can have adverse effects like you can end you hurting your wrist. But going the right way you will have strengthened the wrists. Experts say that Martial Art and Yoga for women who like to be stronger from inside out.
Just like that the poses help you build strength in different parts of the body which will help you in life and martial arts. For instance, lifting your body up from the ground and balancing on wrists strengthens the wrists, arms, and strengthens the core. All these things will bring the explosive punches and kicks and make you stand to the last breath in matches.
It helps focus and perform better
Breathing is very important either it is just weight training, martial arts, or sports. Here yoga improves your breathing technique which helps you in other fields, in this case martial arts. But you might think who forgets to breathe, right. Well, the answer to this is being aware of breathing is different. What this will make you able is being aware and conscious of breathing. By being aware of our breathing, which yoga helps us do, we get to the part of the brain called the cerebral cortex. This helps us relax, control our emotions and balance them, focus better, and be calm.
Being present and able to focus is another important thing which we need all the time. Either it is daily chores, work, or activities like martial arts and sports. Being in such a state of mind, one can make better decisions, process information fast and decide faster, and control emotions better.
Processing information and reacting fast with a split-second can decide either you win or lose specially in martial arts. Similarly, controlling the emotions in the game when your opponent is trying to get the best of you and put you off is crucial. If you don’t believe it, then ask any professional martial arts practitioner, and they will tell you the same. This is why many professionals do breathing and mind clearing training.
What other ways do you know to achieve these results? If you don’t know any then congratulations now you do, it’s yoga. If you were doing something else, then try yoga for once, practice breathing techniques and make the connection between mind and body strong.
Improve endurance with yoga
Maintaining correct yoga poses is not a child’s play. It puts immense pressure on muscles which makes it hard and the burning sensation which follows breaks you. Becoming better at it with time you will be actually improving endurance and stamina. This endurance and stamina is physical and mental. This will help you a lot in becoming a better martial artist.
Yoga reduces the recovery time
First, it helps prevent injuries which is crucial for any martial artist. Secondly, it helps speed up the recovery process and time. Because it helps relax the muscles which brings more blood to them this way, muscles get required energy to recover. And the results is quick recovery.
Bottom line
Yoga for martial artists and just to clear the mind or reduce fat can be different. So, it is better to get help and guidance from a professional rather than starting on your own. This way you will also know from where to start. So, you can build and strengthen up instead of hurting yourself. Try it and you will see the results with time so be patient.
