Learning self defense is not just about the physical benefits you can get. Yes, there are some great physical things that will change within your body, but you need to focus on more than that. In fact, there are several mental health benefits that will come with learning martial arts, self-defense, and fighting in any capacity. If you have never thought about this, perhaps the following will guide you to understand the importance of learning the necessary steps to defend yourself and others.

The Confidence Boost

Regardless of the martial art you want to learn, regardless of the classes you take, you will gain confidence. People who know how to defend themselves are not scared. They know that if something happens to them, they can calmly disarm and avoid being hit. Now, that doesn’t mean that self-defense will protect you from bullets in a firefight, but it can give you the confidence to keep going when others are panicking. Staying calm when nefarious characters try to hurt you is hard, but when you know you have the skills to defend yourself, you’ll see things differently. While everyone else is panicking around you, imagine going in slow motion and being able to fight back with relative ease.

Learn to manage stress

In addition to the benefit of staying calm and boosting your confidence, self-defense classes can help you manage stress. Regardless of which option you decide to learn, martial arts are famous for teaching stress management in all situations. There is nothing more stressful than being attacked or dealing with a situation where you have to use your fists and feet as weapons. When those things happen, you can panic or you can be calm. Managing stress not only takes into account the times when you need to fight, but also seeps into your work life, home life, and relationships. Reducing stress, fighting depression, improving mental health, and helping with your daily routine are all benefits that come with this type of learning process.

Fight depression and other mental health disorders

Learning martial arts is not a substitute for having to use antidepressants or any other medication. That’s not what this means. However, research studies have shown that people who train in self-defense classes handle mental health disorders somewhat more easily. In some cases, people were able to reduce or completely replace their medications as a result of improvements in their self-esteem and mental health. Now, this doesn’t mean that all people will get this benefit, but there are some that do get those results over time. One thing is certain in this perk, those who study martial arts and learn how to defend themselves improve their mental health over time as it is a lifelong learning process.