Karate is a way of life, and some advantages are:

  1. Fighting your body: As we age, our energy level decreases and our metabolic rate slows down. Exercising not only slows this process, but also increases energy levels in the elderly and helps improve metabolic rate. Studies suggest we lose muscle every decade once we reach middle age. This starts to greatly affect our movement and impact our lifestyle in many ways.

    The physical benefit of martial arts workouts is the maintenance and building of muscle mass, balance, flexibility, and muscle endurance, which allows them to be self-sufficient for a longer and happier life.

    Karate is a form of physical and mental activity that is specifically planned, structured, and repetitive, such as speed, flexibility, balance, stamina, breathing control to oxygenate the body, and self-defence techniques that help you feel better and enjoy life more as you age.

  2. Mental Alertness: Karate training requires participants to stay alert and pay attention. Focus and attention are the key characteristics of karate. Karate training teaches students to visualise, be aware of their surroundings, and think quickly in order to respond to attacks. Karate is extremely important for "selective attention"—the ability to pay attention to important things while filtering out unimportant things. The selective attention mind helps you be more productive, shift focus, multitask, and perform optimally.

    We don’t often realise or acknowledge that our level of alertness drives success in things like higher-order reasoning, problem-solving, learning, and memory. Studies show that a person’s state of alertness may be one of the qualities that separate underachievers from average and above-average achievers. Sluggish thought, confusion, and disorientation develop with growing old, which tends to reduce our mental performance.

  1. Reduce Chronic Ageing Issues: Many studies indicate that after the age of thirty, the changes associated with ageing—loss of muscle mass and strength, brittle bones, and tighter joints—are unavoidable. Balance and flexibility are two qualities that deteriorate rapidly with age. Those who avoid exercise into their thirties and forties are, in effect, doubling these detrimental body changes caused by inactive lifestyles.

    Karate training is known to exhibit various health benefits in reducing the risks of age-related diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, obesity, and neuronal disorders. Regular karate practises also slow the loss of muscle mass, strengthen bones, and reduce joint and muscle pain. Strength and flexibility exercises may prevent falls and injuries by improving balance and mobility. Falls are the leading cause of fatal injuries in people over 50.

    Karate training helps to reduce and reverse the effects of ageing, such as limited mobility, balance, flexibility, muscle strength, and bone loss. It also decreases the risk of heart and lung problems, body fat levels, joints, and osteoporosis, as well as keeping you in a happy and healthy frame of mind.

    Forget thinking you're too old to do martial arts; once you become more active, you will find you have more energy, sleep better, and feel more confident.

  2. Stress Reduction: Stress is our reaction to certain events or situations in our lives that might be harmful to our mind or body. Many requirements or challenges in growing age can cause stress, such as unusual events, daily events, and work events. Older adults often have different types of stress compared to younger adults. Stress is a reality and a part of our lives.

    Karate is ideal for combating stress and resulting in fewer sleep disorders, an enlightened mental outlook, reduced loneliness, and lowered depression and anxiety. Karate exercises increase energy and fatigue tolerance in our body as well as physiological control. By following a regular exercise programme, we can gain control over our physical health. This "tones up" the body's stress response (adrenal glands) by assisting in the normalisation of heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension. Karate exercises boost the body’s innate defences against stress and anxiety, thus improving your overall life experience and enabling you to tackle life’s problems calmly and effectively.

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