Martial arts have long been admired for their physical benefits, including strength, balance, and interval training. However, I’ve realized that the righteousness of martial arts extends far beyond fine-tuning your athletic prowess. It can amplify your mental capabilities, instilling focus, discipline, and the determination to excel – vital traits for those who strive to overcome any health challenge, whether that’s an injury or a chronic illness.
Martial Arts: Reshaping Body and Mind
When I was younger, I reveled in the excitement of full-contact sparring in martial arts’ classes and at competitions, which taught me precision, focus, and self-discipline. My passion for martial arts followed me into my career as a physician working with traumatic brain injury patients, and even after developing progressive multiple sclerosis, which rendered me wheelchair-bound, weak, and lacking mobility.
Determined to reverse my fortunes, I embarked on researching multiple sclerosis, chronic disease, and healthy living strategies to maintain the few steps I could still manage. A year later, I astoundingly found myself walking without a cane and completing a lengthy bike tour with my family, all because of a specialized diet and lifestyle program I developed.
Although I regained substantial function, I couldn’t perform my earlier routines. However, I continued to practice stretching, balance training, and low-level kicks, which provides a sense of accomplishment reminiscent of the earlier exhilarating days of competition. Most importantly, the habits I had developed through martial arts allowed me to discipline myself to create a specialized diet and training regimen that ultimately revolutionized my life.
Protect Your Brain, Protect Your Health
As a traumatic brain injury physician, I’ve witnessed the harmful effects of concussions and understand the importance of protecting our brains. With this in mind, I encourage people to train in martial arts while avoiding punches or kicks to the head to ensure they’re not risking any future brain injury.
Incorporating martial arts into your routine is an exceptional way to train your body and sharpen your mind, essential for tackling health complications. The combination of discipline, balance training, stretching, strength training, intervals, and purpose all contribute to an optimal recovery and help build a healthier lifestyle.
Unleash the Inner Warrior
By treating your body right and combining martial arts with a healing diet, you’ll be amazed at your ability to recover from illness and injury. In my work, I’ve met many Wahl Warriors—individuals who have reclaimed their health from chronic diseases by following the right training and diet regimen. They have harnessed the spirit of determination and purposiveness that martial arts embodies.
Martial arts can help restore meaning and an all-important sense of purpose in your journey to better health. So why not include martial arts training in your routine and unleash your inner warrior as a pathway to health and well-being? When your mind and body are harmoniously aligned through purposeful training, there’s no limit to what you can achieve.
