Martial Arts is so much more than just kicking and punching. Small children ages 3 and up have an ability assimilate an insurmountable amount of information and teachings. When given the opportunity to experience Martial Arts at a young age, they are able to learn how to focus much better and, over time, will develop the ability to follow detailed and lengthy instructions without difficulty.  As parents we have to do our best to prepare our children for what is yet to come and, if we begin to expose and teach them at an early age, their chances of success are so much greater. So, when one ponders upon “should I, or should I not get my child into the Martial Arts”? The obvious answer would be “YES, YOU should”!

Here’s 3 good reasons why you might like take a look at Choi Kwang Do 

1. To promote good health and longevity of life
Choi Kwang-Do techniques are designed to work in harmony with the body, eliminating unnecessary stress or hyperextension. All major joints and muscle groups are utilised meaning that aerobic, anaerobic and cardiovascular conditioning can be achieved. At the end of the day, you may go through life never having to use your self-defence skills, but you will always require good health.

2. Effective street self-defence
Avoidance and awareness are imperative. However, Choi Kwang-Do addresses confrontations in a simple and direct manner:- the modern sciences of biomechanics and kinesiology are applied to all striking techniques resulting in explosive power. This allows even a smaller person to develop devastating power, enough to stun or even knock out a potential attacker.

3. Personal development
Choi Kwang-Do strongly advocates the ethics of martial arts through it’s teachings, eg. respect, discipline, self-confidence, humility and similar positive human values. This is a very important focus of Choi Kwang-Do. The benefits and fulfilment that can be gained from developing such attributes are priceless and reach far.

If you appreciate a strong, healthy self confidence that carries you through overwhelming times and drives you to achieving your most far reaching goals, martial arts is for you.

A person’s self-confidence is like a muscle, it needs to be exercised in order to grow and develop. We have developed a 5 step approach to building self-confidence. These 5 steps can be learned by anyone – with the right guidance:

1. Correct Body Posture. The importance of the correct body posture is paramount. We all send hidden, sub-conscious messages with our body language and the way we carry ourselves. Carry yourself with pride, confidence and security. Carry yourself like a successful person and your confidence will show.

2. Proper Eye Contact. Making proper eye contact when speaking to others has a huge effect on the conversation. Have you ever been talking to somebody and instantly felt connected? Like you’ve known this person forever? Chances are, they understand the importance of body language, and proper eye-contact.

3. Goal Setting. Goal setting is talked about by everybody, and most people understand the importance of this process. Then why do most people miss their mark? Because they don’t have the discipline and confidence to see the goal through. Our process teaches you the right way to set goals and actually achieve them!

4. Communication. Inspiring those around you is critical to getting what you want. Whether they are your children, co-workers, employees or boss, good leaders are inspirational. We teach this inspirational formula.

5. Mentors. All of the skills above, a healthy body and mind combined with a good mentor or two will make all the difference in the world for your happiness and success.

If you’re bored by exercise machines and can’t face another aerobics class, you might consider putting some chops, kicks and flips into your exercise routine. How? Try a martial arts class.

Besides being fun, the benefits of martial arts are tremendous; they include increased self-confidence, energy, strength, stamina and mental capacity. Many forms are no slouch in the calorie and fat-burning department, using as many as 600 calories per one-hour class. Martial artists also report reduced stress levels, fewer physical injuries and illness, and a strengthened immune system.

The term ‘martial art’ encompasses a wide variety of styles, methods and techniques of which Choi Kwang Do is one.

If you think the martial arts are designed for brawlers who want a winning edge when picking fights, think again. Even though the disciplines were conceived in the context of hand to hand combat, masters have zero tolerance for students who would use their skills aggressively. Created in ancient Asian cultures, Martial Arts develop character and heighten spirituality. Because of their holistic approach, any of the martial arts can make an excellent contribution to your personal fitness program. The beauty of these techniques is that, more so than other types of physical exercise, they cultivate the mind and soul as much as the body.

Physical Benefits
On their own, martial arts do not offer the total scope of exercise needed to achieve top physical fitness. They should be augmented with conventional cardio and strength training. Nevertheless, martial arts do improve strength, balance, flexibility, coordination, stamina, and posture.

Psychological and Spiritual Benefits
The martial arts have few rivals in the catalogue of sports and exercises when it comes to psychological and spiritual nurture. As already mentioned, they are not designed to bolster aggression or violence. Quite the opposite, people who train in the martial arts tend to quietly avoid conflict and demonstrate no need to confront. In general, studies show that there is an inverse relationship between the length of time students of the martial arts have trained and their involvement in violent encounters.

Some of the psychological and spiritual benefits of the martial arts are:

• Improved concentration and discipline for better work and study habits
• Stress reduction and the ability to relax
• Self-esteem
• Self- confidence
• Respect for others

Grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi has been appearing on front covers of national and international martial arts magazines since 1986. With his new innovative approach to martial arts, he has been in the forefront of martial arts development. He is known all over the world as the greatest technical authority of all time and the greatest martial artist alive today

Choi Kwang Do will not only add years onto your life, but also life onto your years! The system is designed to enhance health, prevent disease and stimulate positive changes in the body and brain.
Chronic disease prevention, treatment and healthcare help people to live longer, happier and more productive lives.  Statistics show that just 1 in approximately 10,000 Americans will live to reach 100 years of age. However, demographers are now projecting that by the middle of this century, possibly 800,000 Americans could live to 100 by maintaining healthy lifestyle habits.

Choi Kwang Do is ideal, not just to improve lifespan, but also to improve health span. Health span could be described as the total number of years an individual remains in good health. There is little point in living longer if the added years are unhealthy, unproductive, unhappy and painful.

Successful aging requires ongoing physical exercise and maintenance. Research and statistics now view aging in general as lifestyle related. Physical and mental deterioration is dependent on lifestyle and environmental influences: primarily improper diet and lack of exercise.  With better lifestyle habits, including exercise, people can avoid many health problems.

Training in martial arts usually involves many little steps and progressions. As one advances in a martial art, the feeling of accomplishment comes with added confidence. This is especially beneficial for children who were not very confident. An increase in self confidence for kids (as well as adults) will have a cross over effect in other areas of life such as in other sports and general self esteem. Other challenges in life, both physical and mental, will be met with much less fear.

An important benefit of martial arts training for parents to note is that children will generally become more disciplined from the unique formalities of martial arts classes. This is one benefit that is often lacking in other sports. Respect is something that all martial arts instructors place great importance in during their classes. Martial arts kids are often very well behaved children no matter what social economic backgrounds they come from.

Martial arts training has so many great benefits covering physical, mental and emotional aspects that it’s no wonder why it has become one of the most popular activities for both adults and children.

One obvious sign of aging is an increase in the fat layer. Starting at about age 35, woman gain an average of a pound-and-a-half of fat each year! Why do we get fat? Fat tends to move in because muscle moves out. After age 35, we lose half-a-pound of muscle per year! Muscle is an extremely active, hungry tissue: one pound of muscle burns 35 calories a day–just to stay alive. Muscle never sleeps; even while you watch TV or take a nap, your muscles are burning calories! Lose muscle, and you burn fewer calories–which are then stored as fat. Fat really is “dead weight”: A pound of fat burns just two calories a day.
Women should be encouraged to maintain physical activity, even if there are some limitations (such as arthritis). Australia’s national physical activity guidelines recommend that adults accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity (eg, moderate-paced walking) on most — preferably all — days of the week. Yes, aerobic exercise does burn calories and causes fat loss. It also strengthens the heart muscle. (Very good!) But aerobics has a dirty little secret: In the rest of your body, aerobics causes muscle loss! In other words, aerobics ages your muscle system! A two-month study of stationary bicyclers revealed that the subjects lost three pounds of fat, but also had a half-pound of muscle loss! With two months of hard work, they aged their muscle systems a full year! (And they did it at six times the normal rate of muscle loss from aging!).

So how can martial arts help. Well, at The Choi Foundation our programmes are designed to provide great Aerobic, Anaerobic and muscle toning workouts. We use a combination of resistance training, bag work, patterns, speed drills and defence work to achieve overall fitness and toning whilst having fun.

Come along to one of our classes in Brighton and Hove and just ask our students how Choi Kwang Do has helped them.