Top Five Reasons Why Women Should Do Martial Arts

1. Self defense skills- Women typically make up the student body of your typical self defense class or seminar. One of the primary learning tools in martial arts (as with any sport) is repetition and development of muscle memory. With a single class of self defense, it is very possible to learn some moves and basic self defense tips, but when defending oneself, it is extremely vital to be able to react quickly to the point that there is no thinking involved. The Japanese term for this is mu-shin, literally translated as "no mind." In martial arts training, the goal is for self-defense to become automatic.
2. Self-confidence- Let's face it: many women are naturally confident. For those of us who are not so blessed, martial arts can give women feelings of empowerment. Milestones in most martial arts styles are marked by the awarding of different colored belts- usually starting at white belt (beginner) and progressively moving upward toward the "darker" colored belts up to the black belt. In addition, new skills are constantly being learned and built upon. Today's basic white belt punch will eventually lead to a more advanced belt's Ippon Ken (foreknuckle punch). Testing oneself in a physical sense....(remember how difficult it was to get those complex Zumba moves, but once you did, it was a feeling of accomplishment) leads to development of self confidence.
3. Camaraderie- Some of my best friends are karate students (and parents, spouses, or siblings of students). Much of the learning in a martial arts school takes place while working with a partner. While many times, an instructor will partner students up based on size (which means that the female students work together oftentimes), much of my best learning has taken place while partnered with male students. Men often have a different perspective than women, and the reverse is true. Our hips, balance, and center are different than a man's and gaining insight into the "best way" to perform a technique is done many times with a partner who is of dissimilar body type. There are few sports in which men and women work together toward the common goal of learning and martial arts, at least in my dojo, is non-sexist.
4. Physical Fitness- Martial arts is an all-round, full body workout. In order to practice techniques and have the endurance to perform them while in a stressful situation (such as being attacked!), drills and combinations of techniques, as well as kata (a set series of techniques performed in a particular order) is done with the intent of conditioning the body. People often comment that if they are attacked, they will kick the attacker "where it counts" and run. Not that attackers are necessarily fit people, but how's that gonna work out for ya if you've never run a day in your life? Adrenaline can help under the auspices of the "flight or fight" reaction, but honestly, what if you are a 40-something individual and your attacker is a late teens, early 20s individual who looks as if they've been training for marathons? Young people have infinitely more energy and younger bones and muscles than me and I wouldn't bet on my chances of winning that race if I had no training. (Even though I DO train to run, I am a slow runner, hence, I hope I can use my self defense skills to assist me in getting away.) Contrary to a widely held belief, WOMEN DO NOT BULK UP LIKE THE INCREDIBLE HULK WHEN EXERCISING THE MUSCLES. Any woman who does bulk up unnaturally is likely taking steroids. Endurance, fewer health problems, weight loss...all the positives from physical fitness!
5. Firmness in the chest area- I saved the best for last...When I began training in my current dojo, I could not do a push-up. I could do them on my knees, but could not do a full-body pushup. I started small and since we did pushups every class, I would try to do a few more full pushups each time. Now, I am NOT the Queen of Pushups. In fact, I hate them! I noticed, however, that after several months of doing more full pushups (and the knee pushups are still good for the firmness too), I noticed that I was more...um, perky. Now breast tissue is not muscle and some of us are more well-endowed than others, but what I was building up was the muscle tissue underlying the breasts with the end result that I did not sag! Again, full body pushups aren't necessary for this effect, but the added benefit to the full pushup is the engagement of the core stabilizers in the abdominal area, which works the abs just as well as sit-ups (and yes, we do situps too!). So, I do not like pushups, but I do them because the torture of doing a few exercises I hate has benefits that I can definitely get along with!

This is a short list of the reasons women should do martial arts. There are many more reasons, but some are individual. Some women, for example, consider it "their" time. Others do martial arts with the family, and in my dojo, there are several family groups- husband and wife, father and son, etc. You don't have anything to lose by checking it out!