The origin of martial arts dates back centuries, and it was developed by people as a means to defend oneself against potential attackers. Today, things have remained much the same and hence its basic purpose as well stands without any amendment. But, it must be understood that martial art is not just about fighting, and its real advantages spills beyond that, as a strength building exercise, of spirituality, of emotional control, and an effective cardiovascular exercise, sometimes unmatched by any other available workout technique. Years of dedicated martial arts training could provide one with a well toned body, better balance and coordination, flexibility, emotional strength, and above all, durable peace of mind. It is quite obvious that there are only benefits in pursuing martial arts training. That brings us to the core issue – how to learn martial arts? Under the watchful eyes of a martial arts instructor or by oneself?

 

To put it in other words, is it at all necessary to hire a martial arts instructor or can one learn the art oneself by watching videos or reading books? Well, on this earth, from the many things we do or find expertise with practice, not many can be done or learnt initially by oneself without any external help. This is due to the fact that the core of that particular aspect (whether it is gymnastics, aerobic exercises, dance, or sports) – that forms its backbone – might not be malleable enough to a single person’s comprehension, on the application of his/her mind and body alone. In other words, learning the basics of the necessary skills that must be understood to do it might take some expert assistance before one could claim of finding any real footing. This is exactly the case with martial arts as well. It cannot be learnt all by oneself, but needs professional guidance and assistance.

 

Another fact that mandates professional assistance in martial arts is that in exercises involving a lot of physical movement, action of joints etc, it is important that one learns all the tricks in the trade and does those activities in the right spirit, pace, and posture always. A wrong way of performing or practicing it could invariably lead to injuries to one’s own vertebra, ankles, knee joints, and in the event of a bad fall, even fractures to hands, legs and hips. Not having an expert to correct the mistakes and guide one in the right track during the learning phase could eventually end up in this precarious state in a later stage.

 

If to stay away from all these complicated explanations and still substantiate the need for hiring a martial arts instructor, in the simplest way, it can be put down as martial arts, whether it is karate, kung fu or tae kwon do, is a specialist domain like medicine, and hence in order to get all of its benefits, it must be taught by an expert martial arts instructor. Lesser trained mortals can only make matters worse than any better.

 

Tail Piece: Hiring a martial arts instructor alone won’t set the ball rolling. In order to reap the benefits of learning martial arts, one need to practice regularly the teachings of the instructor – at home over and over again. Only then could he/she perfect their art.