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Martial Arts: It’s not about fighting!

By: Maneera Saxena Behl

Not just a tool to beat up bad guys and bullies, but practicing martial art benefits the entire body and mind.

Martial arts are a combination of various self-defense systems and mind-focusing work-outs. Not only does it train one to be an adept warrior, but also ensures that the person practicing this form stays mentally agile and physically fit. Feeling disturbed and angry? Not a problem as martial arts reverses energy imbalances within the body and also calms the raging emotions within one’s mind.

Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Judo are some prominent martial art examples. The term ‘martial art’ is often used to describe the various East Asian fighting arts. The more appropriate origin of the term ‘martial art’ lies in a Latin word meaning ‘Arts of Mars’, the Roman warrior God.

In fact, a study published in the May 1985 edition of Psychology Today Magazine highlighted the confirmed benefits of practicing martial arts. It revealed that people who made any of the above martial arts a part of their daily routine showed lower levels of stress and anxiety and higher levels of self esteem and intelligence. So, here is the scientific reason you were looking for to get motivated enough to get that Black Belt you always wanted!

Martial Arts Demystified

Historically the appearance of the first martial art practices dates back to the late 1^st millennium BC. The modern martial art prevalent in Asia is a unique admixture of early Indian and Chinese martial art practices. In Europe, martial arts appearance dates back to the classical antiquity. The various boxing and wrestling contests which we often get to view on our television sets is a good recreation of the historical gladiatorial combats prevalent in ancient Europe.

Martial art does not alone prepare a fighter in you. These days it is used as a means to promote mental and physical well being. Not only does it give one a sound body, but a sound mind as well. Therefore many people nowadays include martial art practices in their daily health and fitness regimen.

Physical Health Benefits of Martial Art:

Martial arts increases a person’s strength, stamina, coordination and flexibility.

The various physical health benefits of martial arts may be listed as follows:

• Strengthens the lymphatic system and boosts lymph flow
• Improves cardiovascular health and one’s breathing capacity
• Strengthens the digestive and excretory systems
• Helps to lower high blood pressure, triglyceride and cholesterol levels
• Lowers one’s susceptibility to cold, allergies, cancer, digestive disorders, abdominal ailments,  arthritis and other degenerative disorders
• Tones muscles, strengthens muscles and makes muscles injury resistant
• Supplies more oxygen to body cells and tissues
• Strengthens immune system
• Prevents Type 2 diabetes
• Improves glandular functioning
• Gives relief from fatigue and menstrual problems

1) Blame Your Crooked Teeth on Early Farmers (source: Wired Magazine)

When humans turned from hunting and gathering to farming some 10,000 years ago, they set our species on the road to civilization. Agricultural surpluses led to division of labor, the rise of cities, and technological innovation. But civilization has had both its blessings and its curses. One downside of farming, a new study demonstrates, was a shortening of the human jaw that has left precious little room for our teeth and sends many of us to an orthodontist’s chair.

2) Gary Taubes Talk on Why We Get Fat (source: Value Investing World)

I’ve been getting Gary Taubes’ lectures sent to me from my friend Miguel Barosa at Simoleon Sense

I think the title says it all.

Enjoy!

This week, I wanted to share an interesting segment on our nation’s current healthcare status. Also, I have two guest blogger’s, Amanda Kidd and Marina Salsbury discussing tips on obesity issues with college students and factors that may affect our weight.

1) Healthcare Uncovered (source: The Boston Channel)

Clip 1
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/27538726/detail.html

Clip 2
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/27538932/detail.html

Clip 3
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/27538873/detail.html

2) College Obesity

By: Marina Salsbury

Obesity is becoming an increasing problem in adults and children throughout the United States. As our culture becomes faster- and faster-paced and technology use rises, adults are finding less time to exercise or to cook healthy food while spending more time sitting at desks. College students are often thought of as an active demographic, but in reality they spend quite a bit of time sedentary in lectures, in dorm rooms completing online college classes, and hours reading in libraries. Troubling statistics show that up to one third of college students are struggling with obesity, and many aren’t making healthy choices to combat this statistic.

Obesity is not the same as being overweight. “Overweight” simply means weighing more than is recommended given one’s height and weight. It could be due to an excess of fat, muscle, or even water weight. On the other hand, obesity is an excess of body fat occurring when one consumes more calories than one burns off.

College students’ lifestyles lends themselves to obesity if healthy habits aren’t instituted. There are a number of reasons for this. First, students may no longer be eating three healthy meals each day as they were when living at home. Skipping breakfast is disastrous since the student will be hungry all day and will turn to unhealthy food choices to satisfy hunger. Secondly, some college students eat a large amount of junk food filled with empty calories. Soda, chips, candy bars, and alcohol are all high-calorie foods without much other nutritional value.

Thirdly, stress leads to eating. College students certainly find themselves under a great deal of stress from packed class schedules, hectic work environments, and unrelenting deadlines. Many students turn to comfort foods, which are often high in carbohydrates, fats, and calories instead of other healthy options to provide energy-laden minerals and protein.

Fourthly, a great many students are unable to find time for exercising. Without a daily routine, students find they’re simply too tired to exercise, have too many other activities, or are fighting peer pressure to party instead. Regular exercise is critical to health in youth as much as later in life, but college-age students often fail to realize this until they encounter serious health problems.

Students need to be warned that this issue is about more than just body image and self-esteem. While it is true obesity can greatly affect these social and psychological aspects, there are a number of other long-term consequences to obesity. Obesity can negatively affect the reproductive system, the weight-bearing joints of the body, and may even cause problems such as gallbladder disease and frequent heartburn.

- Please credit the Public Health Bugle and its authors for any re-posts -

Today, the Public Health Bugle would like to introduce our guest blogger, Amanda Kidd, who is a writer and an ardent follower of environment friendly existence. Being and eco enthusiast, she prefers to own only green lifestyle.  Her entire house is quite eco friendly right from the exteriors to interiors and she plans to own an eco friendly car soon. Beside this she is also writing about health issues caused due to environmental pollution. Today, Amanda will share some tips on how to maintain proper blood pressure.

10 Tips for Constant maintenance of proper blood pressure

By: Amanda Kidd

In the era of cut-throat competition, each person is running with jet speed to achieve his set goals. This eagerness to gain momentum has resulted in arising various health related problems. High blood pressure is one of them. It has also been termed most dangerous disease for the human. Millions of people are dying each day due to abnormal increase in the blood pressure. Various researches conducted by many medical & health institutes have shown that if a person has blood pressure above 140/90 mmgh, he/ she may be termed as a hypertensive. People try to avoid treating the problem due to its being expensive. Elijah Saunders, M.D.  ,and an expert in hypertension, is associated with the University of Maryland as a cardiologist; provides tips to control your blood pressure and protect your heart by applying simple and cost-effective methods in daily life. Here we provide the 10 tips highly effective in reducing the high blood pressure problem.

1. First and foremost thing is to control weight. Obese people have high chances of hypertension. You can control these by doing proper exercises like walking, running, yoga, jogging and skipping.

2. Mental health is as important as physical health. So, meditate daily for about 10-15 minutes to keep away the stress and anxiety.

3. Avoid junk foods while eating. They are very harmful for the body and helps in gaining weight.

4. Try to include fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. Always eat proper cooked and fresh homemade food.

5. Also, packaged food and fruit juices should be avoided. They contain preservatives and added flavors and colors which have adverse effects on the body.

6. It is advisable to take lesser amounts of sodium in your diet. Hence, intake of salt should be minimized as much as you can.

7. The other ways to improve the health of your heart is to stop smoking. Studies have found out that the chemicals present in cigarettes lead to the narrowing the blood vessels resulting in high blood pressure.

8. Drinking alcohol is also one of the causes behind high blood pressure. Studies show that the people who take more than three drinks a day are at higher risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases. So, it is recommended to avoid drinking.

About This Talk

(source: TED.com)

Josette Sheeran, the head of the UN’s World Food Program, talks about why, in a world with enough food for everyone, people still go hungry, still die of starvation, still use food as a weapon of war. Her vision: “Food is one issue that cannot be solved person by person. We have to stand together.”

About The Speaker

(source: TED.com)

Josette Sheeran, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, based in Rome, oversees the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger around the globe. Every year, her program feeds more than 90 million people, including victims of war and natural disasters, families affected by HIV/AIDS, and schoolchildren in poor communities.

Sheeran believes that hunger and poverty must and can be solved through both immediate actions and long-term policies. At the Millennium Development Goal Summit last fall, she outlined 10 ways the world can end hunger. They include providing school meals, connecting small farmers to markets, empowering women and building the resiliency of vulnerable communities.

Sheeran has a long history of helping others. Prior to joining the UN in 2007, Sheeran was the Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs at the US Department of State, where she frequently focused on economic diplomacy to help emerging nations move toward self-sufficiency and prosperity. She put together several initiatives to bring US aid to the Middle East. She also served as Deputy US Trade Representative, helping African nations develop their trade capacity.

She says: “I think we can, in our lifetime, win the battle against hunger because we now have the science, technology, know-how, and the logistics to be able to meet hunger where it comes. Those pictures of children with swollen bellies will be a thing of history.”

“The era of cheap food is over. The transition to a new equilibrium is proving costlier, more prolonged and much more painful than anyone had expected. ‘We are the canary in the mine,’ says Josette Sheeran, the head of the UN’s World Food Programme.”

The Economist