If you're interested in trying a new physical activity, you might want to consider taking a few martial arts classes. Read on to learn why.

You'll feel safer when in situations where the risk of being assaulted is high

A good martial arts instructor will always advise their students not to engage in a physical fight with anyone who attacks them but to instead walk (or run) away from the other person or, if they have no means of escape, do the minimum amount of defence moves necessary to end the altercation without causing serious harm to themselves or their attacker.

With this being said, becoming proficient in one or more types of martial arts can still be hugely helpful if you ever have to be in situations where the possibility of being assaulted is high. For example, if you regularly have to walk home from work late at night through a dangerous part of your city, the mere knowledge that you could defend yourself if you were attacked could make this experience less scary and stressful. Likewise, if you have a job that involves contact with people who can become aggressive sometimes (for instance, if you're a bouncer at a nightclub and often interact with intoxicated, angry people), you'll be better able to protect yourself and deescalate situations in which these people become rowdy if you have received training in a martial art.

You'll get a well-rounded workout during every class

The other big benefit of taking any martial art class is that you'll get a very well-rounded workout each time you attend one. Unlike, for example, tennis, where you may develop a strength imbalance in your upper body, due to holding the racket in your dominant hand, or cycling, where you might develop lots of lower-body strength but very little upper-body fitness, doing martial arts will help you to work out your whole body and develop many different types of physical fitness.

For example, any type of punching work will improve your hand-eye coordination, whilst practising your kicks will improve your balance. You'll also improve your flexibility and strength through grappling work (if grappling is used in the martial art you've chosen) and will get plenty of cardiovascular exercise when sparring. As such, it's ideal if you want to achieve a high overall level of fitness, but you don't have time to do several different types of exercise each week.