Start doing sports

If you meet a Shaolin monk on the road – punch him in the face. If it is a real Shaolin monk, you won’t hit into his face. If it is an apprentice of Shaolin monks, he will be grateful to you for the lesson. If it is an impostor in the Shaolin monks clothing, so he deserved it :))
Chinese folk wisdom

Body is one part of the diamond you are polishing throughout your whole life. Body is the instrument, with help of which you are sensing and feeling the surrounding world. It is the temple, where your soul lives.

Martial arts are the direction, where physical growth can be combined with intellectual development and give birth to harmoniously grown personality. As the ancient sages say, "way of the body is the longest and most difficult, but the most reliable." This way is the most straightforward for kinesthetic learners, who are people with a corporeal world perception.

Why Martial? Because it is interesting to be under the tutelage of someone who is very much different from you. This is hard, but efficiently. People say that the Eastern people differ mostly in the fact that defeat makes them stronger, while the Western people become weaker. Perhaps, the most important lesson we should learn from them is to win by losing.

However, sports is not only your body. You have to solve not only physical tasks in battles. A battle is fear and pride, rage, resentment, anger. It is the ability to feel the enemy, to trust yourself, to analyze the situation, to control your own emotions. Difficult negotiations can be analyzed using much the same parameters. The main elements in a battle are attack, defense, and preparation. In negotiations, there is a question, an answer, and a message. Does question correspond to attack, preparation or defense? What’s about a message? Or an answer?

Someone gets qualities that are necessary for doing Martial arts by nature. However, they can also be created and cultivated inside you. A subtle, self-conscious, sicky boy can turn into a completely different person. It’s not about changing appearance. The most important changes happen inside you: the view is changing, as well as movements, voice; an intangible feeling of confidence is revealed, to which the surrounding people react instantly. It is important to learn how to defend yourself, so the need to defend would disappear.

The purpose of Martial Arts is not self-defense. It’s not a craft, but the way of harmonious growth. However, of course, it is important to have a feeling that you can protect yourself. If you are not afraid of headlong collisions, then you will feel more confident in any situation.