“The higher you are, the harder you fall” - to parody this old saying and put it in context of health and longevity, one could say that the older you are, the harder you fall. 

In fact, falls and fall-related injuries in the elderly are common worldwide and are a leading cause of injury-related deaths among older adults.  In the group of people aged over 65, 30% experience a fall each year and many of those fall repeatedly.  Of course, not all falls lead to injury, but the experts tell us, many falls could be prevented.

Some of the ways we can go about this is to make practical improvements to our environment such as lighting, removing debris, installing railings etc, as well as maintaining a level of physical fitness.

According to an entry in the South China Morning Post, a survey done by a Hong Kong hospital authority indicated that elderly people could reduce their chances of falling and injuring themselves if they regularly practiced martial arts, specifically tai chi.  Tai Chi is a slow, therapeutic martial art designed for balance and relaxation.   And in another study by a London hospital, older adults who completed a 12-week exercise programme were able to increase their strength by 30%.  Experts tell us that adults lose 10% of muscle strength every decade, so in effect, those adults had regained thirty years of strength.  Now, that sounds like turning back time!

It’s clear that fitness programmes for seniors can provide a host of benefits, from improved balance and flexibility to increased muscle strength and tone.  All of these decrease the risk and probability of a fall and all of these will improve a person’s quality of life. 

But why wait until the later stages in life to start an exercise programme?  For an activity that provides all the benefits of physical fitness and strength plus boosts spiritual, emotional and social wellbeing, martial arts ticks all the right boxes.    

Experienced Perth-based martial arts exponent and 4^th Dan, Grant Rollinson, says karate is recognised worldwide as a fantastic sport to develop great physical skills as well as improve concentration and focus, confidence and assertiveness, discipline and motivation as well as reduce impulsive and anti-social behaviour.  And learning social skills is vitally important for young people, Rollinson says, which is why so many parents are turning to karate classes for their kids. 

Parents are also signing up, seeing the benefits of doing classes with their children as an effective parenting technique, supporting each other and spending quality time together.

Children of any age can benefit from martial arts.  For example, younger children in primary school can benefit from the self-discipline, improved co-ordination, concentration, organisation skills and emphasis on co-operative learning while older children and young adults can build their self-esteem, learn to defuse potentially volatile situations, improve social skills and develop their physiques and fitness.   For older people, martial arts provides a solid framework for a healthy lifestyle and a healthy attitude to life.  Weight loss and personal achievement are other objectives that can be achieved through martial arts – and these are valid for anyone at any age or stage.

Everyone benefits from exercise and it’s never too late to begin a programme.  There are many different types of martial arts from shotokan karate, judo, aikido, taekwondo and ju jitsu to the softer style of tai chi – and there’s plenty of information available on the internet about the various techniques and how they can benefit individuals.  They’re all different, but they have the same benefits – improved fitness, balance and strength – and that could end up being a life-saver.  Let not pride come before a fall – rather let martial arts prevent a fall!