Karate instructor Paul Acklin says balance is the key to life.
“In the martial arts, we work on the whole package … body, mind and spirit,” said Acklin, owner and operator of Superkicks in St. Petersburg, Fla. “Balance is the glue that holds it all together.”
When Acklin talks about balance, he is speaking literally and figuratively.
“The more you practice every move … the more you will improve physical balance,” Acklin said. “But the students who stick with it, and eventually earn their black belt, are the ones who learn how to balance the physical training with other aspects of their life, such as work, school and family.”
Acklin, who teaches the traditional Japanese, Okinawan and Korean martial arts, puts a strong emphasis on strengthening his students’ core, or stomach, muscles.
“If you think about it, those muscles are what hold you together,” he said. “You need a strong core to just walk down the street.”
A strong core helps build confidence, Acklin said, the kind of confidence a martial artist needs to hop up on one leg and throw a high kick.
“Our students go over the same moves again and again, fine-tuning the smallest details for a reason,” he said.
Practicing a kata, or the choreographed moves against imaginary opponents martial arts students do again and again, is the best way to improve physical balance, he said.
“It takes time,” he added. “But the system has worked for hundreds of years. The very act of trying to balance will work muscles you didn’t know you even had,” he said.
The true benefit of the martial arts lies not in the destination, but in simply staying on the path, Acklin said.
“Only one in 100 martial arts students will ever earn their black belt. But the discipline, the focus, the dedication will carry over into the other areas of life.”
Balance is hard to achieve but well worth the effort, Acklin added.
“For any exercise program to work, it has to become part of your daily routine,” he said. “Fitness is not a routine. It is a way of life.”
