Hi there, and welcome to our webpage.  I would like to talk about the topic of the central nervous system. Many people do not realise the unseen benefits of the martial arts, often other than what they can physically see. The Central Nervous System is unseen by the naked eye, yet it is continually challenged and trained to a higher state than any other activity. I shall refer to the Central Nervous System as CNS from here on. The CNS begins in the brain, and works down the spinal cord which is why this system is central it then further breaks up into the PNS (Peripheral Nervous System). The CNS controls the functions of the body and to keep this in check there are multiple things we can do to keep its healthy function. Firstly breathing, in the martial arts, we learn how to breath properly, and deeply, there are any purposes for this but with deep diaphragm breathing we are controlling and strengthening out CNS. By breathing deeply we can control our stress levels, decrease anxiety and fear, a rapid heartbeat and shallow breathing. The focus we gain through martial arts training allows us to deeply benefit through this, as we also train and challenge our CNS by using balance; yes balance we stand on one leg a lot by kicking, not only is standing on one leg challenging but to deliver a kick with precision, technique and power all increase the challenge to our CNS, therefore, by doing these techniques repeatedly, changing angles, technique etc. allows the CNS to develop strength in how it operates and build its immunity towards infection. By training in martial arts, we can quicken up reaction times meaning that the CNS is put under pressure to train it to work faster, for example if someone was to punch you in the face, you must first see it, which then sends the signal to your brain, which then tells you how to react efficiently and effectively, by training the different techniques in the martial arts, the brain is train to select which is best then fires the order to the CNS, travels through the spinal cord before we make our move. So by training in the martial arts we make our reaction or response time much quicker.  This is a basic overview, but I do hope you enjoyed this blog and look forward to producing many more.

Christopher Sensei.