Inspector Clouseau and Cato, Emma Peel, and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: martial arts as entertainment.

You might think of Chuck Norris, Cynthia Rothrock, and Jackie Chan: martial arts as a fighting form.

You might think of Kung Fu, Karate Kid, and The Next Karate Kid: martial arts as self-defense.

Now, think of your exercise and health: martial arts as a fitness program.

If you’re looking to get physically fit, the martial arts not only address the four pillars of a good exercise routine—flexibility, endurance, balance, and strength—but also are a fun way to improve your coordination, mental alertness, and overall health. Martial arts are suitable for all shapes, sizes, genders, and ages and most health concerns. Plus, they’re a kick.

“If you just plain want to be fit, grit your teeth and go down to the gym every day and walk the treadmill,” says Philip Porter, founder and executive director of the U.S. Martial Arts Association, a 6,000-member network of enthusiasts and practitioners. “But that’s boring, and a lot of people don’t want to do that.”

A 1948 West Point graduate who had taken up boxing in high school, Porter received air combat crew training in judo while serving as a navigator on an Air Force B-36. He was medically retired as a major in 1967 because of hearing loss and arthritis, but he continued his martial arts training, primarily in jujitsu.

Because studying the martial arts involves training with others in an environment where respect, consideration, and cooperation are equal to physical interplay, “it’s a social thing as well as an exercise thing,” says Porter. He says the martial arts also teach you to be a problem solver. “If you’re studying the martial arts, even mild practice, that turns you into an opportunity taker and thinker. You can’t help it. You get the feeling you can handle things. And you will not quit.”

Body and soul

Studies have shown that a good exercise program at least slows the aging process and might even reverse age-related deterioration. Porter, who now holds three different 10th degrees (the highest rank) in jujitsu and this year became one of only two people in the world—and the 15th ever—to attain a 10th degree in judo, says he has kept with martial arts to stay sharp mentally as well as physically. “If you don’t exercise and keep your mind active, you deteriorate very rapidly,” Porter says. “I’m deteriorating, but not as fast as I would have if I watched TV all the time and ate TV dinners.”

By focusing on fine motor skills, martial arts also help condition your coordination, says Tony Ordas, director of exam development and research scientist for the American Council on Exercise (ace). “You get the benefits of enhancing your reflexes,” he says. “That carries over to other things in life, like driving and doing things around the house. I’ve seen a lot of students who have improved their footwork [with martial arts], and suddenly they have better feet in tennis and basketball.”

Some derivatives of martial arts have become popular aerobic exercises, such as kickboxing, shadowboxing, and Tae Bo. True martial arts, however, are steeped in their particular culture’s traditions of ritual and discipline.

Beyond greater flexibility, endurance, strength, and coordination, those who practice martial arts also benefit from the influence it has on their lifestyle. “As you become more disciplined in [martial arts], you become naturally disciplined in other areas,” says Ordas, who is a fourth-degree black belt and instructor in kenpo karate.

Semper Fit

Positive influence through lifestyle changes is the cornerstone of one of the world’s newest forms of martial arts, the U.S. Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP).

Developed three years ago, the program is a combination of many different martial arts styles, says Lt. Col. Joseph Shusko, the director of the Martial Arts Center of Excellence at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., which oversees the MCMAP. “We do a little of everything,” he says. “A little wrestling, a little ground fighting, tae kwon do, karate—everything. The gist is we teach one mind, any weapon.”

Although the program is intended for combat use, it focuses more on psychology than physiology. “We teach three disciplines across the full spectrum of violence: the physical, which is the smallest third; the mental piece; and the largest piece, the character building,” says Shusko. “Not only do we teach the physical means of taking a combat to an individual, but [we also teach] the character aspects of knowing you can take the combat to an individual and knowing you can walk away from it.”

The program also includes combat conditioning, a health management ideology. “You can [do physical training] all day long and still stay out of shape because you’re not eating right,” he says. “You can’t do one without the other.” Also, the program has helped reduce injuries, says Shusko. “We’re teaching Marines to train smarter.”

Self-control is another positive outcome of the program. Shusko characterizes the traditional attitude of a Marine walking into a room as sizing up everyone in sight with the confidence that he or she would win in a fight. “We’re changing that,” says Shusko. “Now the Marine will size up the place and say, ‘All these people are safer now that I’m in here.’ That’s a mind-set built into our program.”

This mind-set is a large part of the martial arts lifestyle. “It’s easy to be a champion,” Porter says. “It’s difficult to be a decent human being. Martial arts develop courage and determination and alertness [and] courtesy and cooperation with fellow team members. It develops all three aspects of the human being—progress through body, mind, and spirit. If it doesn’t, it’s not a martial art.”

Getting started

A study 10 years ago counted 1,037 different styles of martial arts from 29 countries. With the subsequent proliferation of variations and fusions of styles in the past decade, there could be three times that many today.

So, which style is right for you? That depends on your ultimate goals: Do you want to win competitions and bar fights, or do you want to learn self-defense and get fit?

Find out what schools and classes are available in your area, and check with the physical fitness center at the nearest military installation. Then, visit the schools, speak with the instructors, and watch them work. “How do you find a car? How do you get a hammer? How do you choose good bananas? You shop around,” says Porter.

If a school doesn’t allow you to observe a class, steer clear. Beware, too, of contracts requiring long-term payments when you sign up. Experts say the style of martial art is not as important as the school structure and the instructor. “Don’t worry about technique, because you don’t know anything about it anyway,” Porter says. “If you like an instructor and think the instructor is competent and kind and caring, that’s what you want.”

This especially is true for beginners. Ordas cautions newcomers to make sure the school caters to adult novices with beginner classes or individualized training. Ordas also recommends you find out about the school’s history—longevity, attrition rate, and retention rate—and examine its safety standards. “Do they have instructors trained in first aid and CPR and those types of things?” he says.

If the instruction is right, the martial arts culture will be germane to the training program, says Shusko. You want an instructor who has a total commitment to physical being and strong character, who loves instructing, whose facilities are clean, and who is disciplined.

“I’d want to make sure the character part and mental part were in that culture, not just the physical part. I’d want to tie it all together,” Shusko says. “The styles don’t matter—whether [you’re studying] tae kwon do or karate. It is whomever’s in charge [that really is important].”

Sticking with it

An obstacle with any physical fitness program is motivation, but most martial arts programs have a built-in motivator: Your progress is measured in ceremonial rewards of ranks, belts, and degrees. “Individuals love to get the next rank up,” Shusko says. “And to do that they have to have that mind-set to be physically fit. It’s that challenge.”

But how much physical fitness is required before taking on a martial arts program in the first place? Shusko, 48, says that when he started three years ago, he was a “young puppy with no martial arts background.” Now, however, the active duty Marine says, “even old guys like me can roll around with these youngsters.”

Shusko also points out that newcomers should start at a realistic level. “Keep in mind [that] in some martial arts you are required to have a high level of fitness to begin with,” he says. “You’re not going to be getting in shape because you’re focusing more on the specifics of that martial art. There are some martial arts that lend themselves to someone who wants to get fit. They do classes for beginners and increase fitness before moving on to more advanced training.”

Ordas agrees it’s important to start at the right level. “The worst thing you can do is jump in with other students who have been there a while and expect to respond the same with fitness drills.”

Martial arts are as viable as any other fitness program. They address the basic physiological goals of any well-structured exercise program and incorporate coordination, reflexes, and mental health. There are clearly defined measures of advancement, and practitioners say practicing martial arts makes exercising fun—much more engaging than treadmills, stationary bikes, or weight machines.

Finally, and perhaps most important, martial arts provide something no other fitness program does: training in heightened awareness of your surroundings, a key component to the self-defense fundamentals inherent in most martial arts.

“With everyone needing to be vigilant and [with] security and personal safety such an issue, I would encourage everyone to get some experience in the martial arts,” says Ordas. “It lends itself to so many benefits as well as adding to your overall health benefits.”