Hello everyone,

Often, students ask me how the training is going in summer, if it is not difficult because of the weather and the heat.

I will not say that it is not hot, Shaolin is very hot and humid during the summer, but students should not be afraid of it. Personally, I prefer when it is hot than cold for the practice of martial arts.
I sometimes say that it may be better to come to another time, but only because there are a lot of people during the summer, so if you want to enjoy Shaolin National Park and be alone, it’s more difficult. (But now we have opened our own school at the top of Shaolin Village so you can enjoy and live in Shaolin without being disturbed by tourists.)

As you know, I do not only want to promote Chinese martial arts, but also Chinese culture, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
I therefore exchange regularly with teachers and students of traditional medicine university of Henan.
This week is China’s National Day and one of their teachers and friends came to visit us.
We were talking about summer camps in Shaolin and the heat … he told me that he was involved in writing various articles about the benefits of martial arts during the summer, so he gave me some points keys to share with you all, I translated them to be able to share it today !! (I hope my Chinese is good enough to allow everyone to understand)

1 -The perspiration promotes the detoxification

The different medical studies show that perspiration is one of the ways of rejecting harmful substances such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury …. Martial arts are one of the first choices for aerobics and therefore promote sweating in the summer.

2 – Moisturizing skin care

Sweat removes toxins that clog pores and eliminates acne. Summer alone is not enough to sweat, nothing better than training, but together, you will sweat more. You immediately feel that the skin becomes firm and delicate, shiny and that acne is reduced.

3 – Weight loss

The fat reduction effect is remarkable. In addition, sweating can also consume excess energy from the body, which helps to promote the breakdown of fat and has some weight loss effect. In summer, the cells themselves will be more active and the exercise will be strengthened. The effect is many times that of normal times. It is more beneficial to lose weight, improve fitness and prevent chronic diseases such as “three highs” (hypertension / cholesterol / sugar). In summer, choose to practice the martial arts for a light weight loss!

4 – Strengthen the immune system

Many people consume drugs regularly to improve their immunity. Some of these products contain unknown ingredients. Some even contain hormones, which inhibit the immune system. The best scientific way to strengthen your immune system is to sweat naturally. For example, every day a martial arts practice of 1:30 to 2 hours, 5 days a week, your body will sweat a lot and in the long run, your immunity will be improved.

5 – Promotes digestion

The best way to promote digestion is to sweat through physical exercises. Sweating speeds up the metabolism of the whole body, helps intestinal peristalsis and improves digestion. After practicing martial arts, eat!

6 – Improved memory

Sweating allows human cells to be more vigorous, to maintain mental focus, improve memory, so that the brain is more dynamic. In addition, studies have confirmed that exercise sweat has a positive effect on the brain and that memory and concentration of people can be greatly improved.
The martial arts are made up of an impressive number of techniques, movements … which requires a lot of work of reflection and memory, which appeals as much your body as your brain.

7 – Protects bones

Due to the high heat the metabolism becomes stronger, the blood supply of the bone improves, as well as the morphology and the properties of the bone: the bone density thickens, the bone thickens and the Trabecular bone disposition is sharper and regular as a function of pressure and pressure differences. The protrusion of the muscle of the bone surface is more obvious
These changes make the bones thicker and stronger, which improves the resistance to flexion, compression and torsion of the bone.
It becomes more difficult to get injured during the practice of martial arts. For practitioners who want to improve their acrobatic techniques it is almost essential to work in these conditions, that’s why when the weather gets cooler we prefer to practice traditional kung-fu rather than artistic kung-fu.

8 – Preventing diseases

Sweating helps to fight TB and other dangerous pathogens. The antibacterial peptide contained in sweat is effective against viruses, bacteria and fungi: it can penetrate the cell membrane of bacteria and break it down.