Train Like a Family

Even before we first opened our doors many years ago, Steel City Martial Arts felt like a family. As soon as people heard we were working on opening a school, we had volunteers helping us clean and renovate our very first space. Since then, the SCMA family has continued to grow. Today, husbands & wives, mothers & fathers, and brothers & sisters share the mat with us every day. It’s an honor to have so many Pittsburgh families training together under one roof.

Training Karate or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu provides a great way to challenge yourself as an individual. It’s good for your mind, and it’s good for your body. It challenges you to think proactively about obstacles and to stick with things even when the going gets tough. Oh, and it’s fun.

For a family though, the benefits of martial arts training goes beyond the individual and extend into the relationships and interactions that you have outside of the gym. Here are some of the benefits of training alongside loved ones:

• Quality time. When even our children have schedules packed with activities and appointment, finding time to spend with your loved ones can be difficult. Training at the same school let’s you carve out dedicated together time a few times a week.
• Shared interests. Sharing an activity together gives you more things to talk about. That common ground can set the stage for more in-depth conversations, but always having that shared passion to fall back on makes it easier to stay connected.
• A new perspective. In our personal lives, it can be all too easy to see only one dimension of the people around us. On the mat, a daughter can see her father become a student. A mother can see her son become a leader. A sister can see her brother become a mentor. When your family sees different sides of you, it can mean new layers to the bonds that tie you together.
• Support systems. Training a martial art is not always easy. With your family on the mat with you, working toward your goals can feel much easier because people you love and respect are counting on you and rooting for you.

The beautiful thing about these family benefits is that they apply just as much to friends as they do to family. If you bring anyone that you know outside of the gym on to the mat to train, you are likely to add an entirely new positive dynamic to your relationship.

And that’s pretty special.