With any job comes stress — the stress of doing your work well, the stress of pleasing your boss and the stress of completing projects by the time they are due. But in some professions, stress can reach an even higher level, one that can take a toll on your body.
This type of stress is familiar to many law enforcement officials, emergency medical volunteers and other safety service positions.
Some turn to the gym to relieve stress; others try yoga or tai chi. In the Town of Colonie, many are turning to martial arts to relieve stress and better prepare themselves for difficult situations they may experience on the job.
Alan Condon, senior instructor of Empire Martial Arts on Walker Way in Colonie, said there are two main reasons people train at his studio. The first is to get in shape, and the second is to become more aware of their surroundings.
Condon said that in terms of a workout, martial arts can offer more than an hour of cardio at the gym.
In a regular workout, [a person is] able to exercise maybe one or two parts of the body, but in [martial arts] they are able to exercise every muscle in their body. It also helps you let your everyday woes kind of go to the side, and helps them sleep better, and get in great shape, he said.
At Empire Martial Arts, students can train in Muay Thai kick boxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Youth programs include Thai Jitsu.
The other aspect of Empire’s martial arts classes prepares people for more unconventional situations.
`A lot of what the people are doing in class has a lot of defense mechanism,` said Condon
Condon said that at one point, outside of the class, one of his students was in a situation with a police officer who was in the process of making an arrest.
The person being arrested began to struggle and the police officer was having trouble keeping the individual still long enough to make the arrest.
Condon’s student was able to channel some of the skills he had learned in Jiu Jitsu and restrain the person long enough for the officer to complete the arrest.
In situations like this, Condon said, the skills the student used to restrain the person being arrested were beneficial to everyone involved as the officer was able to make the arrest without being forced to resort to more painful mechanisms, such as use of a Taser gun.
`It allows them to control the person and get them under control without having to resort to this,` he said.
Condon said that students who train in martial arts have a completely different mindset as well.
`A lot of it is just the awareness, and a lot of self confidence you get from training in martial arts,` said Eric Sperber, a Colonie EMT and a student at Empire.
Sperber said after training in martial arts, he was not only able to bring more skills to his own job but assist police at times when they were without backup and both had responded to a scene.
Sperber was so satisfied with how martial arts affected his job, he recruited two more Colonie EMTs to train at Empire.
`We have between 36 and 40 that are in health care,` Condon said of his students. `We have a couple Colonie police officers, we have some New York state troopers, and we have some Schenectady police officers.`
To contact Condon about classes, call 456-2582 or go online to www.empirekarate.com.“
