A "total package" workout

I don't know whether anyone has conducted a scientific inquiry into why people take up martial-arts training, but my gut tells me that "self defense" would be the most common answer.  It's certainly the reason I began studying taekwondo more than 40 years ago, and the self-defense aspect is still important to me.  But today the primary attraction is that in terms of efficient exercise, taekwondo is a "total package" workout. 
    A complete martial-arts training session checks off just about every box on your fitness checklist.  Strength training?  Absolutely.  Push-ups, sit-ups, and explosive repetitions of hand strikes, blocks, and kicks are highly effective in building a powerful body.  Flexibility? You bet.  Few training programs place as much emphasis on full-body flexibility as the martial arts.  Aerobics?  I've never run a marathon, but I've experienced martial-arts training sessions that gave a pretty good imitation of what a marathon must feel like.  In a well-run school your heart rate gets up and stays up.  Balance?  It's really tough to deliver an effective front kick if you fall down every time you do so.  So your instructor will spend a great deal of time working on how to maintain balance while delivering strikes with maximum power.  Symmetry?  Training just one side of your body can lead to problems like muscle-strength imbalance.  With the martial arts, you work both the left and right, front and back of your body from head to toe.  Even though you will likely be more proficient with one side than the other, the training requires you to give equal attention to left and right movements. 
    For senior martial artists there's another important health consideration that's certainly worth mentioning.  Brain training?  As you progress through the ranks, you place greater and greater demands on your brain -- learning countless individual techniques; learning complex forms; and learning about the history of your particular martial art.  The martial arts will work your brain in a way that most exercise programs simply cannot approach.
    The best part of martial-arts training is that you can participate at any age.  Your workout at, say, age 70 won't be as intense as it was at 25.  But you can tailor the training to whatever limitations might come with aging.  
So rest assured that if you haven't begun martial-arts training, it's not too late.
    We're looking for senior-friendly martial arts schools that we can tell other readers about.  If you know of such a school, please let us know, and we'll help spread the word.