Paul “The British Ninja” McCarthy is the Martial Arts Program Coordinator at UCLA and has been studying movement and martial arts for over 20 years. He holds black belts in various martial arts including Filipino Martial Arts (FMA), Hapkido (4th degree) and Taekwondo (1st degree) and is an instructor of Savate, Muay Thai and Jeet Kune Do. He is currently working with Neuroscience Professors at UCLA, University of Victoria and University of Illinois to study how martial arts movement patterns improve cognitive function. Paul’s philosophy is that movement is vital to a happy and healthy life and that training and opening your mind to multiple arts, whether combative or healing, is the true path to maximizing your learning potential.
In this TEDx Talk, he suggested that complex movement practices may improve cognitive health as a cheaper and safer option compared to pharmaceuticals and talked about how bi-manual coordination, rhythmic motions and hand eye coordination play a valuable role in training the brain, thereby improving the quality of life, perception and daily function.
Click on link below to see the TEDx Talk video:
TEDxUCLA – Cognitive Kaly by Paul McCarthy
Reproduced under fair-use and with credit