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Title [Martial Arts Globe] Aggressiveness in sports and possible benefits of martial arts practice

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    28-06-2019
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Photo by @markadriane; This photo is not directly linked to the below writing.


By Carlos Lisart Avino


There is a preconceived and polarized idea about the positive or negative aspects of martial arts because many opinions are formed based on the audiovisual media.Recently, the quantity and quality of research about the effects on behavioural aspects offered by martial arts has seen a rapid growth.These studies, however, throw conclusions of diverse nature.

 


There is a preconceived and polarized idea about the positive or negative aspects of martial arts because many opinions are formed based on the audiovisual media (Chianakas, 2008). Recently, the quantity and quality of research about the effects on behavioural aspects offered by martial arts has seen a rapid growth.

 

These studies, however, throw conclusions of diverse nature, finding positive and negative results (Vertonghen & Theeboom, 2010). As for the possible positive effects, we find the promotion of respect, self-control, emotional management, motor benefits and perseverance, due to the self-criticism and reflexive foundations of the martial arts (Ziaee, Lotfian, Amini, Mansournia, & Memari, 2012). Positive correlation is also found between longer sessions of training and lower aggressiveness markers (Daniels & Thornton, 1992; Skelton, Glynn & Berta, 1992). This positive relationship also occurs at an older age of practitioners (Lamarre & Nosanchuk, 1999; Steyn & Roux, 2009). Influencing the variable of age, we also find this reduction of aggressiveness in students in the secondary stage when performing an intervention with martial arts (Edelman, 1994, Zivin et al., 2001).

 

Regarding one of the most recent issues such as the influence on the aggressiveness of these sports on men and women, we can  find studies that affirm that they benefit men to a lesser extent than women, or even negatively (Björkqvist & Varhama, 2001). The influence of the students' gender on the improvement of aggression also seems to vary according to the type of sport activity carried out. Thus, the works of Chacón et al. (2017) determine that boys are more likely to exercise and witness bullying than girls  and that the type of sport has an influence. According to these data, fifteen non-contact group sports practitioners suffered to a lesser extent bullying, while soccer players were the most affected.As noted above, other studies confirm that the practice of martial arts can also promote negative consequences.
 


They point out that martial arts can lead to negative results on aggressiveness when they are based on submissive, patriarchal or dominant behaviours (Endresen & Olweus, 2005). They also claim that the practice of martial arts can predispose to greater aggressiveness in non-violent environments such as school, family or in the peer group.  To position itself around this debate, the work of Vertonghen & Theeboom (2010) reviews the findings found in the literature about increased aggression with regards to martial arts, specifically traditional martial arts including Judo. After two years of research, the authors conclude that traditional martial arts  can be associated with improvement of self-regulation, psychological health and reduction of violence. They also point out that these improvements depend on the type of practice carried out and the population. It seems then that the factor that will determine if the martial arts will results in a decrease or increase in aggressiveness is going to be the teaching style that is applied.

 

 There is a dichotomy regarding the teaching methodologies of martial arts, finding mainly the modern or sporty style and traditional style. In this sense, the work of Nosanchuk & MacNeil (1989) compares a sample of martial arts practitioners trained according to the traditional style to another group of modern style, finding opposite results in the aggressiveness of the different groups. According to the authors cited above, teaching traditional martial arts grants positive results in terms of reduction of aggressiveness due largely to the aspects that are inherent in this modality as it is the meditation, the practice of the form (kata), the introspection and the orientation to the task.

 

The model of modern education, on the other hand, guides towards the achievement of short-term objectives. Previously, we see the works of Twemlow & Sacco (1988) that concur in finding, necessary for the improvement of aggressiveness in adolescents, is that the intervention with judo or any martial art is carried out according to the traditional methodology. Twemlow and Sacco analyze existing studies on the treatments of  violence with martial arts and the elements that should compose it, coinciding with Nosanchuk & MacNeil (1989) , stating the follwing principles:


- Study of technique: relative to the regular practice and development of skills which give shape to the sport. Since the catalogue of techniques is so wide, this training allows the practitioner to have a larger career , such as kata and not just focus on  performance, by improving and perfecting each one. The training becomes more based on behavioral, methodological and psychological aspects rather than a competitive orientation. In martial arts, we define this catalogue as “kata”, a compilation of the base techniques that make our sport original and unique. It is important to note that even if we develop these techniques to our individual features, the original one still must be trained and taught for it to be preserved.

 

- Orientation to the task: It refers to the part of the learning process we give importance to. When we give importance to the task and not the competitive results, we focus our gratification on the practice by itself, because it´s cathartic, healthy and enjoyable on its own. This is even more important in the educational area, since we want our pupils to continue growing and experimenting, and it won´t be possible if they don´t experience defeat, too. This way, when one of our students finishes a fight, we better ask: What have you learned from this fight? Did your training was useful for you? Rather than: What was your score? Did you win?. These serves as an example of not giving importance to the result, but to the learning process.

 

- Internal motivation: Similar to task orientation, we can be externally motivated ( because of the money, prize, social acknowledgement) or internally motivated ( regarding our own progress). When this kind of self motivation is influenced, it is based on the benefits of sports practice on parameters that we can control such as the training quality or effort level. This leads to a long-lasting sport life because we don´t get easily upset if we trust and see the results in our progress and we obviate those that escape from our control like luck, competition status and extremely important competition dates and calendar.


 

 

Reference Bibliography

 

- Björkqvist, K. y Varhama, L. (2001). Attitudes towards violent conflict resolution among male and female karateka in comparison with practitioners of other sports. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 92, 586-588.
- Chianakas, J. (2008). The Mixed Influence of the Mixed Martial Arts. Black Belt, 46(5), 76-78.
- Daniels, K. y Thornton, E. (1992). Length of training, hostility and the martial arts: a comparison with other sporting groups. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 26, 118- 120.
- Chacón, R., Zurita F. , Castro, M. y Linares M. (2017). Relación entre práctica físico deportiva y conductas violentas en escolares de Educación Primaria de la provincia de Granada. TRANCES. Transmisión del Conocimiento Educativo y de la Salud, 6, 791-810
- Edelman, A. J. (1994). The implementation of a video-enhanced akido-based school violence prevention training program to reduce disruptive and assaultive behavior among severely emotionally disturbed adolescents. Institution of Education Sciences, 52.
- Endresen, I. M. y Olweus, D. (2005) Participation in power sports and antisocial involvement in preadolescent and adolescent boys. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 46(5), 468-478.
- Lamarre, B. W. y Nosanchuk, T. A. (1999). Judo – the gentle way: A replication of studies on martial arts and aggression. Perceptual and Motor Skills,88, 992-996.
- Nosanchuk y M.L. Catherine MacNeil (1989) Examination of the Effects of Traditional and Modern Martial Arts Training on Aggressiveness. University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
- Steyn, B. y Roux, S. (2009). Aggression and psychological well-being of adolescent taekwondo participants in comparison with hockey participants non-sport group. African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance,15(1), 32-43.
- Twemlow, S. W., Sacco, F. C., y Fonagy, P. (2008). Embodying the Mind: Movement as a Container for Destructive Aggression. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 62(1).
- Vertonghen, J., y Theeboom, M. (2010). The social-psychological outcomes of martial arts practice among youth: A review. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 9(4), 528-537.
- Ziaee, V., Lotfian, S., Amini, H., Mansournia, M., y Memari, A. (2012). Anger in Adolescent Boy Athletes: a Comparison among Judo, Karate, Swimming and Non- Athletes. Iranian Journal of Pediatrics, 22(1), 9-14.
- Zivin, G., Hassan, N. R., DePaula, G. F., Monti, D. A., Harlan, C., Hossain, K. D. y Patterson, K. (2001). An effective approach to violence prevention:traditional martial arts in middle school. Adolescence, 36(143), 443-459.


※ The above writing does not reflect the opinion of ICM.