Making a stronger case for youth development through martial arts 

Marc THEEBOOM

(Professor at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Governing board member of ICM) 

Martial arts have often been associated with violence due to their foundational techniques, which include strikes, kicks, blocks, and grappling—all elements that can be used to cause harm if applied aggressively. Historically, martial arts were developed for self-defense, military combat, and survival, with ancient roots in warfare. The purpose of many martial arts systems was to teach effective combat skills, which has led to a natural association with physical confrontations. Media portrayals also reinforced this association, as action films often focus on the spectacle of martial arts combat rather than the educational and philosophical aspects. This portrayal emphasises the physical power of martial arts, making them appear more combative than they often are in real-life practice. 

However, over the years there has been an growing number of organisations and programmes, both locally and internationally, using martial arts from a youth developmental perspective. This trend relates to the belief that martial arts involvement can result in positive developmental outcomes for youth in general, as well as for youth in a socially vulnerable situation. This latter group deals with various negative factors characterising their position (e.g., level of poverty; lack or limited access to resources such as information, knowledge and technology or to political power and representation; lack or limited social capital, including social networks and connections; vulnerable residential settings; …) (Cutter et al., 2003).

Today, initiatives can be found in a wide variety of settings (e.g., school physical education, after-school programmes, community centres, sport clubs, social/youth work, special youth care, employment agencies, juvenile detention centres) and focusing on various developmental outcomes (e.g., physical fitness and health; moral and cultural education; social inclusion and community engagement; employability/soft skill development; emotional and psychological development including post-traumatic stress disorder treatment; academic and career support; gender equality; intercultural dialogue; conflict resolution; substance abuse rehabilitation; prevention of radicalisation, crime, violence and sexual abuse). 

This is surely a positive evolution. But while the international martial arts community (i.e., practitioners and officials) has strong positive beliefs about this potential, providing scientifically sound evidence is challenging. Because, despite the fact that studies have reported various benefits of martial arts practice for youth in general and for those at-risk (e.g., reduced violence and aggression, improved self-esteem and emotional regulation; social skill development), various critical remarks have been made regarding the research methodologies that are used and the quality of the evidence provided, which are also in line with comments made related to sport in general (e.g., Tacon, 2007; Taylor et al., 2015).

Among other things, the criticism relates to the use of a very generic perspective on sport (or martial arts) with a lack of insight into differential effects of different activities and on different sub-groups of the population; a lack of clear definitions of measurable outcomes; limited duration of programmes under investigation; limited testing of causality as most studies used cross-sectional analyses; no focus on the strength and duration of the effects or on the effects of frequency, intensity and duration of participation and the use of anecdotal data from unrepresentative samples instead of relying on measurements with validated scales. The lack of robust analysis of process and outcomes illustrates that too often the acclaimed added societal value of sport, in this case the martial arts, are regarded as ‘self-evident’ (e.g., Coalter, 2010). Assuming that martial arts involvement will automatically result in these outcomes by mere participation, undermines the theoretical underpinnings of how most of these social outcomes can be developed. In most cases, there is a systematic and explicit approach necessary to ensure the development of these outcomes. This means that adaptations to martial arts delivery (i.e., activities and coaching) are needed to facilitate learning outcomes. Using an ‘active learning by doing’ approach and reflecting on the experience facilitated by the coach or teacher, will likely be more effective. A systematic method that can be used for this purpose is Kolb’s ‘Experiential Learning Theory’ (ELT) (Kolb, website). According to ELT, it is not enough for participants to just listen to the teacher, watch demonstrations or read specific information to acquire new knowledge. Each participant should actively engage in an experience designed to illustrate a particular issue. The focus lies in drawing conclusions and learning lessons based on concrete experiences. ELT consists of a 4-step learning cycle which includes ‘Experience’, ‘Reflect’, ‘Think’ and ‘Act’. According to Kolb’s theory, this cycle is so natural that participants engage in it without being aware that they are learning. 

However, the process is intentional, which means that the coach or teacher needs to create specific situations facilitating specific experiences (reactions, feelings, …) for the students in line with (mostly) predetermined learning objectives. By afterwards reflecting on these experiences (mostly in group), then thinking more analytical about them (i.e., conceptualising and forming new ideas or altering current understanding) they are encouraged to implement their new ideas during new activities designed by the coach, resulting in new concrete experiences that can trigger the beginning of a new cycle. A general rule in learning by experience is that learning can only occur when reflection is done in a systematic way. One of the most well-known theories of reflective practice is Gibbs’ 6 stage ‘reflective cycle’, which includes ‘description’, ‘feelings’, ‘evaluation’, ‘analysis’, ‘conclusion’, and ‘action plan’ (Gibbs, website). In each of these stages specific questions will be formulated by the coach to address other issues. Again, this should all be in line with targeted learning objectives. 

The question can be raised where and how martial arts teachers have been trained to organise their classes in this way. I have concerns that in order to live up to these expectations, coaches/teachers might go beyond the limits of their own expertise. Ideally, this challenge can be overcome by working in a multidisciplinary team (e.g., in collaboration with a trained youth worker, pedagogue, psychologist, …), but in reality I fear that this is seldom the case. So, I see a need to provide coaches who want to target added societal values through their practice with a basic understanding of how to use a more systematic approach in delivering their (developmental) programmes. And to help them understand when and where they have to rely on others. To give at least some basic insights into how coaches can be prepared to use sport for personal development of youth at risk, with our research team we have recently developed a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) to help those that want to use a more systematic approach (COACH+, website). While our MOOC can be inspirational for martial arts coaches, as it uses a general sport perspective, there is still a need to develop more specific approaches to be used in martial arts.

As a concluding thought, I like to point out that as a martial artist, I am convinced of the positive youth developmental potential of martial arts, such as their preventive effects on violent and aggressive behaviour among youth. But as a scientist, it is my moral obligation to stay objective at all times and only rely on strong and robust scientifically sound evidence of this potential. Using a critical perspective to legitimate the added societal value of the martial arts will not only result in a better understanding of how to design, deliver and evaluate effective developmental martial arts programmes, it will also make a stronger and more long-lasting case that can help to convince a wider audience, including policymakers and funders.

※  Views in this article are the author's own

<References>

COACH+. A youth work oriented ‘Sport Plus’ coaching online training course for sport-for-employability organisations working with young NEETs, website  https://www.sport4employability.eu

Coalter F. The politics of sport-for-development. Limited focus programmes and broad gauge problems? International Review for the Sociology of Sport 45, 295-314, 2010.

Cutter S.L., Boruff, B.J., Shirley W.L. Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards. Social Science Quarterly 84(2): 242-261, 2003. 

Gibbs’ reflective cycle, website https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle

Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory, website https://experientiallearninginstitute.org/what-is-experiential-learning/

Tacon R. Football and social inclusion: Evaluating social policy. Managing Leisure 12(1): 1-23, 2007. 

Taylor P., Davies L., Wells P., Gilbertson J., Tayleur W. A review of the Social Impacts of Culture and Sport. The Sport Industry Research Centre and Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (Sheffield Hallam University) and Business of Culture (BOC). Department for Culture, Media, and Sport CASE program, UK, 2015.