How to obtain more insight into the true nature of outcomes of youth martial arts practice?
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-03-2013-0006 |
| Pages | 244-253 |
| Published date | 29 November 2013 |
| Date | 29 November 2013 |
| Author | Jikkemien Vertonghen,Marc Theeboom |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Accounting/accountancy |
How to obtain more insight into the true
nature of outcomes of youth martial arts
practice?
Jikkemien Vertonghen and Marc Theeboom
Professor Marc Theeboom is
based at Sports Policy and
Management, Vrije Universiteit
Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
where Jikkemien Vertonghen is
an Assistant Professor
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the processes that produce the effects found
in studies of participation by young people in martial arts.
Design/methodology/approach – A review of published studies.
Findings – Studies of the developmental outcomes of young people participating in martial arts produce
conflicting results. While some studies refer to increased antisocial behaviour, others indicate positive
developmental outcomes. This is due to a tendency to treat martial arts as a unitary phenomenon and focus
on outcomes without considering mediating factors, notably the type of martial art, the type of guidance
and the social background and characteristics of participants.
Originality/value – The paper shows that taking into account these and other possible influencing factors
will contribute to a better understanding of the true nature of outcomes of martial arts practice. It will also
enable a more thought-out and accurate approach when considering these outcomes.
Keywords Martial arts, Sport, Outcomes, Youth, Mediating factors
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
Martial arts are among the most practised sports in many countries all over the world
(e.g. Australia: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009; Canada: Ifedi, 2008; Europe: van
Bottenburg et al., 2005). With regard to organised sports in particular, a participation study of
countries in the European Union revealed that martial arts are situated in the top 10 of most
practised sports in a club-related context in many European countries (e.g. France, Spain,
Italy, Slovenia, Poland) (van Bottenburg et al., 2005). In addition, in physical education
classes in secondary schools, martial arts have been introduced because they are also
believed to provide an added value for pupils (Brown and Johnson, 2000; Theeboom and De
Knop, 1999). The belief of the “good of martial arts” can also be illustrated by the fact that in
recent years pedagogues and youth welfare workers make increasingly frequent use of
martial arts to work with youth in general as well as specific target groups, such as vulnerable
young people (Abrahams, 2004; Bosch, 2008; Elling and Wisse, 2010; Theeboom et al., 2008;
Zivin et al., 2001). This kind of programme uses martial arts as a vehicle in order to create
educationalopportunities. As indicated by several authors, socially vulnerable youthhave a great
affinity formartial arts (De Knop and Elling,2000; Roques et al., 2002; van der Meulenand Ultee,
2006), especially for harder martial arts styles, such as boxing and kick-/Thai boxing (Eddehbia
and van der Putte, 2009). Some authors argue that the interest of vulnerable youth in harder
martial arts might be explained by examining the nature of these styles, which requires
more perseverance and a fighter mentality (Eddehbia and van der Putte, 2009) or by referring
to masculine identity associated with these sports (Woodward, 2007).
PAGE 244
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JOURNAL OF CHILDREN’S SERVICES
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VOL. 8 NO. 4 2013, pp. 244-253, CEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-6660 DOI 10.1108/JCS-03-2013-0006
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