Martial Arts Therapy
Encyclopedia
Martial arts Therapy refers to the usage of martial arts
as an alternative or complementary therapy for a medical disorder. This can include disorders of the body
or of the mind. The therapy may involve applications such as promoting kinaesthetic balance in the elderly or impaired, through T'ai chi ch'uan, or reducing aggressiveness in specific populations (Lamarre, 1999).
and psychotherapy
are also of significant benefit, martial arts therapy can embody unique traits that other therapies don’t incorporate into their practice. For example, in children with low self-esteem
, this therapy can simultaneously develop areas such as self-defense
skills (to defend against physical bullying), physical fitness
, instructions on how to handle stressful
scenarios in a physical or mental context, and self-confidence
, through successful applications of martial technique, such as board-breaking
or kata
.
One of the crucial features of the therapy is the type of martial art, as well as the lesson plans of the instructor. For instance, a boxing
program with a competition-oriented instructor will not provide the same experience as a t'ai chi instructor who emphasizes mindfulness of one’s actions and thoughts. Although both boxing and t'ai chi can be defined as martial arts, their histories, emphasis and other features are drastically different. Looking specifically at karate
, a kyokushin
karate class (which emphasizes full-contact sparring with bare knuckles) versus a shotokan
karate class (which places more emphasis on personal discipline and control than fighting), research in this area has not yet determined which particular feature(s) of martial arts are of definite therapeutic value.
) and combat sports (Kickboxing
, Submission Wrestling
, Mixed martial arts
), many instructors and organizations teach only martial/combative techniques with little (if any) attention to philosophical, spiritual
or societal issues. In other words, students may only be taught how to fight without lessons in the proper context for applying these techniques, something that is emphasized in more traditional martial art curricula. Hypothetically, if these philosophical/societal teachings were one of the specific therapeutic factors in martial arts study, studying an art without these teachings would be of little therapeutic benefit, and arguably detrimental to psychological health (Reynes, 2002). Additionally, if not properly informed, a patient undergoing martial arts therapy may erroneously believe they are acquiring martial proficiency when in fact, the curriculum they are learning is unsuitable for self-defense
or competitive needs.
Another contentious area is the topic of whether martial arts training promotes or inhibits pro-social behaviours, particularly among youths and adolescents. It has been only within the past 5 years (since 2006) that studies with high-quality methodologies have devoted themselves to this particular topic. Earlier studies had conclusions that suffered from issues such as:
It is this last point that appears to be most pertinent to the question of promoting or inhibiting aggressiveness and delinquency among children. Some researchers point towards a catharsis
model where practising a martial art enables a person to "burn off" emotional energy to revive themselves. Others claim that under Albert Bandura
's social learning theory
, receiving praise and benefit for practising violent activities (like some martial arts) reinforces violence in a person and conditions them to be more aggressive and hostile outside of their activity. Endresen & Olweus (2005) recently conducted a study that participating in power sports (which included kick-boxing, boxing, wrestling and weightlifting) "leads to an increase or enhancement of antisocial involvement in the form of elevated levels of violent as well as non-violent antisocial behaviour outside sports." Given that these activities customarily contain few moral/philosophical teachings regarding conduct, this supports a tentative conclusion that traditional martial arts (which do typically offer moral/philosophical teachings) are superior to modern martial arts or combat sport training in reducing antisocial behaviour in children and adolescents.
(which emphasizes techniques to hyper-extend joints to the point of pain submission) or elderly patients to enroll in Muay Thai
(which requires a high level of physical fitness and incorporates highly damaging techniques with the elbows, knees, legs, and fists). However, in some cases, curricula were modified so that within these disciplines, martial proficiency was de-emphasized in favor of physical betterment. In one notable study, an Israeli researcher (who was a former Judo
champion of Israel
) taught a modified form of judo to children that had significant visual and mental impairments (blindness, retardation), and in some cases, physical impairment (such as cerebral palsy
). The resulting increase in physical and cognitive abilities of all the children was of greater quantity than other previous forms of physical exercise, in addition to being longer lasting (Gleser, 1992).
", "aggressive attitudes" and "self-confidence
" can be a challenging task compared to defining physically related concepts such as "improved cardiovascular health."
A frequent measure used in martial arts research to determine therapeutic outcome is the Profile of Mood States (POMS), created by McNair, Lorr, and Droppleman (1971). This is a 65-item survey that measures 6 distinct mood areas, such as "tension-anxiety
" and "anger
-hostility." A commonly used methodology in martial arts studies that employed the POMS was to administer it before a set period of martial instruction and after that same period (ranging from a single lesson to several over days/weeks/months). A successful demonstration of therapeutic benefit would be if study participants showed positive, statistically significant changes in their scores from the first administration to the second.
Beyond these issues of construct validity
, even if every study of therapeutic martial arts netted a positive outcome (which has not been the case), determining which facets of the instruction were responsible for the change would be vital for widespread application. Potential factors in martial arts could be: cultivating martial ability (being able to fight), philosophical/moral instruction, the proportion of "hard" and "soft"
techniques, physical exertion, attainment of rank/status, successful application of techniques in the school, developed friendships with other classmates and any other number of factors. Additionally, the benefit may not be derived from any single factor, but through a unique combination of factors that only martial arts provides. At least one study has shown that compared to students in a sport-specific program, a general fitness program, and a control group, students of a martial arts program derived superior improvement in POMS scores compared to the other three groups (need to find reference for later).
benefit. Some have theorized (see Israeli study cited above) that an important feature is the dyadic interplay between students in most arts; the cooperation and response to feedback in practising techniques such as throws or strikes may have a carryover to cooperation in real-life settings. However, even if all features are conclusively discovered within a specific art or system, there remains the issue of to what extent the instructors within that art/system provide those features to their students. Not to mention the possibility that instructors in other arts/systems may provide these same therapeutic features of their own volition.
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
as an alternative or complementary therapy for a medical disorder. This can include disorders of the body
Physical disorder
A physical disorder is often used as a term in contrast to a mental disorder, in an attempt to differentiate medical disorders that have an available mechanical test , from those disorders which have no laboratory or imaging test, and are diagnosed only by behavioral syndrome A physical disorder...
or of the mind. The therapy may involve applications such as promoting kinaesthetic balance in the elderly or impaired, through T'ai chi ch'uan, or reducing aggressiveness in specific populations (Lamarre, 1999).
Comparison with other methods
While more conventional treatments such as weight trainingWeight training
Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength and size of skeletal muscles. It uses the weight force of gravity to oppose the force generated by muscle through concentric or eccentric contraction...
and psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
are also of significant benefit, martial arts therapy can embody unique traits that other therapies don’t incorporate into their practice. For example, in children with low self-esteem
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...
, this therapy can simultaneously develop areas such as self-defense
Self-defense
Self-defense, self-defence or private defense is a countermeasure that involves defending oneself, one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many...
skills (to defend against physical bullying), physical fitness
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...
, instructions on how to handle stressful
Stress (medicine)
Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
scenarios in a physical or mental context, and self-confidence
Self-confidence
The socio-psychological concept of self-confidence relates to self-assuredness in one's personal judgment, ability, power, etc., sometimes manifested excessively.Being confident in yourself is infectious if you present yourself well, others will want to follow in your foot steps towards...
, through successful applications of martial technique, such as board-breaking
Breaking (martial arts)
Breaking is a martial arts technique that is used in competition, demonstration and testing. Breaking is an action where a martial artist uses a striking surface to break one or more objects using the skills honed in their art form. The striking surface is usually a hand or a foot, but may also be...
or kata
Kata
is a Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs. The term form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese martial arts in general....
.
One of the crucial features of the therapy is the type of martial art, as well as the lesson plans of the instructor. For instance, a boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
program with a competition-oriented instructor will not provide the same experience as a t'ai chi instructor who emphasizes mindfulness of one’s actions and thoughts. Although both boxing and t'ai chi can be defined as martial arts, their histories, emphasis and other features are drastically different. Looking specifically at karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
, a kyokushin
Kyokushin
is a style of stand-up, full contact karate, founded in 1964 by Korean-Japanese karate master, who was born under the name Choi Young-Eui . Kyokushinkai is Japanese for "the society of the ultimate truth". Kyokushin is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline and hard training...
karate class (which emphasizes full-contact sparring with bare knuckles) versus a shotokan
Shotokan
is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi and his son Gigo Funakoshi . Gichin was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing karate through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including...
karate class (which places more emphasis on personal discipline and control than fighting), research in this area has not yet determined which particular feature(s) of martial arts are of definite therapeutic value.
Psychosocial issues
An important issue with martial arts therapy in a psychological context is the distinction between a therapeutic approach and a martial approach to the lessons. With the evolution of martial arts into combat systems (Krav MagaKrav Maga
Krav Maga is a noncompetitive eclectic self-defense system developed in Europe that involves striking techniques, wrestling and grappling. Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and extremely efficient, brutal counter-attacks...
) and combat sports (Kickboxing
Kickboxing
Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....
, Submission Wrestling
Submission wrestling
Submission wrestling or Combat wrestling in Japan, is a formula of competition and a general term describing the aspect of martial arts and combat sports that focus on clinch and ground fighting with the aim of obtaining a submission using submission holds...
, Mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
), many instructors and organizations teach only martial/combative techniques with little (if any) attention to philosophical, spiritual
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
or societal issues. In other words, students may only be taught how to fight without lessons in the proper context for applying these techniques, something that is emphasized in more traditional martial art curricula. Hypothetically, if these philosophical/societal teachings were one of the specific therapeutic factors in martial arts study, studying an art without these teachings would be of little therapeutic benefit, and arguably detrimental to psychological health (Reynes, 2002). Additionally, if not properly informed, a patient undergoing martial arts therapy may erroneously believe they are acquiring martial proficiency when in fact, the curriculum they are learning is unsuitable for self-defense
Self-defense
Self-defense, self-defence or private defense is a countermeasure that involves defending oneself, one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many...
or competitive needs.
Another contentious area is the topic of whether martial arts training promotes or inhibits pro-social behaviours, particularly among youths and adolescents. It has been only within the past 5 years (since 2006) that studies with high-quality methodologies have devoted themselves to this particular topic. Earlier studies had conclusions that suffered from issues such as:
- A lack of followup following a study's end (which would help assess long-term efficacy of treatment)
- Missing or mismatched comparison groups to evaluate treatment efficacy compared to control or even general fitness (i.e. martial arts therapy vs. aerobicsAerobicsAerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness...
vs. controlControlControl is the ability to purposefully direct, or suppress, change.Control can also refer to:-Literature:*Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, "Control" was the head of the Circus, a stand-in for MI-6, in the 1974 British spy novel by John le Carré...
) - Little attention to outcomes from the style or type of martial art (few style vs. style comparisons, modern styles vs. traditional, etc.)
It is this last point that appears to be most pertinent to the question of promoting or inhibiting aggressiveness and delinquency among children. Some researchers point towards a catharsis
Catharsis
Catharsis or katharsis is a Greek word meaning "cleansing" or "purging". It is derived from the verb καθαίρειν, kathairein, "to purify, purge," and it is related to the adjective καθαρός, katharos, "pure or clean."-Dramatic uses:...
model where practising a martial art enables a person to "burn off" emotional energy to revive themselves. Others claim that under Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura is a psychologist and the David Starr Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University...
's social learning theory
Social learning theory
-Theory:Social learning theory is derived from the work of Albert Bandura which proposed that social learning occurred through four main stages of imitation:* close contact* imitation of superiors* understanding of concepts* role model behavior...
, receiving praise and benefit for practising violent activities (like some martial arts) reinforces violence in a person and conditions them to be more aggressive and hostile outside of their activity. Endresen & Olweus (2005) recently conducted a study that participating in power sports (which included kick-boxing, boxing, wrestling and weightlifting) "leads to an increase or enhancement of antisocial involvement in the form of elevated levels of violent as well as non-violent antisocial behaviour outside sports." Given that these activities customarily contain few moral/philosophical teachings regarding conduct, this supports a tentative conclusion that traditional martial arts (which do typically offer moral/philosophical teachings) are superior to modern martial arts or combat sport training in reducing antisocial behaviour in children and adolescents.
Physical medicine issues
In a physical medicine context, the nature of an injury or disorder may disqualify some arts from usage, as their conventional curriculum/focus may be too rigorous. One wouldn’t expect a patient with joint issues to enroll in Brazilian Jiu-JitsuBrazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...
(which emphasizes techniques to hyper-extend joints to the point of pain submission) or elderly patients to enroll in Muay Thai
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...
(which requires a high level of physical fitness and incorporates highly damaging techniques with the elbows, knees, legs, and fists). However, in some cases, curricula were modified so that within these disciplines, martial proficiency was de-emphasized in favor of physical betterment. In one notable study, an Israeli researcher (who was a former Judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
champion of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
) taught a modified form of judo to children that had significant visual and mental impairments (blindness, retardation), and in some cases, physical impairment (such as cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....
). The resulting increase in physical and cognitive abilities of all the children was of greater quantity than other previous forms of physical exercise, in addition to being longer lasting (Gleser, 1992).
Areas for consideration
Current trends in research on martial arts' therapeutic benefit points towards generally positive outcomes, especially for physical benefits (one exception to this being possible sustained injuries from competitive applications). But for assessing psychosocial benefits, the evidence is more ambiguous. As with any psychological study, defining concepts such as "happinessHappiness
Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....
", "aggressive attitudes" and "self-confidence
Self-confidence
The socio-psychological concept of self-confidence relates to self-assuredness in one's personal judgment, ability, power, etc., sometimes manifested excessively.Being confident in yourself is infectious if you present yourself well, others will want to follow in your foot steps towards...
" can be a challenging task compared to defining physically related concepts such as "improved cardiovascular health."
A frequent measure used in martial arts research to determine therapeutic outcome is the Profile of Mood States (POMS), created by McNair, Lorr, and Droppleman (1971). This is a 65-item survey that measures 6 distinct mood areas, such as "tension-anxiety
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
" and "anger
Anger
Anger is an automatic response to ill treatment. It is the way a person indicates he or she will not tolerate certain types of behaviour. It is a feedback mechanism in which an unpleasant stimulus is met with an unpleasant response....
-hostility." A commonly used methodology in martial arts studies that employed the POMS was to administer it before a set period of martial instruction and after that same period (ranging from a single lesson to several over days/weeks/months). A successful demonstration of therapeutic benefit would be if study participants showed positive, statistically significant changes in their scores from the first administration to the second.
Beyond these issues of construct validity
Construct validity
In science , construct validity refers to whether a scale measures or correlates with the theorized psychological scientific construct that it purports to measure. In other words, it is the extent to which what was to be measured was actually measured...
, even if every study of therapeutic martial arts netted a positive outcome (which has not been the case), determining which facets of the instruction were responsible for the change would be vital for widespread application. Potential factors in martial arts could be: cultivating martial ability (being able to fight), philosophical/moral instruction, the proportion of "hard" and "soft"
Hard and soft (martial arts)
In martial arts, the terms hard and soft technique denote how forcefully a defender martial artist counters the force of an attack in armed and unarmed combat...
techniques, physical exertion, attainment of rank/status, successful application of techniques in the school, developed friendships with other classmates and any other number of factors. Additionally, the benefit may not be derived from any single factor, but through a unique combination of factors that only martial arts provides. At least one study has shown that compared to students in a sport-specific program, a general fitness program, and a control group, students of a martial arts program derived superior improvement in POMS scores compared to the other three groups (need to find reference for later).
Perspectives
Martial arts therapy is a concept still in development. Researchers have yet to conclusively identify the specific features of martial arts that foster a physical or psychosocialPsychosocial
For a concept to be psychosocial means it relates to one's psychological development in, and interaction with, a social environment. The individual needs not be fully aware of this relationship with his or her environment. It was first commonly used by psychologist Erik Erikson in his stages of...
benefit. Some have theorized (see Israeli study cited above) that an important feature is the dyadic interplay between students in most arts; the cooperation and response to feedback in practising techniques such as throws or strikes may have a carryover to cooperation in real-life settings. However, even if all features are conclusively discovered within a specific art or system, there remains the issue of to what extent the instructors within that art/system provide those features to their students. Not to mention the possibility that instructors in other arts/systems may provide these same therapeutic features of their own volition.
See also
- History of martial artsHistory of martial artsThe early history of martial arts is difficult to reconstruct. Inherent patterns of human aggression which inspire practice of mock combat and optimization of serious close combat as cultural universals are doubtlessly inherited from the pre-human stage, and were made into an "art" from the...
- Martial arts timelineMartial arts timelineThis martial arts timeline is designed to help describe the history of the martial arts in a linear fashion. Many of the articles for particular styles have discussions of their history...
- Social isolationSocial isolationSocial isolation refers to a lack of contact with society for members of social species. There may be many causes and individuals in numerous generally social species are isolated at times, it need not be a pathological condition. In human society, in those cases where it is viewed as a pathology,...
Further reading
- Psychosocial Benefits of Martial arts: Myth or Reality? By Brad Binder, Ph.D (1999) Waboku Jujitsu web site
- An extensive listing of studies that are related to "Sports, Exercise, and Mood", including martial arts: (see Sheet #'s 6, 28, and 43)