Abstract
Martial arts have become one of the most popular physical activities amongst children and youth worldwide; however, there are concerns among Western parents and school administrators that including these activities in school programs may lead to incidents of violence. Others, however, maintain that this is a concern caused by the false image of martial arts (as propagated in entertainment and pop culture), and stemming from an ignorance of the true values promoted by legitimate Asian martial arts practitioners. This paper explores the philosophical and theoretical concepts upon which Asian martial arts disciplines are founded, and provides ample research to reveal that martial arts as practiced in Eastern tradition de-emphasize violence, competition, and combat. Further, this paper illustrates that practicing martial arts in line with Eastern precepts of martial virtue, promotes a healthy active lifestyle, and can in fact discourage, rather than encourage, incidents of violence at schools.
Highlights
While martial arts have become one of the most popular physical activities among millions of children and youth around the world (De Knop, Engstrom, Skirstad, & Weiss, 1996), there have been concerns among Western parents, teachers, and school administrators that violence could potentially arise in schools and communities as a result of teaching martial arts in school programs (Lu, 2004)
Recreation, and Dance (JOPERD) discussed the question “Should martial arts be taught in physical education classes?” in its November/December 2000 issue
Learning and practicing martial arts will not increase the aggression of violence; rather, it will enhance one’s awareness of violence prevention and allow one to react calmly and without panic
Summary
While martial arts have become one of the most popular physical activities among millions of children and youth around the world (De Knop, Engstrom, Skirstad, & Weiss, 1996), there have been concerns among Western parents, teachers, and school administrators that violence could potentially arise in schools and communities as a result of teaching martial arts in school programs (Lu, 2004). The purpose of the paper is to equip school educators (e.g., health and physical educators) with legitimacies to integrate martial arts into their programs in order to assist children and youth to reduce violence, enhance moral development, and foster a healthy active lifestyle
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