An analysis of teaching approaches used by martial arts teachers, with judo in particular.

1. AIM

Today, there is a growing awareness that several environmental factors have to be taken into account when one tries to determine effects of sports participation in general (Coalter, 2007) and martial arts in particular (Theeboom & Verheyden, 2011). One of these factors is the type of guidance. In martial arts, a reserved approach exists regarding how to deal with youngsters practising a martial art. Therefore, it is important to provide qualitative teaching courses and criteria for martial arts clubs and teachers. In order to be able to underpin this decently, it is first necessary to obtain more insight into different teaching methods that are used and the impact of these methods on the young participants. Therefore, the present study is aimed to analyse different teaching approaches within one martial art, namely judo and to examine how youngsters experience these teaching approaches.

2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

It is believed that martial arts practice can provide educational opportunities for youth. However, as indicated in sports participation research in general (e.g., Coalter, 2007) and martial arts research in particular (e.g., Theeboom & Verheyden, 2011), in order to create educational opportunities through sports a number of environmental factors have to be considered. One of the factors that should be taken into account is the type of guidance that is used. Several authors (e.g., Donohue & Taylor, 1994) examined the type of guidance used in martial arts by attempting to classify different teaching approaches in which a number of criteria have been used (e.g., physical, functional, technical, cultural, historical, and philosophical). In the literature, mostly a classification system is used in which a distinction is made between traditional and modern training methods (Donohue & Taylor, 1994). According to Donohue and Taylor (1994), in a modern training session emphasis is put on the sporting and competitive elements, and the teaching is limited to physical aspects only. In order to receive the status of a traditional approach, Back and Kim (1984) indicated that a martial art training should meet four criteria: (a) recognition of the cultural origin, (b) reference to fighting, (c) presence of artistic aspects through formal training (i.e., forms or drills), and (d) working toward spiritual development. Theeboom, De Knop and Wylleman (1995) extended the classification of traditional versus modern and categorised martial arts into three approaches. Next to the traditional approach, the modern approach was divided into a sporting and an efficiency approach. Within the efficiency teaching method the emphasis is on combative aspects and on the efficiency and optimal application of the fighting techniques. The sporting approach does not primarily focus on the acquisition of fighting competence, but rather regards martial arts as a sport with positive effects on the physical, mental and social condition of participants and with technical restrictions in accordance with specific competition rules.
The classification systems described in the literature are however only descriptive of nature. Therefore, Vertonghen, Theeboom & Cloes (2012) developed a framework in order to identify different teaching methods based on empirical evidence (i.e., "Teaching Approach in Martial Arts", TAMA). This framework is developed to apply across different martial arts styles. As differences in teaching approaches can be found within one martial art, in the present study it is aimed to make an analysis of teaching methods used in one martial arts style, namely judo. Furthermore, it is examined how youngsters experience the different teaching approach of their martial arts teacher.

3. METHODOLOGY

Based on the literature, TAMA and interviews with expert witnesses an instrument is developed to identify different teaching approaches in judo. This instrument consists of 8 items. For all these items two characteristics were described, one typical for a traditional and one for an efficiency approach. Scores on this instrument could vary from 1 to 5 (1 = typical traditional, 5 = typical efficiency). If an item was scored in between, it was considered as a characteristic for an educational sporting approach. In total, 10 judo teachers were asked to fill in the instrument.
Furthermore, in order to examine how youngsters experience the teaching approach of their judo teacher, judoka's aged between 12 and 20 years were asked to respond to a questionnaire. This questionnaire consists of two psychometric instruments, namely the Motivational Climate Scale for Youth Sport (Smith, Cumming & Smoll, 2008) and the Youth Experience Survey for Sport (YES-S) (MacDonald et al., 2012).
To date, we are still collecting the data of this study, but we guarantee that it will be possible to present the results at the conference.

4. REFERENCES

Back, A., & Kim D. (1984). The future course of the Eastern martial arts. Quest, 36, 7-14.
Coalter, F. (2007). A wider social role for sport: Who's keeping the score? London: Routledge
Donohue, J., & Taylor, K. (1994). The classification of the fighting arts. Journal of Asian Martial Arts, 3(4), 10-37.
MacDonald, D. J., Côté, J., Eys, M., & Deakin J. (2012). Psychometric properties of the youth experience survey with young athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13 (3), 332-340.
Smith, R. E., Cumming, S. P., & Smoll, F. L. (2008). Development and Validation of the Motivational Climate Scale for Youth Sport. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 20(1), 116-136.
Theeboom M, Verheyden E: Vechtsporten met een +. Extra kansen voor kwetsbare jongeren. [Martial arts with a +. Additional opportunities for socially deprived youth]. Brussel: Vubpress; 2011.
Theeboom, M., De Knop, P., & Wylleman, P. (1995). Traditional Asian martial arts and the West. Journal of Comparative Physical Education and Sport, 17, 57-69.
Vertonghen, J., Theeboom, M., & Cloes, M. (2012). Teaching in martial arts: the analysis and identification of teaching approaches in youth martial arts practice. Archives of Budo, 8(4), 191-202.