Martial arts research project

Hi everyone,

I'm a third year BSc Psychology student currently writing my dissertation on the psychological effects of martial arts training. As part of this I am conducting a research project - an online survey, and am looking for martial artists of various styles to complete it.

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between martial arts training and a number of psychometric measures – anxiety, aggression, self-esteem, and self-regulation. Previous research has shown links between martial arts training and these measures, but some reports have conflicted regarding modern or combat sports participants and traditional martial artists, and ones where ethical and psychological values are explicitly taught or not. The aim of this research is to further the body of research and differentiate between the psychological profiles associated with different approaches to martial arts training.

The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete, and if you could do so that would be great. The analysis of results will be posted when complete if that's of interest. It can be found at:

https://aruspsych.eu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3Ks8UJzvY1jbdw9

Thanks in advance, and let me know if you have any questions!

Interesting but it seems to be a large omission not to include MMA as a distinct option (I understand perhaps you have you own reasons for this) .
I have been practising Judo for 7 years and recently started MMA. The difference is significant - Judo taught me resilience, persistence, confidence and many other positive psychological traits that have benefited me enormously. However I feel the psychological side of MMA on the other hand has proved  detrimental to me psychologically (perhaps just one club but I have never experienced the like in any Judo club and I have trained in dozens). It would have been nice to express this info somehow in your survey. Also as its the fastest growing martial art and is significantly different in terms of age (relatively recent development)  and attitude to TMAs,  to my mind it seems you may be missing out on an interesting aspect of your research by not including it.
There are several online articles indicating that depression is quite common in MMA for example - it would be interesting to see how that compares to other martial arts. eg Do people do MMA because they feel depressed or does MMA cause depression etc etc Seeing as it's been such a large influence on the martial arts seen as a whole recently - whether or not one likes it - it would seem essential to include it in this type of research - unless of course you have a seperate questionaire just for MMA   

Hi Gus,

Thanks for the feedback and questions.

You're right, "MMA" should have been on the list. However, there's an "other" option, which opens a box in which you can write "MMA", so it's still possible. The remaining questions do change depending on any previous answer. Your history of experiences training in different environments is not taken into account in my study, but that's not to say your data wouldn't add to the research.

Thanks everyone who's taken the time to complete this so far! If any more of you could I'd greatly appreciate it!

Also - I've had a couple of private messages. My apologies but I am unable to reply as this account is too new, I don't have the priviledge yet!

ResearchProject wrote:Hi Gus,

Thanks for the feedback and questions.

You're right, "MMA" should have been on the list. However, there's an "other" option, which opens a box in which you can write "MMA", so it's still possible. The remaining questions do change depending on any previous answer. Your history of experiences training in different environments is not taken into account in my study, but that's not to say your data wouldn't add to the research.

Thanks everyone who's taken the time to complete this so far! If any more of you could I'd greatly appreciate it!

Also - I've had a couple of private messages. My apologies but I am unable to reply as this account is too new, I don't have the priviledge yet!

No bother - best of luck - I look forward to seeing your results .

Survey done. Good luck with your research.

Done.

Done

No kendo in your list either. Survey done, good luck with your research.

Hi,

some years ago the members of our club took part in a similar project. I'm not sure if this could be of any interest to you, at least, because the resulting diploma thesis is in German language. But anyway, here comes the link:

Diplomarbeit - Persönlichkeit von Praktizierenden der japanischen Kampfkünste Karate, Jiu Jitsu, Aikido, Judo und Kendo - Anita Neskovic

Nosanchuk and McNiel did some studies on traditional versus modern MA in the 80s and 90s that looked at some of this. You might find it interesting.
For the record I've had good and bad psychological experiences with both trad and modern arts. I'll do your survey as well. Good luck.

Oops. Survey closed. Error, or do you have what you need?

All set. I saw this over at the Judo forum at MMA.com. As I said there are probably other questions that could be asked. A lot of it has to do with what kind of school/Dojo/Dojang you were brought up in. That would be a lot different than most MMA schools which are glorified gyms. Often there is less respect and emphasis on discipline is taught. That's a huge factor that should be asked before the rest of the survey was given. This also has a lot to do with the fact that the Martial Arts have changed since 1993. After training for close to 40 years in various disciplines I can tell you there is a HUGE difference than even 20 years ago.

Nitty, I would respectfully disagree with you on your points about MMA. just like with judo, it depends heavily on the school

Yes obviously but generally speaking it's not the same. I have been in the MA since 1979 and it's a different world now. Change is not always for the better.