RE VIE W ARTICLE
SCIENCE OF MARTIAL ARTS
Embodying martial arts for mental health: cultivating
psychological well-being with martial arts practice
Authors’ Contribution:
A Study Design
B Data Collection
C Statistical Analysis
D Manuscript Preparation
E Funds Collection
Adam M Croom
Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Source of support: Departmental sources
Received: 11 July 2014; Accepted: 15 September 2014; Published online: 26 September 2014
ICID: 1122906
Abstract
The question of what constitutes and facilitates mental health or psychological well-being has remained of great
interest to martial artists and philosophers alike, and still endures to this day. Although important questions about
well-being remain, it has recently been argued in the literature that a paradigmatic or prototypical case of human
psychological well-being would characteristically consist of positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning,
and accomplishment. Other scholarship has also recently suggested that martial arts practice may positively promote psychological well-being, although recent studies on martial arts have not yet been reviewed and integrated
under the PERMA framework from positive psychology to further explore and explicate this possibility. This article therefore contributes to the literature by reviewing recent work on psychological well-being and martial arts to
determine whether there is substantive support for the claim that practicing martial arts can positively contribute to
one lourishing with greater psychological well-being.
Key words: meaning in life • personal accomplishment • positive psychology • social relationships
Author’s address: Adam Croom, Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, 433 Cohen Hall, Philadelphia, USA;
e-mail: croom@sas.upenn.edu
Accomplishment - an element
of psychological well-being that
is concerned with competence,
mastery, and achievements.
Emotion - nn element of
psychological well-being that is
concerned with positive feeling
or affective valence.
Flow - an element of
psychological well-being that
is concerned with attentive
absorption in an activity.
Meaning - an element of
psychological well-being that is
concerned with serving as a part
of something larger than oneself.
Relationships - an element
of psychological well-being
that is concerned with human
interpersonal interaction.
An IntroductIon to MArtIAl Arts
And PsychologIcAl Well-BeIng
The question of what constitutes and facilitates mental health or psychological well-being has remained of
great interest to martial artists and philosophers alike
[1-6], and still endures to this day.1 Although important questions about the constitution and cultivation of
psychological well-being remain, it has recently been
argued in the literature that a paradigmatic or prototypical case of human psychological well-being would
characteristically consist of “PERMA: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment” [3, 5, 6]. Consider for instance that in two
studies recently published in Increasing Psychological
Well-Being in Clinical and Educational Settings,
Rashid et al. [7] drew upon this conceptual model of
1. For Sifu, Master Charles Robert, with much gratitude.
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“Well-being and Resilience […] as the integration of
positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships,
meaning and accomplishment (PERMA)” to propose
a new program of strength-based interventions for children and adolescents [7] while Noble and McGrath [8]
similarly drew upon the PERMA model to propose
a new program of positive education aimed at helping
students develop their “Social and emotional competencies”, including “Positive emotions”, “Positive relationships”, “Positive purpose”, and “Optimal learning
environments that facilitate achievement” [8, 9-11]. So
given the application of the PERMA model to other
areas of research in clinical and educational settings,
this approach of investigating psychological wellbeing by investigating its common characteristics of
positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishments is plausibly also useful to
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Review Article | Science of Martial Arts
adopt for the purpose of investigating whether martial
arts practice and participation can contribute to one
lourishing with greater psychological well-being.
The martial arts are commonly characterized as
“structured ighting systems” that consist of individual and partner routines (i.e. forms or kata) as well
as more freestyle ights with or without the use of
external weapons [12, 13]. A study by Clearing House
[14] reported that martial arts were among the top 10
most practiced sports across 26 European countries
and Shahar [15] suggested that the reason why martial arts have appealed to millions of people in the
West is because of their “unique synthesis of military,
therapeutic, and religious goals” [15]. Woodward [16]
further proposed that “Martial arts provide healthpromoting and meaningful exercise for millions of
practitioners” which include “better overall health
and balance, as well as an improved sense of psychological well being” [16]. So since recent studies
from the literature on martial arts offer empirical support for its effectiveness in promoting psychological
well-being or mental health, the proposal here that
martial arts practice and participation can positively
contribute to one lourishing with greater psychological well-being is surely a plausible one worth further
investigating. Yet recent studies from the literature
on martial arts have not yet been reviewed and integrated under the PERMA framework from positive
psychology to further explore and explicate the possibility that practicing martial arts can positively contribute to one lourishing with greater psychological
well-being. This article therefore contributes to the
extant literature on the psychology of martial arts and
well-being by reviewing the recent literature to offer
support for the claim that practicing martial arts can
positively contribute to one lourishing with greater
psychological well-being by positively inluencing
emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and
accomplishment.
In order to appropriately begin the investigation of
whether practicing martial arts can positively contribute to one lourishing with greater psychological
well-being, the next section (The Inluence of Martial
Arts on Positive Emotions) will irst review the recent
literature on martial arts and positive emotion to further clarify how martial arts can function as a useful
means for positively inluencing the emotions, and in
so doing, positively inluencing the irst characteristic
component of psychological well-being (the PERMA
factor P for positive emotion).
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the Influence of MArtIAl Arts on
PosItIve eMotIons
In “Flourish”, Seligman [3] maintained that psychological well-being characteristically consists of positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning,
and accomplishment [3, 5] and so the irst characteristic component of well-being to be considered
here is positive emotions. Fredrickson [17] for one
proposed that “pleasant affective states appear to be
critical ingredients within the recipe for human lourishing” [17] and so prior work in the psychological
literature has considered positive emotions to be an
important characteristic component of psychological
well-being. In “Building a Neuroscience of Pleasure
and Well-Being”, Berridge and Kringelbach [18]
explained that well-being characteristically consists
of “at least two crucial ingredients: positive affect or
pleasure (hedonia) and a sense of meaningfulness or
engagement in life (eudaimonia)” [18] and accordingly suggested that “happiness springs not from any
single component but from the interplay of higher
pleasures, positive appraisals of life meaning and
social connectedness, all combined and merged by
interaction between the brain’s default networks and
pleasure networks” [18].2 In research on the relationship between affective priming and life satisfaction
in participants (n = 198), Robinson and Von Hippel
[19] proposed that “the memory organization of positive and negative thoughts inluences life satisfaction”, since they found that the participants low in life
satisfaction showed relatively larger negative (compared to positive) affective priming effects whereas
the participants high in life satisfaction showed relatively larger positive (compared to negative) affective
priming effects [19]. In other research on the relationship between subjective evaluations of positive affect,
negative affect, and life satisfaction in participants
(n = 438), Busseri, Choma, and Sadava [20] found
that higher levels of subjective well-being were associated with greater positive psychological, physical,
and interpersonal functioning. Further, in “The Role
of Passion in Sustainable Psychological Well-Being”,
Vallerand [21] makes the important point that during
engagement in an activity that takes place on a regular and repeated basis, one begins to cultivate positive
emotions and “passion [that] contributes to sustained
psychological well-being while preventing the experience of negative affect, psychological conlict, and
ill-being” [21, 22]. By reviewing research of this kind
2. Berridge and Kringelbach [18] have even proposed that “eudaimonic
wellbeing” may differentially correlate with functional activity in
the anterior cingulate and in left prefrontal cortex whereas “hedonic
wellbeing” may differentially correlate with functional activity in
the subgenual cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices.
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it becomes increasingly evident that studies do in fact
suggest that positive emotions are an important characteristic component of psychological well-being.
to positive emotions [23-26], there are good grounds
for maintaining that practicing martial arts can positively contribute to psychological well-being.
Importantly, since positive emotions can contribute to psychological well-being, practicing martial arts can contribute to psychological well-being
also since practicing martial arts can contribute to
positive emotions. And several studies have in fact
suggested that practicing martial arts can contribute
to positive emotions. For example, in “Alterations
in Selected Measures of Mood with a Single Bout
of Dynamic Taekwondo Exercise in College-Age
Students”, Toskovic [23] investigated the inluence of taekwondo practice on an inventory of psychological dimensions in participants (n = 20) and
found that those participating in martial arts experienced signiicant improvements compared to controls on scores evaluating “Tension, Depression,
Anger, Fatigue, Confusion, and Vigor”, and that
their involvement in this dynamic martial arts practice “achieves the necessary activity parameters that
begin to induce positive mood state changes” [23]. In
another study, Ziaee et al. [24] evaluated the level of
anger in participants involved in judo (n = 70), karate
(n = 66), swimming (n = 59), and no athletic activity
(n = 96) and reported inding that those participating in karate practice experience signiicantly lower
scores on instrumental anger and higher scores on
anger control compared to non-athletes, and that
“a signiicant lower total anger score was found in
karateka than non-athletes” [24]. Bodin and Martinsen
[25] also investigated whether self-eficacy mediated
the antidepressant effects of physical activity on participants (n = 12) diagnosed with clinical depression and reported inding that “During martial arts,
statistically signiicant increases in positive affect,
reductions in negative affect and state anxiety, and
increased self-eficacy were observed” [25]. Further,
in another study investigating the association in participants (n = 276) between their habitual physical
activity and their experience of positive and negative
affect, Pasco et al. [26] reported inding that “higher
positive affect scores, encompassing emotions such
as interest, excitement, enthusiasm and alertness,
are associated with higher levels of habitual physical activity” [26]. So given the fact that martial arts
practice is clearly a physical activity, it can thereby
sensibly afford the engaged participant as a reliable
source of positive affect. Resultantly, since positive
emotions can contribute to psychological well-being
[3, 5, 17-22], and since several studies have indeed
suggested that practicing martial arts can contribute
This section has now reviewed the recent literature
on martial arts and positive emotion to further clarify
how martial arts can function as a useful means for
positively inluencing emotions. In order to further
continue the investigation of whether practicing martial arts can positively contribute to one lourishing
with greater psychological well-being, the next section (The Inluence of Martial Arts on Engagement)
will proceed to review the recent literature on martial
arts and engagement (or “low” experiences) to further clarify how martial arts can function as a useful
means for positively inluencing engagement, and in
so doing, positively inluencing the second characteristic component of psychological well-being (the
PERMA factor E for engagement).
the Influence of MArtIAl Arts on
engAgeMent
Given that psychological well-being is considered to
characteristically consist of positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment,
the second characteristic component of well-being
to be considered here is engagement or low experience [3, 5]. The “engaged life”, Seligman [5] maintains, “is about low: being one with the music, time
stopping, and the loss of self-consciousness during an absorbing activity” [5] and Rich [27] similarly maintains that “a good life is one characterized
by complete absorption in what one does”, and that
“A life worth living then, seems to involve low”
[27, 28]. So prior work in the psychological literature has considered engagement or low experience
to be an important characteristic component of psychological well-being. In the literature “low” experience has been characterized as a “state of optimal
experience that people report when they are intensely
involved in doing something that is fun to do” [29],
as “the experience of complete absorption in the present moment” [30], and as “a state of mind characterized by focused concentration and elevated enjoyment
during intrinsically interesting activities” [31]. Flow
experiences have been considered to characteristically
occur under conditions of “perceived challenges, or
opportunities for action, that stretch (neither overmatching nor underutilizing) existing skills; a sense
that one is engaging challenges at a level appropriate
to one’s capacities”, or conditions of “Clear proximal
goals and immediate feedback about the progress that
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is being made” [28]. Several characteristic features of
low experience include “Intense and focused concentration on what one is doing in the present moment”,
the “Merging of action and awareness”, the “Loss of
relective self-consciousness (i.e. loss of awareness of
oneself as a social actor)”, “A sense that one can control one’s actions; that is, a sense that one can in principle deal with the situation because one knows how
to respond to whatever happens next”, a “Distortion
of temporal experience (typically, a sense that time
has passed faster than normal)”, and “Experience
of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, such that
often the end goal is just an excuse for the process”
[28, 32-38]. In “Absorption as a Therapeutic Agent”,
Hymer [39] suggested that this kind of absorbed focus
and “immersion in an object” leads to “the temporary loss of self” and “eventuates in self-enhancement” [39] and in a more recent study investigating
the relationship between subjective low reports and
psychophysiological measures in piano playing participants (n = 21), De Manzano et al. [40] reported
inding that low experience arise through an interaction between high attention and positive affect [40]
and that increased low is related to decreased heart
period and respiratory sinus arrhythmia, as well as
to increased LF/HF ratio, total power, and respiratory depth [40]. As De Manzano et al. [40] conclude,
this “suggests that during a physically and cognitively
demanding task, an increased activation of the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system in
combination with deep breathing and activation of the
ZM [zygomaticus major] might potentially be used
as an indicator of effortless attention and low” [40].
Dietrich [41] further explained in “Neurocognitive
Mechanisms Underlying the Experience of Flow”,
that human psychological information processing involves cognitive systems for processing both
explicit reason-based knowledge (which primarily
implicates the frontal lobe and medial temporal lobe)
as well as implicit skill-based knowledge (which primarily implicates the basal ganglia), and that what is
unique about low experience is that it involves a state
of “transient hypofrontality” that enables “the temporary suppression of the analytical and meta-conscious
capacities of the explicit system” [41]. Importantly,
Dietrich [41] also mentioned the “sensory-motor integration skills that seem to typify low” since the previously relevant learning or training by an agent of
“a highly practiced skill” – such as the skill of performing an exemplary execution of forms or kata during martial arts practice, which can only be performed
by a martial artist once they have endured repeated
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rehearsal and acquired the requisite bodily sedimentation of know-how – is presumably a prerequisite
for the relevant low experiences of that agent since
this cultivated kinesthetic skill of the martial artist is
taken to be incorporated into their implicit system’s
knowledge base and “implemented without interference from the explicit system” during low experience
[41]. In fact, this proposal is consistent with results
from other recent research conducted by Schlaffke et
al. [42] that found that participants practicing martial
arts (n =13) showed changes in regional brain morphology in areas implicated in motor learning and
planning, including higher gray matter (GM) volumes in the supplementary motor area/dorsal premotor cortex (BA 6) [42].
In other words, in order for a cultivated and embodied kinesthetic skill, such as the skill of performing an
exemplary execution of forms or kata during martial
arts practice, to become incorporated into the implicit
system of the knowledge base of a martial artist, and
thus capable of being implemented by that martial
artist without interference from their explicit system during occasions of low experience, a suficient
amount of relevantly cultivated kinesthetic skill must
irst be acquired by that martial artist through a substantive (though not excessive) amount of deliberate
martial arts practice and the accumulation of the relevant sensory-motor integration that it results in [41,
42]. So regardless of the particular style of martial
arts practice that one adopts, the practice of becoming an exceptionally ine-tuned martial artist typically
involves a commitment to chiseling oneself into perfection with repeatedly relevant behavioral practice
and focused attention, or as the inluential martial artist Nagamine Shoshin (10th Dan in Karate) had said,
“Only through the relentless study of karate-do can
one achieve the highest standards of inner beauty and
strength” and that “The fusing of the body and mind
through karate-do is indescribably beautiful and spiritual” [43]. Strati, Shernoff, and Kackar [31] argue
that “Because low states are enjoyable, they motivate individuals to continue developing skills and
raising challenges to reenter low”, and that because
low experiences provide students with “an orientation of engagement and skill-building that carries
into the future”, low experiences are valuable for
learning and development [31]. As Strati, Shernoff,
and Kackar [31] argue “Flow experiences thereby
enhance the quality of life, add to the complexity of
the developing self, and facilitate talent development
in youth” [31] and Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi
[30] have similarly proposed that “experiencing low
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encourages a person to persist in and return to an
activity because of the experiential rewards it premises, and thereby fosters the growth of skills over
time” [30] and that “Because the self grows through
low experiences, we also might expect time spent
in low to predict self-esteem” [30]. By reviewing
research of this kind it becomes increasingly evident
that studies do in fact suggest that engagement or low
experiences is an important characteristic component
of psychological well-being.
Importantly, since engagement or low experience
can contribute to psychological well-being, practicing martial arts can contribute to psychological wellbeing also since practicing martial arts can contribute
to engagement or low experience. The inluential
martial artist Kenwa Mabuni (founder of Shito-Ryu
Karate) for instance maintained that “When the spirit
of karate-do is deeply embraced, it becomes the vehicle by which one is ferried across the great void to
enlightenment” [43] and the inluential martial artist Nagamine Shoshin (10th Dan in Karate) similarly stated that “When totally absorbed in kata, one
is brought into complete contact with the central core
of one’s being” and that “It is there that the essence
of karate-do is to be discovered” [43]. And interestingly enough, several studies have in fact suggested
that practicing martial arts can contribute to engagement or low experience. For example, in “Spontaneity
in Western Martial Arts”, Keenan [44] explained how
“The spontaneity of a kendo practitioner comes indeed
from the mind of no-mind, from his or her ability to
act from the body, and not to have to process reactions through the [discursive] mind” [44] and similarly,
Iwasaki [45] more recently explained that, in a manner
“somewhat analogous to the western concept of “low”
[36], “Jing Jie” is considered the highest pursuit of leisure for many Chinese people, which can be experienced through the harmony with nature and through
creative or martial arts” [45-48]. As Csikszentmihalyi
[36] has also informatively discussed in Flow: The
Psychology of Optimal Experience:
Instead of focusing exclusively on physical performance, as Western martial arts do, the Eastern
variety is directed toward improving the mental
and spiritual state of the practitioner. The warrior
strives to reach the point where he can act with
lightning speed against opponents, without having to [explicitly] think or reason about the best
defensive or offensive moves to make. Those who
can perform it well claim that ighting becomes
a joyous artistic performance, during which the
everyday experience of duality between mind and
body is transformed into a harmonious one-pointedness of mind. Here again, it seems appropriate
to think of the martial arts as a speciic form of
low. [36]
Also, in “On the Mental Preparation Process for
Competition”, the eight-time US National Champion
and world medalist in traditional Karate, Soolmaz
Abooali [49], offered the following relevant insight:
The most common error is to focus on too many
things. A scene in the movie The Last Samurai
dubbed this concept “too many minds” and labeled
it the antithesis of success. This is correct. The key
to performing at your best in any situation, particularly high pressure ones, is to relax and exhale
any negative and positive thoughts – simply let
them low out without affecting you. This way,
your body and spirit remain undisturbed, enabling
you to maintain mental focus and follow through
on what you’ve diligently practiced. You will be
freer to perceive and react as necessary. [49]
Faggianelli and Lukoff [50] further investigated the
experiences of participants (n = 8) that were involved
in the practice of aikido and explained how one of
the participants (Tim) responded by reporting that
“Aikido practice promotes listening, a quality of
aliveness; it’s the opposite of being in a hypnotic
trance” [50] and Schuler [51] even argued that “Flow
experience is not just a hedonic feeling that enhances
an individual’s quality of life; it is also an optimal
functional state that can lead to peak performance in
sports or music and can be a matter of life and death
in life-threatening situations. From an evolutionary
point of view, low has a high adaptive value” [51].
After all, it seems reasonable that having an exceptional ability, not only for self-defense but also for
self-regulation, thanks to the embodied kinesthetic
skill that martial arts practice affords would serve one
well throughout their life. Resultantly, since engagement or low can contribute to psychological wellbeing [3, 5, 27-36, 38-41, 52, 53], and since several
studies have indeed suggested that practicing martial
arts can contribute to engagement or low experience
[36, 43-51], there are good grounds for maintaining
that practicing martial arts can positively contribute
to psychological well-being.
This section has now reviewed the recent literature
on martial arts and engagement or low experiences
to further clarify how martial arts can function as
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a useful means for positively inluencing engagement
or low experiences. In order to further continue the
investigation of whether practicing martial arts can
positively contribute to one lourishing with greater
psychological well-being, the next section (The
Inluence of Martial Arts on Relationships) will proceed to review the recent literature on martial arts and
relationships to further clarify how martial arts can
function as a useful means for positively inluencing
relationships, and in so doing, positively inluencing
the third characteristic component of psychological
well-being (the PERMA factor R for relationships).
the Influence of MArtIAl Arts on
relAtIonshIPs
Given that psychological well-being is considered to
characteristically consist of positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment, the
third characteristic component of well-being to be considered here is (positive) relationships [3-5]. In a philosophical analysis focusing on Aristotle and friendship,
for instance, Cooper [54] suggested that “we value,
and are right to value, friendship so highly because
it is only in and through intimate friendship that we
can come to know ourselves and to regard our lives
constantly as worth living” [4, 54, 55] so prior work
in the literature has considered interpersonal relationships to be an important characteristic component of
psychological well-being. For example, Hicks and
King [56] reported inding in a study of participants
(n = 150) that individuals with strong social bonds
judged their meaning in life to be high regardless of
mood, and accordingly, that “Social relationships are
clearly an important contributor to meaning in life”
[56, 57]. Baumeister and Leary [58] also reviewed
the empirical literature to investigate whether people
need to form and maintain stable interpersonal relationships, and reported that “Existing evidence supports
the hypothesis that the need to belong is a powerful,
fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation” and
that “Lack of attachments is linked to a variety of ill
effects on health, adjustment, and well-being” [58]. In
other recent research, Noble and McGrath [59] have
further discussed how social skills that enhance cooperation and underpin positive relationships appear to
be especially important for resilience and wellbeing,
Berridge and Kringelbach [18] have pointed out that
social pleasures are often considered to be as pleasurable as the basic sensory pleasures [18, p. 4], and
Roffey [60] writes that “We often experience positive
feelings in interactions with friends that boost our resilience, conidence and a positive sense of self” so that
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“Friendship is therefore critical for our psychological
health” [60-64]. By reviewing research of this kind it
becomes increasingly evident that studies do in fact
suggest that positive relationships are an important
characteristic component of psychological well-being.
Importantly, since positive relationships can contribute to psychological well-being, practicing martial
arts can contribute to psychological well-being also
since practicing martial arts can contribute to positive relationships. And several studies have in fact
suggested that practicing martial arts can contribute to positive relationships. For example, in a study
investigating the factors that motivated participants
(n = 75) to engage in martial arts practice, Jones,
Mackay, and Peters [65] reported inding that the
four most important motivations for martial arts
participation were “‘Afiliation’, ‘Fitness’, ‘Skill
Development’ and ‘Friendship’” [65], and in another
study investigating the inluence of martial arts for
couples (n = 9) and families (n = 23) that had been
practicing (i.e. aikido, karate or taekwondo) for at
least four months, Lantz [66] reported that “The couples and families consistently reported that martial
arts study facilitates marital and family development,
and offered 12 basic themes about how this facilitation occurs”, including “self-defense, self-conidence,
physical vitality, concentration, respect, friendship,
moral development, spirit, training for life, grades,
respect for life, and the importance of the martial arts
instructor”, which “suggests that marital and family
therapists should be more active in asking their clients to consider a referral for martial arts instruction
as a useful complementary activity along with participation in marital and/or family therapy” [66]. In
other relevant research, Zivin et al. [67] investigated
whether student (n = 60) participation in martial arts at
school would inluence their level of confrontational
behavior and reported inding that “juveniles at high
risk for violence and delinquency showed decreased
violence and positive changes in psychological risk
factors after being required to take a school-linked
course in traditional martial arts” and “improved signiicantly in the areas of resistance to rules, impulsiveness, and inappropriate social behavior”, as well
as on “self-reported happiness and schoolwork and on
one measure of attention” [67]. Daniels and Thornton
[68] also investigated the relationship between martial arts practice and hostility in participants (n =
40) and reported inding that “increased training in
the martial arts is associated with low scores on the
assaultive and verbal hostility scales of the BussDurkee Hostility Inventory”, that “this effect may be
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peculiar to the martial arts”, and that “the association between martial arts and low levels of hostility
increases in strength with the number of years spent
practicing the martial arts, which supports previous
research” [68]. Daniels and Thornton [68] therefore concluded that “Increased martial arts training may serve to decrease assaultive hostility” [68].
Similarly, Twemlow et al. [69] investigated whether
the “Gentle Warrior” martial arts-based intervention
could be used to reduce aggression in children (n =
254) and found that “boys who participated in more
Gentle Warrior sessions reported a lower frequency of
aggression and greater frequency of helpful bystanding (i.e., helpful behavior toward victims of bullying)
over time, relative to boys with less frequent participation”, that “The effect of participation on aggression was partially mediated by empathy”, and that
“Results of the study provide preliminary support for
the use of martial arts-based interventions to address
bullying in schools for boys, by teaching empathy,
self-control, and peaceful strategies to resolve conlicts” [69]. Finally, in an interesting study investigating the effects of long-term martial arts practice
of form or kata techniques on the social interaction
of children (n = 15) with autism spectrum disorders,
Movahedi et al. [70] reported inding that “After
receiving Kata-based treatment, the participants of the
exercise group demonstrated a substantial improvement in social interaction”, that “social dysfunction
decreased from baseline levels by a M of 40.32%
across participants”, and that even “after 30 days of
no practice, social dysfunction in the exercise group
remained signiicantly decreased compared to postintervention time” whereas “The participants of the
control group revealed no change in their social dysfunction score across the experimental period” [70].
Resultantly, since positive relationships can contribute to psychological well-being [3-5, 18, 54-64], and
since several studies have indeed suggested that practicing martial arts can contribute to positive relationships [65-70], there are good grounds for maintaining
that practicing martial arts can positively contribute
to psychological well-being.
This section has now reviewed the recent literature
on martial arts and relationships to further clarify
how martial arts can function as a useful means for
positively inluencing relationships. In order to further continue the investigation of whether practicing
martial arts can positively contribute to one lourishing with greater psychological well-being, the next
section (The Inluence of Martial Arts on Meaning)
will proceed to review the recent literature on martial
arts and the sense meaning or purpose in life to further clarify how martial arts can function as a useful
means for positively inluencing the sense of meaning
or purpose in life, and in so doing, positively inluencing the fourth characteristic component of psychological well-being (the PERMA factor M for meaning).
the Influence of MArtIAl Arts on
MeAnIng
Given that psychological well-being is considered to
characteristically consist of positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment,
the fourth characteristic component of well-being to
be considered here is meaning [1-2]. De Muijnck [71]
for one has recently suggested that “Experiencing
life as meaningful seems to be a major component
of human well-being, and a major source of motivation for human action” [71] so prior work in the
psychological literature has considered having meaning or purpose in life to be an important characteristic component of psychological well-being. For
example, in a study on what people ind important
for a meaningful life, Crescioni and Baumeister [72]
reported that “When individuals talk of inding meaning in their lives […] they seek to interpret their own
actions and experiences in terms of an existentially
meaningful life story” that “depict actions and decisions as following from important, stable values and
contributing to the fulillment of one or more crucial
goals” [72]. In another study investigating whether
positive factors (including purpose in life, reasons
for living, and coping styles) mediated the relationship between stressful life events and suicidal behaviors among participants (n = 416) in college, Wang
et al. [73] reported inding that “Both purpose in life
and reasons for living had inverse effects on depression, the higher the purpose in life and reasons for
living, the lower the depression, and the lower the
relationship between depression and suicidal ideation/behavior”, and that accordingly, “Purpose in
life and reasons for living were found to be important predictors of suicide and may reduce the likelihood of suicidal thoughts and behaviors” [73]. In
other recent work, Bronk et al. [74] investigated the
relationship among purpose, hope, and life satisfaction among participants (n = 806) and found that identifying a purpose in life is associated with greater
life satisfaction across adolescence, emerging adulthood, and adulthood [74], Chamberlain and Zika
[75] investigated religiosity as a predictor of meaning in life in a sample of participants (n = 188) and
found that the relationship between life satisfaction
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and religiosity is mediated by meaningfulness, and
Byron and Miller-Perrin [76] investigated the relationship between faith, life purpose, and well-being
in participants (n =103) and found that “life purpose
completely mediated the relationship between faith
and well-being”, which suggests that “the impact of
faith on well-being can be explained by life purpose”
[76]. In another study investigating the presence of
meaning in life, and the search for meaning, within
four life stage groups (emerging adulthood, young
adulthood, middle-age adulthood, and older adulthood) from a sample of participants (n = 8, 756) on
the internet, Steger, Oishi, and Kashdan [77] reported
inding that, “not only do most people report that they
are more likely to feel their lives are meaningful than
not, but the more meaning in life people reported, the
greater well-being they experienced, at all life stages”
[77]. By reviewing research of this kind it becomes
increasingly evident that studies do in fact suggest
that having a sense of meaning or purpose in life is
an important characteristic component of psychological well-being.
Importantly, since meaning can contribute to psychological well-being, practicing martial arts can contribute to psychological well-being also since practicing
martial arts can contribute to meaning. And several
studies have in fact suggested that practicing martial arts can contribute to meaning. As the philosopher and martial artist Kevin Krein [78] explained
in his contribution to Martial Arts and Philosophy,
“my martial-arts training has played a key role in my
conception of who I am, what my goals are, and what
I expect to accomplish. This is also true for many of
those I train with […] people like us ind the study
of martial arts so rewarding, and meaningful”. As
Krein [78] further explained, the “Traditional martial
arts, such as Karate, provide a framework for living
a meaningful life”, and consequently, “The study of
martial art can be a very valuable addition to the lives
of people who are concerned about living a meaningful life” [78]. Indeed, in another study investigating
the experiences of participants (n = 8) that practiced
aikido, Faggianelli and Lukoff [50] explained how
one of the participants (Robert) reported that:
[Martial arts] practice is a practice to learn a certain state of being. Aikido is no longer what you
do on the mat, Aikido is what you do. In Aikido
you have some crazy attacker coming at you, and
your goal is to be relaxed and centered and calm
and able to absorb and join with, just be there with
that energy, in a way that can accept and redirect it.
66 | VOLUME 10 | 2014
A lot of what you do in therapy is the same thing
– just be there and not be overwhelmed by what’s
going on, and that has a very calming effect [50].
In “Kime and the Moving Body: Somatic Codes in
Japanese Martial Arts”, Cohen [79] further illustrated
how a martial artist’s commitment to continued martial arts practice, and the concomitant incorporation
of accumulated martial arts skill that this typically
results in, can inluence their identity and readinessto-act in the world. According to Cohen:
Learning karate means discovering it inside one’s
own moving body. Certain modes of movement
are conditions for achievement and for intentionality in the martial art’s world-of-meaning.
Having acquired those capacities of movement,
the karateka can design the karate training, and
also his/her own body, to suit the goals, in that way
embodying karate. Only a karateka who is proicient in the use of kime and other somatic abilities
developed through training, can be active and successful in the world of karate. Moreover, the signiicance of using kime goes beyond its practical
value in combat; the very essence of karate training, of its interactive sociality, is to develop kime,
as the revelation of potentialities hidden within is
the essence of karate. [79, 53]
Indeed, in other research investigating the inluence of
martial arts training on the self identity of female participants (n = 30) that practiced seido karate, Guthrie
[80] reported inding that “women’s self concept is profoundly altered when physically empowering activities
such as the martial arts are practiced” and that “healing from incest, rape and other forms of violence is
facilitated by martial arts/self defense training” [80].
In another study investigating the signiicance of leisure for female participants (n = 48) with depression,
Fullagar [81] also reported inding that “Women talked
about how they engaged in leisure “for” themselves
(e.g. alone or with others) to deal with multiple pressures and to experience a different sense of self” and
that eight female participants speciically mentioned
“walking outdoors and martial arts (e.g., tai chi, tai
kwon do, karate)” as the leisure activities they practiced for the purpose of recovering from depression.
As Fullagar [81] explained, “Leisure igured as a site
of identity transformation where women enacted creative, embodied, and connected subjectivities” and that
“The recovery practices adopted by [these] women
were signiicant not because of the “activities” themselves but in terms of the meanings they attributed to
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Croom AM – Embodying martial arts for mental health...
their emerging identities”. Resultantly, since meaning can contribute to psychological well-being [3, 5,
71-74, 76, 77], and since several studies have indeed
suggested that practicing martial arts can contribute to
meaning [50, 78-81], there are good grounds for maintaining that practicing martial arts can positively contribute to psychological well-being.
This section has now reviewed the recent literature on
martial arts and meaning to further clarify how martial arts can function as a useful means for positively
inluencing the sense of meaning or purpose in life. In
order to further continue the investigation of whether
practicing martial arts can positively contribute to one
lourishing with greater psychological well-being,
the next section (The Inluence of Martial Arts on
Accomplishment) will proceed to review the recent literature on martial arts and personal accomplishments
to further clarify how martial arts can function as a useful means for positively inluencing personal accomplishments, and in so doing, positively inluencing the
ifth and inal characteristic component of psychological
well-being (the PERMA factor A for accomplishment).
the Influence of MArtIAl Arts on
AccoMPlIshMent
Given that psychological well-being is considered to
characteristically consist of positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment, the
ifth and inal characteristic component of well-being to
be considered here is accomplishment [3-5]. Seligman
[3] considered accomplishment to be an important
characteristic component of psychological well-being
since “Many people are motivated to achieve, to have
mastery, to have competence, even if it brings no positive emotion, no engagement, no relationships, and no
meaning”. In “Achievement and the Meaningfulness
of Life”, James [82] similarly argued that, “All other
things being equal, a life with some achievements in
it is more meaningful than one without any achievements” [82]. So prior work in the psychological literature has considered accomplishments to be an important
characteristic component of psychological well-being.
Kaplan and Maehr [83] for one investigated the role
that achievement goals play in facilitating the psychological well-being of students (n = 168) and reported
that “Pursuing task goals was found to have a signiicant
positive relationship with all indices of well-being, as
well as with perceptions of academic eficacy and GPA”.
Avey et al. [84] also conducted a meta-analysis that
included 51 independent samples (n = 12, 567 employees) for the positive core construct of Psychological
Capital (PsyCap) – which consists of “the psychological resources of hope, eficacy, resilience, and optimism”
– and reported that PsyCap “is signiicantly and strongly
related to employee attitudes generally considered desirable by human resource management”, including “job
satisfaction, organizational commitment, and psychological well-being at work” and “is negatively related
to attitudes considered undesirable, such as employee
cynicism, turnover intentions, and employee stress
and anxiety” [84]. Avey et al. [84] further reported that
“employees’ PsyCap [which includes hope, eficacy,
resilience, and optimism] was positively related to their
generally recognized desirable behaviors, such as organizational citizenship behaviors, and negatively related
to their undesirable behaviors, such as deviance”. And in
another study, Hassanzadeh and Mahdinejad [85] investigated the relationship between happiness and achievement motivation among graduate students (n = 50) by
having them take the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire
(OHQ) and Achievement Motivation Questionnaire
(AMQ) and reported inding that there was “a significant relationship between happiness and achievement
motivation” [85]. By reviewing research of this kind it
becomes increasingly evident that studies do in fact suggest that accomplishments are an important characteristic component of psychological well-being.
Importantly, since accomplishments can contribute
to psychological well-being, practicing martial arts
can contribute to psychological well-being also since
practicing martial arts can contribute to accomplishments. And several studies have in fact suggested that
practicing martial arts can contribute to accomplishments. As the philosopher and martial artist Kevin
Krein [78] explained in his contribution to Martial
Arts and Philosophy:
Martial arts provide a lifetime of opportunities for
self-improvement. The study of a traditional martial art provides a framework in which to situate
one’s continual development as a human being.
The emphasis on striving for perfection of both
mind and body make the dojo an ideal place to
continue to recreate ourselves by going beyond our
current understanding and abilities [78].
In a review of the literature on martial arts practice,
Twemlow and Sacco [86] further illustrated how
a martial artist’s commitment to martial arts practice, and the consequent conditions for training and
testing that this often results in, may come to inluence that martial artist’s sense of accomplishment. As
Twemlow and Sacco [86] illustrate the point:
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Rankings within the martial arts offer students
concrete status and recognition. Unlike many dysfunctional homes, the training program provides
consistent, positive reinforcement for altruistic and focused behavior. Out-of-control behavior is quickly discouraged and, more importantly,
acceptable behaviors are clearly presented and
easy to follow. Belt testing, patches, and special
rewards, combined with an encouraging milieu,
provide an antidote to negative family, community, and school experiences [86].
In other relevant research, Ko, Kim, and Valacich [87]
investigated the motivational factors that inluenced
participants (n = 307) to practice martial arts and
reported inding that the participants were “attracted
by personal growth opportunities offered in martial
arts training”, and that “Other than cultural learning, all growth-related factor means were high (i.e.
achievement, self-esteem and value development).
In other words, martial arts practitioners perceive that
personal improvement is the most important beneit
of martial arts training”. Resultantly, since accomplishment can contribute to psychological well-being
[3, 5, 82-85], and since several studies have indeed
suggested that practicing martial arts can contribute to
accomplishment [78, 86, 87], there are good grounds
for maintaining that practicing martial arts can positively contribute to psychological well-being.
conclusIon
Although the question of what constitutes human lourishing or psychological well-being has long remained
a hot topic of debate among scholars since at least the
time of Aristotle [4], it has recently been argued in the
literature that a paradigmatic or prototypical case of
human psychological well-being would largely manifest most or all of the ive characteristic components
discussed in this article, including positive emotion,
engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment [3, 5, 6]. Prior work by scholars such as
Woodward [16] also suggested that the martial arts
offer health-promoting and meaningful exercise for
millions of people with beneits that include “better
overall health and balance, as well as an improved
sense of psychological well being” [16] so it seemed
plausible that practicing martial arts could positively
contribute to one lourishing with greater psychological well-being. Nonetheless, recent studies on martial
arts had not yet been reviewed and integrated under the
PERMA framework from positive psychology to further explore and explicate this possibility.
68 | VOLUME 10 | 2014
So in order to further investigate whether martial arts practice could be used to help one lourish
with greater psychological well-being, this article
reviewed and discussed recent research from martial arts and psychological well-being to investigate whether practicing martial arts could be used
to positively inluence emotions, engagement or
low experience, interpersonal relationships, the
sense of meaning or purpose in life, and personal
accomplishments. Speciically, “The Inluence of
Martial Arts on Positive Emotion” drew upon the
literature to argue that martial arts can be used to
positively inluence emotions, “The Inluence of
Martial Arts on Engagement” drew upon the literature to argue that martial arts can be used to positively inluence engagement or low experience,
“The Inluence of Martial Arts on Relationships”
drew upon the literature to argue that martial arts
can be used to positively inluence interpersonal
relationships, “The Inluence of Martial Arts on
Meaning” drew upon the literature to argue that
martial arts can positively inluence the sense of
meaning or purpose in life, and “The Inluence of
Martial Arts on Accomplishment” drew upon the
literature to argue that martial arts can be used to
positively contribute to personal accomplishments.
In this way the present article contributes to the
extant literature on martial arts and psychological
well-being by undertaking an integrative review of
the literature to demonstrate that practicing martial
arts can positively inluence all ive of the characteristic components of psychological well-being
(PERMA), and consequently, that there is good reason to believe that practicing martial arts can positively contribute to one lourishing with greater
psychological well-being or mental health. In short,
I have argued here that martial arts practice and
participation (usually with others) on a regular
basis is an active and productively effective form
of activity that typically engages a variety of different intrapersonal cognitive-emotional components
(such as those involving memory, affect, and sensorimotor integration) as well as interpersonal social
partners (such as those that one practices forms or
kata with, or competes with in freestyle competition), and that consequently, practicing martial
arts is a genuinely productive activity that is fully
capable of positively inluencing both our personal
and social lives.
coMPetIng Interests
The author declares that has no competing interests.
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Croom AM – Embodying martial arts for mental health...
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Cite this article as: Croom AM. Embodying martial arts for mental health: cultivating psychological well-being with martial arts practice. Arch Budo Sci Martial Art
Extreme Sport 2014; 10: 59-70
70 | VOLUME 10 | 2014
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