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DOES THE BODY AFFECT THE MIND? 

There is little doubt any longer that the body has a great influence on the mind, and that participation in sports can affect mood if not behavior. 

Berger and Owen (1988) investigated the effects of swimming, body conditioning (weight lifting and running), hatha yoga (an eastern, non-martial art) and fencing (a non-eastern combat art) on stress reduction. The components of exercise which were thought to best facilitate psychological benefits, especially stress reduction, included: 1. an aerobic component, 2. a non-competitive aspect, (competition was assumed to be inherently stressful) 3. predictable elements, (so that the exerciser can tune out the environment), and 4. a rhythmical nature (again to encourage the mind to wander). The last two aspects were thought to provide a "time out", which would, in itself, reduce stress. For instance, just sitting in a chair and relaxing reduces stress. Anxiety and depression both decline when the subject is engaged in hobbies and in exercise. In contrast, anger and fatigue are decreased only with exercise. 

Other factors involved in physical activities which reduce stress include: 1. frequency, (benefits from exercise are usually short term so one must exercise regularly) 2. intensity (moderate, not mild or intense) and 3. duration (at least 20 to 30 minutes, with 60 being better). The activity should also be pleasing and enjoyable since one is not likely to exercise if it is distasteful, and doing something one doesn't like is not usually relaxing. 

In the study, no long term effects (from the beginning to the end of a 14 week semester) were noted but low intensity exercise was found to improve mood during the class, as did high intensity exercise. Swimming has been associated with short term increases in vigor, and decreases in confusion, stress and anger. Contrary to expectations, swimming showed little effect on the subjects in this study, but the authors note that the swimmers were in a good mood before their exercise period began, thus masking any mood improvements. 

Body conditioning exercise served to increase feelings of fatigue, with no other mood effects. The authors speculate that this may have been due to the stress being intense and not moderate, and the running being interval training, a series of short, fast runs at 90% of maximal heart rate, rather than a long slow run (LSR) type. In other tests weight lifting was shown to enhance self concept and lower stress. Running (LSR) has been well documented as a method of stress relief. 

Information on the effects of breath control, and relaxation, especially as practiced in hatha yoga, is sparce. There are indications that the right and left nasal air passages are linked with right and left hemisphere activity. Breathing is also used in chronic pain control methods. The study showed that yoga was from the first class, a good method of reducing stress, so it would seem that there is no need for long practice of the skills before seeing the benefits. Yoga teaches breathing awareness, self regulation, conscious relaxation of muscles, and an internal awareness, skills common to many stress reduction programs. Abdominal breathing has been associated with regulation of the autonomic nervous system while shallow thoracic breathing is associated with stress. The researchers assumed that fencing would have no effects at all since it satisfied none of the main criteria for stress reduction. In fact few effects were seen but students did show more vigor after their classes. 

The authors concluded that exercise which encourages abdominal breathing, is noncompetitive, predictable, and rhythmical is stress reducing. 

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF COMBAT ARTS 

Kroll (1967) gives 4 possible links between psychology and sport: 

1. Personality factors may cause individuals to select and participate in a sport. People will choose the sports that most suits their personality. In this case, beginners and advanced students will show similar personalities. 

2. There may be no pattern for entry to a sport but either personality changes or attrition of non-desirable pattern types means that those with suitable psychologies remain and are successful. Choosing a sport may be random but the sport may either change your personality, or only those with suitable personalities will remain after a certain time. 

Beginners will not show a similar personality pattern but advanced students will. 

3. There may be no connection at all, no discrimination. The choice of a sport is random, and the sport may not have any effect at all. 

Neither beginners nor advanced students will show any pattern in their personalities. 

 4. Those entering a sport may show a similar pattern but changes and attrition may cause the pattern to become non-discriminating. People may choose a sport that suits their personality but changes and dropouts will be random. 

In this case, beginners will show a similar pattern of personality but advanced students will not. 

Kroll studied collegiate wrestlers who were of superior, excellent or average skill. All wrestlers were scored on Form A of the Cattell Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF test) which is based on factor analytic research and purports to measure all the main and separate dimensions of personality demonstrated as factors capable of differentiating people. The wrestlers were different from population norms, being more tough minded, self reliant and masculine. In this study, the wrestlers were not more neurotic as was previously reported. No differences in personality were found between wrestlers of different skill levels. 

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF MARTIAL ARTS 

Cox (1993) reviews the literature on the martial arts, giving an overview of the personality traits of martial artists, the role of imagery in training, the biomechanics of karate techniques, fitness attributes of martial artists, and the application of martial arts training to the physically challenged, and as clinical aids to therapy. He concludes that the common image of the martial artist portrayed in the movies does not fit the actual profile. Martial artists do not start their studies as more aggressive than the average person, and become less so as they continue their study. They may also become less anxious, more self-confident and have higher self-esteem as a result of their studies. 

 Kroll and Carlson (1967) note that combat sports may provide a chance to display prowess or masculinity, to develop self confidence, release tension and sublimate aggression. Karate is suggested as having several advantages as a combat physical education system in that a) women can participate, b) as a method of self-defence karate may be considered superior to amateur boxing or wrestling, c) karate effectively develops certain muscular strengths and d) the emphasis on wholesome character attributes and etiquette rituals is desirable in attempts at amoriolation of asocial tendencies. 

The authors studied karate students from several different clubs, defining a senior as having more than 1 year experience, an intermediate as more than 6 months and a beginner as less than 6 months. The 16 PF test showed no differences between beginners and advanced students, or with the normal population. Since the researchers used several different clubs and defined seniors as having one year or more of experience, there may not have been any differences to see due to their almost uniform inexperience. The wrestlers in Kroll's other study (Kroll 1967) would all have had many years of training and also showed no differences. If differences are slow in developing, the wrestlers would show differences (as they did) from the population norm while the karate students might not. 

Frager (1969) analyzed the psychological makeup of the Japanese Samurai for Psychology Today magazine. His initial case study was Musashi Miyamoto so he presumably meant to analyze the Samurai class of the Tokugawa era although he also includes examples of training which extended through the Meiji period and up to the present day. 

The Japanese had an interest in the training of the warrior class and approached the problem in an empirical and practical way, basing their psychology on observable behavior and concrete achievements in contest and battle. Frager pointed out that the training goals of the martial arts are slightly different from what most people expect from sports. The aim of training is never mere technical excellence or efficiency, that is merely a byproduct of the development of perfect form and concentration. The discipline of the martial arts was so demanding that it reshaped the student mentally and physically in every action. A man who achieved mastery of an art would show this in his every action. The idea was to develop concentration, and attention; to control the emotions, especially fear and anxiety. 

The method of training involved little stress on intellectual explanation, direct experience was most important. Teachers showed students the value of self control directly, they didn't just talk about it. Mental development was highly valued, especially over mere technical skill. The teachers deliberately set out to improve physical skills through mental discipline by developing the powers of attention and concentration, and by eliminating the fear and nervousness which will inhibit performance. Frager notes that fear and anxiety, in small amounts may increase performance, but in larger doses will make it much more difficult to distinguish danger from trivia. Fear also causes greater rigidity in the response pattern which becomes more stereotyped and habitual. Reducing fear involves eliminating the fear of dying, and making a calm mind by creating a balanced and relaxed body. Learning to work with the hara, the lower abdomen, which is also the physical centre of balance is critical to this. 

The mental abilities to be developed included vigilance, a response to certain classes of stimulus, and concentration, the ability to exclude irrelevant stimuli. Concentration is contrasted to absorption which occurs when the mind is passive, and caught up by the object. When the mind is absorbed, important stimuli are missed. This concept is what the priest Takuan Soho (1988) called fushin or "frozen mind", the condition where the mind is dragged around by the object of attention. When it is concentrated, the mind is actively directed at the object. It is like a mirror, reflecting just what is there. Takuan called this fudoshin or "immovable mind", the state where the object of attention cannot move the mind. Frager states that this mastery of the self through martial arts inevitably transcends the art and moves into all aspects of life. 

Pyecha (1970) set up an experiment that studied subjects over a period of time. While the potential was there, this experiment was not reported as a longitudinal study. Instead, Pyecha compared two periods of Physical Education courses to two consecutive 8 week periods of Judo training. Control I was 8 weeks of handball followed by 8 weeks of volleyball. Control II was 8 weeks of badminton followed by 8 weeks of basketball. Form A of the Cattell 16PF test was administered pretreatment, at 8 weeks and at 16 weeks. The study was done on a random sample of male freshmen, who were non-varsity athletes. All classes were taught by Pyecha, twice a week in two 8-week sets. 

The control groups did not differ one from the other, and showed parallel changes in personality factors over time at both 8 weeks and at 16 weeks. Eight weeks of handball had the same effects as 8 weeks of badminton and 8 weeks of volleyball following 8 weeks of handball showed the same effects as 8 weeks of basketball following 8 weeks of badminton. 

When the first Judo class was compared to 8 weeks of badminton and 8 weeks of handball, the Judo class showed a different set of personality changes. Judo I was higher than the controls on factor A. The Judo students were more sociable, good natured, easygoing, cooperative, attentive, softhearted, kindly, trustful, adaptable and warmhearted. A lower score on factor A implies a personality more aggressive, grasping, critical, obstructive, cool, aloof, hard, precise, suspicious, rigid and cold. 

When the personality changes after the second set of Judo classes was compared to the 16 week scores of the controls, no differences were seen. Two 8 week sessions of Judo had the same effect on the students as did 8 weeks of volleyball following 8 weeks of handball or 8 weeks of basketball following 8 weeks of badminton. 

Just what mechanism was involved in changing the personality of the Judo students in a different way than that of the control students during period I, is not suggested by Pyecha, who, in the introduction, notes the acclaim the Japanese have for Judo's significant contribution to personality and character development. Pyecha also does not attempt to explain why there was no difference between students of the control groups and the Judo students after 16 weeks either. 

Judo is an individual sport, as are handball and badminton, the period I controls, while volleyball and basketball, the period II controls, are team sports. If we suppose that some aspect of Judo itself, or of the way it is taught, may operate on students in the same manner as does a team sport, then the results could be explained. A difference in factor A is seen when comparing Judo to individual sports such as handball and badminton but this difference is eliminated after the control students participate in 8 weeks of a team sport. It remains to be shown how Judo is similar to a team sport and how it is different from an individual sport. Duthie et al. (1978) suggest that the close physical contact involved in Judo might explain the differences between it and the relatively non-contact control sports. 

 Greene and others (1974) used the Hand test, a measurement scale developed by one of the authors, to evaluate intermediate Moo Duck Kwan (Tang Soo Do) Korean Karate students and on controls in other phys-ed classes. There were no differences on 21 of 24 scales. The karate students differed on "facade self", the basic reality contact or the basic defence and coping mechanisms for dealing with the world. This facade self contrasts with the introspective self, a system that comprises the individual's recognition of his behavior, fantasies and ideals. According to one of the authors, personality operates through these two "faces" with the introspective self evaluating and correcting the facade self. The non-karate group showed higher scores on affection, dependancy and total number of responses (which is said to indicate a better psychological responsiveness to outside stimuli, a better reserve of potential responses). Karate students were more constricted and inflexible, less affiliative and deferential. 

Interpersonal aggression was equal for both groups, as was the mean need to dominate and control others. Karate students showed less desire to associate with others for pleasurable experiences. The authors suggested that Karate students may picture the world as an unfriendly place and tend to back off. 

In a study of this type, it is difficult to say whether the karate students exhibited this personality type before joining the class, or whether they developed it as a result of participating in the class. The authors suggest that individuals may turn to karate not just to obtain physical exercise, but because of definable psychological needs and attitudes. 

Duthie and others (1978) examined two groups of karate students. One which was defined as superior, members being listed in a Who's Who of martial arts, was much older and more experienced than an average group consisting of two karate clubs. Duthie noted that earlier studies showed no differences between groups of martial artists but did show differences with the general population. This might suggest that there is a self-selection to join the martial arts and Duthie wished to test this. 

These researchers used the Adjective Checklist, a 300 word list that subjects check off, to measure personality, and a Martial Arts Questionnaire of their own design to gather background information on martial art style, expertise and attitude. On examination, the superior group was found to be higher than the average karate group on: defensiveness, self confidence, achievement, dominance, endurance, affiliation, heterosexuality, exhibition, autonomy and number of favourable adjectives checked. They scored lower on: succorance, abasement and counseling readiness. This implied that the advanced karate group were outgoing extroverts somewhat aware of the social environment who look at their selves positively and are trying to get ahead in life. 

The difference between the two groups might suggest that training causes changes in personality, even if the students were originally self-selected to join. An alternative explanation might be that the superior group displayed precisely those personality traits that, had they owned them when they began their training, would result in their advancing and eventually rising to the top of their chosen field. In this case, those superior people measured were simply those who, due to their personalities, were followed by others less disposed to leadership roles. In a longitudinal study it would be possible to measure individuals at the beginning and at the end of a training period, eliminating these problems of both prior selection to join, and of the differential advancement of certain personalities. 

Konzak and Boudreau (1984) studied male and female, university aged, traditional karate students. This was a cross sectional study with respect to belt level. The students were separated into three groups; beginner, (2 weeks training) intermediate (6 months and at least green belt level) and advanced (black belt, with at least 3 1/2 years training) 

The authors point out that mental health is not just the absence of illness, but is an overall sense of wellness, in body and mind. Much of the recent self help and human growth interest concentrates on Eastern approaches which recognize this idea. The underlying reality of Karate is explained as self discipline, self awareness, control, mind-body harmony, mental strength and relaxation, and personal development. The training is designed to improve mental discipline, concentration, relaxation, self awareness and the feeling of personal competence, it is not mainly about physical skills. 

There are several ways of looking at martial arts, as an art form (giving grace and inner expression), as meditation, as a competitive non-contact sport, or as kick boxing. Konzak and Boudreau separate the arts into two general classes. Traditional training focuses on the art/meditative aspects while "modern" training concentrates on the sport/competitive aspect. Traditional training gives little time to tournament competition, stressing mainly mental discipline, character and physical skills. 

The authors used Cattell's 16PF test and performed a preliminary analysis of characteristics for male and female students. The majority (40 of 42) of female students fit the "female profile" and had a feminine gender identification while the majority (34 of 42) of male students had a male gender identification. This same analysis was carried out on the separate beginner, intermediate and advanced students showing that 83% of male beginners were most similar to the other beginners, while 81% of female beginners were also most similar to other beginners. 83% of both male and female intermediate students were most similar to other intermediate students while 100% of advanced students of either sex were most like other advanced students. 

Female advanced students differed from both beginners and intermediate females, as well as from the general female population. They were more intelligent, emotionally stable, assertive, lively, venturesome, trusting, imaginative, forthright, self-assured, and relaxed than women in the lower rank groups. Male advanced students were more intelligent, emotionally stable, lively, expedient, venturesome, tender-minded, imaginative, forthright, self assured, self sufficient and relaxed than the beginning or intermediate male students or general population males. 

Of particular note was that while both advanced males and females differ from less advanced karate students and from the general population of males and females, they were quite similar to each other. The differences in gender identity were much less evident in advanced students than in beginner or intermediate students. Konzak and Boudreau state that "In this sense, the test results suggest the effects of karate training are not based on a particular sexual stereotype. Strength need not be machismo; sensitivity need not be weakness. 

It has been said that the woman who most needs liberating is the woman in every man and that the man who most needs liberating is the man in every woman. From these results it would seem that karate training is very effective means to achieve this form of harmony." (p.4) 

It should be of great interest to those dealing with gender issues that martial arts training would seem to have the potential to create an equality between the sexes, at least with regard to gender identification within each person. It has often been suggested that a more feminine male would be more sensitive to women's issues and it would perhaps be reasonable to assume that a more masculine woman would be more understanding of men. Later in this paper we will discuss the idea of a physical equality between the sexes when we examine self defence courses. 

The Konzak and Boudreau paper is a cross sectional study and therefore the question of self selection comes up again. If there were true self-selection, with students dropping out to create the differences in personality factors measured, as opposed to the students actually changing, then the intermediate level should be a mix of the beginner and the advanced characteristics. In fact the middle level had its own distinct pattern which was different from that of either beginner or advanced students. 

In personal interviews; 93% of the students said that karate had an effect on their lives beyond the physical. 79% said the training enhanced their sense of general assertiveness, and the women felt it made them more assertive in their relations with men. Some students said they were now more aggressive and assertive, while some said they were less aggressive and had more self control. 21% said they felt there was no change in aggression. The authors point out that this apparent difference in levels of aggressive feelings may point more to the various meanings attached to that word than to anything else. Of the students interviewed, only a small minority reported that they did not feel changed and changed for the better by the classes. The most discriminating factor in the analysis was the intelligence level, the authors suggested that this factor probably works through an improved ability to analyze, concentrate and relax, to improve scores on logistic tests. The class etiquette stressed humility, concentration, respect and relaxation. Talks on philosophy during class, and group reinforcement of ideals led to a greater sense of community belonging. It is postulated that a mechanism of high powered re-socialization (brainwashing) is responsible for the changes in the students, the rhythmic breathing during training inducing what is almost a self hypnosis. The authors caution that with this power to change, it is important that the teacher be knowledgeable, as a bad instructor might actually cause damage to the students. Karate training is proposed by these authors as a good self help mechanism. 

Richman and Rehberg (1986) examined self-esteem before a sport karate tournament and the effect of winning a trophy during the competition. Students were grouped into beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert groups. The Rosenberg self-esteem scale, a series of 10 questions designed to assess self esteem, was used, along with questions designed to give a self analysis rating in comparison to martial artists at an equivalent belt level. 

Novices showed lower self-esteem than the other three groups while the other three were not different from each other. When compared to members within their own club, self-esteem was related to self-perception, but not self ratings of sportsmanship or discipline. Self-perception in this case is very similar to the concept of perceived self-efficacy which is examined by Ozer and Bandura (1990) and reviewed later. Self-esteem related to self-discipline when compared to others across the USA. Trophy winners had greater self-esteem before the competition than did non winners. 

The authors concluded that 1-2 months of karate training was enough to raise self-esteem. Measures on the groups that trained for longer periods showed no changes in this measure. The self-perception of ability related to self-esteem. Self-perception of physical condition and self- discipline was also important to self-esteem, and self-esteem predicted performance. In this study then, it would seem that karate students have a realistic appreciation of their own abilities, and that possession of these abilities is related to their self-esteem. Training in karate does not seem to result in unrealistic appraisals of one's abilities. 

This finding agrees with other work which would indicate that physical education students in general have a realistic perception of their own physical abilities and skills, and that this internal perception relates to both self-esteem and success. 

Layton (1988) compared traditional Shotokan Karate students and dan ranks using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The dan ranks ranged from 5 to over 20 years of experience. No differences were seen in personality when levels of dan grade were compared however. Dan ranks were less extraverted and neurotic than the student ranks. On the measures of psychoticism there were no differences. Layton suggested that those who are less extraverted, who are more susceptible to conditioning and are inclined to live their lives within relatively precise and narrow parameters are predisposed to reach the higher grades of karate which is a highly ordered and personal artform. A similar mechanism may account for the lower neuroticism scores of the dan grades as those who are calm and controlled will be able to better handle the demands of this martial art. As this was a cross sectional study, Layton suggested that selection (student drop-out) may account for a large proportion of the differences between student and dan grades. 

Layton (1990) then reported another cross sectional study of traditional Shotokan Karate students using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory of Spielberger et al. (1970 the state-trait anxiety inventory: test manual form x Palo Alto Calif. Consulting Psychologists Press.). Subjects ranged from novices to some black belts with 23 years training. Again, he found there were differences between Kyu and Dan ranks on A-state and A-trait anxiety with the dan grades being less anxious on each measure. More years of training was associated with less trait and less state anxiety. Trait anxiety was not associated with dan rank but state anxiety was, with higher dan ranks showing less state anxiety. Trait anxiety is a fairly stable personality characteristic and Layton suggests that less anxious subjects might be more likely to train for longer periods accounting for the difference between student and dan ranks. Layton then cites other studies that indicate acute physical activity may lower anxiety, and suggests that karate training may also lower transitory (state) anxiety levels. Again, the need for a longitudinal study to examine changes in personality over time while training in a fighting art is apparent. 

THERAPY AND MARTIAL ARTS 

The following papers illustrate the potential role of martial arts as a therapeutic aid for the mental health community. 

Reciprocal inhibition therapy is possible using martial arts training as a method of invoking a response inhibitory to anxiety at the same time as an anxiety evoking stimulus is presented to the patient. A calming activity is practiced at the same time as an anxiety causing stimulus is presented. This linkage of stimuli weakens the bond between the anxiety producing stimulus and the buildup of anxiety. Gershman and Stedman (1971) used Kung Fu training to treat a man with claustrophobia, and Karate to treat a man with a fear of flying. The researchers found that Kung Fu exercises took the subject's anxiety levels to a rating of 0 in less than 1 minute. Graduated exposure to confined spaces while doing Kung Fu exercises allowed the subject to experience a fast recovery from claustrophobia, and remain comfortable at 6 months after the treatment. In the second case the researchers linked Karate exercises and flying, reducing the subject's anxiety levels to zero in 2 sessions. This approach was taken after trying relaxation techniques which were deemed to be too slow. Again, 6 months after treatment, the subject remained well. 

Seitz et al. (1990) recommended investigating martial arts as a model for energy management when looking at mental health. Both disciplines focus on intrapsychic and interpersonal energy, as well as the energy of being and existing. The martial arts focus directly on the energy involved in dealing with our own emotions, perceptions of trust and fear, and conceptions of reality. They also suggested that the martial arts may serve as models for interpersonal relationships and the relationship of person to world. Both the therapist and the budoka deal with the energy (called ki in Japanese) of being. The timing of a specific intervention by a therapist can be compared to the timing of swordsmanship, both involve actions that must occur at specific moments in order to be effective. In the words of the authors; "The martial arts have some important things to say in the area of mental health, particularly in terms of energy"

MEN, AGGRESSION AND COMBAT ARTS 

One of the most often stated goals of training in the martial arts is to reduce aggression and increase self control. In older studies, two opposing theories on aggression were often proposed. The catharsis theory attempted to explain a reduction in aggression through combat arts by supposing that these arts provided a socially acceptable way to act out violence, thus "bleeding off" the impulses. The circular theory assumed that aggression is increased through exposure to aggression. The position of these two theories in sociological research has been discussed. 

The anthropological lesson from non-literate societies is clear. Whatever genetic potential we may have for aggressive behavior, early conditioning in cooperative behavior, and the discouragement of anything resembling aggressive behavior serve to make an individual and a society essentially unaggressive and cooperative. It remains to be seen what effect the fighting arts may have on adults, who have gone through their early conditioning, and on children who are still being socialized. 

Johnson and Hutton (1955) wished to test the generally accepted idea that sports provide an outlet for powerful emotions which are accumulated in the course of daily living. This idea of a catharsis was first introduced by Aristotle who used it in the sense of a psychological cleansing through watching tragic drama. In discussing this, the authors point out that unlike drama, sports are highly structured and rule bound and include no terrible punishments for transgressors as are found in classical drama. It is possible then, that with no punishment for the overtly displayed aggression of violent sport, the athlete might experience strong feelings of guilt rather than a catharsis. Another possibility might be that sports simply provide an outlet for a drive for physical activity and that the strict rules prevent any possibility of emotional release. Finally, it is possible that these same rules might function as a frustrating restriction which could actually lead to greater aggression. 

The authors tested intercollegiate wrestlers three weeks before the first match of the season (control condition), four or five hours before the first match (pre-competition), and the next morning after that (post-competition). Previous research had shown wrestling to be associated with exceptional emotional stress. Buck's House-Tree-Person test of personality was used. This projective test, which involves drawing a house, tree and person with crayons, was thought to be suitable as it had a low refusal rate when applied to subjects in a highly disturbed emotional state. Before the first match, the wrestler's IQ estimates dropped from an average of 110 to 92. The subjects showed increased anxiety, compulsiveness, neurosis, and body consciousness. They were more aggressive but under strict control, tending to be intrapunitive or self punishing rather than directing the aggression outward. These results could indicate the effects of pre-competition stress which results in a "general constriction of personality" in preparation for the match. 

 After the match, the IQ scores returned to normal, and the neurosis was gone. The aggressiveness of the wrestlers was lower than the control condition, regardless of whether the wrestler had won his match or not. These control scores were said to be somewhat higher in aggressiveness than would normally be found. 

The authors concluded that the results did indeed give support to the idea that sports have a cathartic effect on aggressiveness. 

Husman (1955) used a projective technique to study boxers, wrestlers, cross country runners and a non-athlete, control group. Tests were administered before during and after the sports season creating an experiment that was both cross-sectional over different sports and longitudinal with regard to one season within sports. Aggression was broken down into several types. Extrapunitiveness, where aggression is employed overtly and directed outwardly toward the environment, Intrapunitiveness, where the aggression is turned by the subject upon himself, Impunitiveness, where the aggression is evaded in an attempt to gloss over frustration. Extra-punitive ego-defence is defined as the subject acting aggressively, extrapunitively, to protect his ego. 

Boxers were found to be the least aggressive of all the groups, they showed less overall aggression than the wrestlers, the runners and the controls. Boxers had less tendency than the cross country runners and the control subjects to express their aggression outwardly (extrapunitiveness). They tended to be intrapunitive or impunitive, blaming themselves or assigning no blame for frustrations. Boxers also seemed to show less intrapunitiveness than wrestlers, runners and controls. 

After a contest, the boxers showed more super-ego (some accusation, charge or incrimination of the subject by someone else) than the controls, a result the authors suggested would indicate guilt feelings for the overt actions of the contest. 

Cross country runners tended to aggress outwardly (be extrapunitive), blame others to protect their own egos, and have more ego defence than boxers. The runners were also more extrapunitive, and less impunitive than the non-athlete control subjects. The runners had more super-ego than the controls, which the authors speculated might reflect guilt over their increased tendency to aggress against people and objects (extra-punitiveness). 

These results could indicate that those with more aggressive personalities tended to become runners while those with less aggressive personalities became boxers. This conclusion would, however, seem to be counter-intuitive. The possibility that the combat sports actually produced less aggressive students, rather than attracted them was not tested here. The effect of the sport over the course of one season was, however, tested. 

No significant differences were noted over the course of a season but the trends were reported. Aggression tended to increase over the sporting season for all athletes. Combat episodes tended to turn that aggression inward, to lower extra-punitiveness and ego defence as well. 

The authors conclude that the aggression of the boxers was significantly lower than that of the wrestlers, runners and control subjects. A season of sport participation tended to raise aggression levels according to one test, while lowering extra-punitiveness, intra-punitiveness and super-ego in another, but these results were not significant. 

These two studies tend to support the idea that combative sport lowers aggressiveness. It should be pointed out here that the aggressiveness measured in the combat athletes tended to be directed inwardly rather that outward toward others. Neither of these studies support the view that "violence begets violence", that combat sports increase the aggressiveness of the participants. 

 MEN AGGRESSION AND MARTIAL ARTS 

More recent studies on aggression have focused on the eastern martial arts rather than on wrestling or boxing (which is no longer in favour as a collegiate sport) and these will be considered next. The conflict between the catharsis and the circular theory is still present although the circular theory is now more commonly called the social learning theory. 

Kroll and Crenshaw (1970) compared Karate students to students of several other sports. The Karate students were more tense, conscientious, rule bound, and independent than gymnasts. Compared to wrestlers and football players, karate students were more self sufficient, reserved and detached. 

Rothpearl (1980) measured hostility in non-karate student control subjects, novice karate students and advanced students. Of a sample of 6 schools, 80% of were male. He found that the novice karate group showed no differences from the control students which would suggest that there is no self-selection of students on entry to the karate classes. 

The karate students as a whole, appeared moderately suspicious, and favoured indirect hostility. They would throw or break things when angry and play practical jokes rather than punch or strike. The intermediate groups were higher in measures of argumentativeness, assaultiveness, and had more varied methods of hostile expression than either the beginning or advanced students. 

Karate students of higher rank showed less anxiety and hostility (verbal hostility, resentment, indirect hostility, irritability and suspicion). He used novice students as controls in this study so that there was no possibility of self-selection on entry to the art. 

Rothpearl saw evidence for cathartic release in the advanced group, and evidence for circular effects at the intermediate level. The greater number of methods of hostile expression in the intermediate group may reflect the acquisition of new fighting skills. It was supposed that Karate training exposed students to aggression eliciters but then, (reflected in the higher belt ranks) trained the students to repress that aggression, thus they were eventually desensitized. Two possible methods for producing this result are suggested, the first is simply not fighting in a certain situation, which becomes a habit after a while. The second possibility concerns exposing students to conditions of intense competition or pain, conditions that would normally elicit fighting responses, and training the students restrain themselves. 

Nosanchuk (1981) noted that there is strong evidence from the theories and work of Albert Bandura (eg. Bandura 1973) to suggest that the acquisition of an aggressive repertoire, even if directed toward self defence, has the effect of increasing aggressive behavior. In earlier work, (Lord, and Nosanchuk, 1977) the author noted that taking a nonviolent non-retaliatory stance seems to invite physical violence. This seems to leave one with a choice of being either a victim or an aggressor. 

In searching for a third alternative, Nosanchuk noted conventional wisdom stating that training in one of the traditional Oriental martial arts should provide one with self defence skills while not raising aggressiveness. Nosanchuk also noted that learning self defence skills may actually change ones physical appearance enough to prevent problems with possible attackers and cites a magazine article on self defence where the author stated the women became more confident, purposeful and less vulnerable in their body movements. 

 To test the relationship of martial arts with aggression, Nosanchuk took measures of aggressive fantasy on traditional karate students at various skill levels. In this cross sectional study, she found that longer training was correlated with less aggressiveness. She tested 4 personality variables to try to determine the reason for the reduction; self-control, self-assertiveness, self-esteem and self-confidence. Nosanchuk studied three groups by their rank. Beginners were white and yellow belts, and advanced students were brown and black belts. Intermediate students were those between. A drop in aggressiveness was associated with increasing belt level. Self confidence rose but then fell as students of increasing belt level were examined. The reduction in aggression with increasing belt level did not seem to be associated with changes in self-control, self-assertiveness, self-esteem or self-confidence. The training program, seemed to both raise self-esteem and lower aggressiveness but independently of each other. Higher scores on self-confidence were accompanied with higher scores on aggressiveness in the intermediate belt levels, and both dropped in the higher belt levels with the seniors reporting they had much room for improvement. The sub-factor of "constructiveness" was found to be associated with lower levels of aggressiveness but was not associated with belt level. Constructiveness is involved with solution-oriented thinking. 

It is worth noting that the rise in self-confidence and aggression in this intermediate group seems to parallel the rise in argumentativeness and numbers of hostile methods found by Rothpearl in his intermediate group. A rise in self confidence may allow the students to respond to challenges more directly that previously. The subsequent drop in self confidence found by Nosanchuk and drop in aggressiveness found by Rothpearl are also likely to be linked. 

 The study of martial arts would seem to provide an alternative to being either an aggressor or a victim, since the learning of self defence skills, at least in a traditional karate class, does not seem to make one more aggressive. This finding was contrary to the expected finding and supported the conventional wisdom. Nosanchuk suggested that the mechanism for lowering aggression may be the traditional methods of training themselves. Traditional karate training, as defined by the author, stresses self control, conflict avoidance, and care in the amount of physical contact allowed during training. Other things which are stressed, include kata (patterned movements), meditation, philosophy, and respect for others. Another possible mechanism by which higher belt ranks might become associated with lower aggression is that the instructors slowly ease out aggressive students, thus selecting for low aggression. Nosanchuk proposed examining nontraditional dojos (those teaching "kickboxing" or agonistic skills only) to see if aggression rises with experience under this type of training. If it does, this would indicate something in the traditional training method which mediates this effect. The second, selection, theory could also be examined by looking at dropouts. If those who drop out of a traditional school are more aggressive than those who stay, this would suggest a method by which the higher belt levels test less aggressive. 

Nosanchuk and MacNeil (1989) questioned the impact of the acquisition of aggressive skills on aggression. They hypothesized that longer training would be related to less aggression in schools giving traditional teaching, while longer training would be related to more aggression in schools using "modern" teaching methods. In this case, traditional training is assumed to allow the study of self defence techniques without arousing aggressive feelings. There is a certain element of detachment from the violence. This result might be due to the stress on ritual fighting, or kata, which present no opponent. Another factor might be the amount of negative sanction toward violence from the sensei, who is a hypothesized to be a model of restraint and non-aggression for the students. This definition of a traditional school would tend to place it in the religious/philosophical/spiritual classification of civilian arts as proposed by the International Hoplological Society (see Donohue and Taylor, 1994). A "modern" school was classed as one which put much less emphasis on kata, as opposed to technical instruction, drill and sparring. Modern schools were also defined as those which did not disallow heavier contact to the head or other vital areas during sparring, were less concerned about respect for the teacher, the uniform and the school, and put less importance on meditation, and philosophy. Under this classification, "modern" schools were not particularly different from the "traditional" schools, but stressed other aspects of the training. There is no indication that the modern schools were sport oriented, fighting oriented (dueling) self-defence oriented or otherwise different. Perhaps the difference here was more along the lines of the perceived separation between "jutsu" and "do" forms, with an emphasis on technique as vs. philosophy. 

The authors hypothesized that the expected findings of lower aggression in traditional schools might be a result of either selection (modern schools may tolerate more aggression) or training. The authors designed a cross sectional study of 7 schools, which also included "quitters" since they would presumably have different reasons to drop out of each type of school. If selection is operating, traditional schools might show less aggressive students because those who were aggressive would be expected to drop out or switch to modern style schools. If selection is not operating on aggression, then students would quit for other reasons and should show the same aggression levels as that of the similarly experienced "stayers". All students were tested using an aggressive fantasy measurement where they were exposed to a scenario and then asked to rate how likely they were to respond in various ways. A further projective test was used based on responses to six Rosenzweig Picture Frustration items. 

The authors found that advanced "traditional" students were indeed less aggressive than basic or intermediate students. Intermediate and advanced "modern" students on the other hand, were more aggressive than basic students but this was a small difference. There was little difference between intermediate and advanced students for either style, but the modern students were more aggressive than the traditional students. The greatest differences were seen in the advanced student levels. This supports the idea that some aspect of the training in the "traditional" schools is responsible for the reduction in aggression. As both types of training are likely to be otherwise similar, future research should concentrate on these factors. 

As to the selection hypothesis, quitters showed no differences in aggression compared to stayers of comparable belt level. There were no "movers" who went from a traditional to a modern dojo. On this basis, it would seem that the selection theory was not supported. 

The authors concluded that modern training methods increased student's aggressiveness while traditional training methods reduced it. There was support for this difference being a result of training rather than of student selection. The particular mechanism of aggression reduction is still unknown, but the authors suggest: 1. The sensei operating as a model of restraint and control, 2. the effects of teaching ethics and philosophy along with the physical skills and 3. kata practice may be responsible. 

The apparent reduction in aggression in boxers reported by Husman (1955) must be reconciled with the increase in aggression seen for "modern" karate students. Is boxing, an agonistic, combat sport different than "kickboxing". One possible difference might be the intensity and frequency of training, with boxers working out much harder and more frequently than the typical karate student. Another difference might be in the method of sparring, boxers intend full contact strikes to the head and body, there is no question of who is the better fighter. As a result, boxers may learn to withhold and control their blows for the sake of continued training. Karate students on the other hand, may be able to "slip in a good one" now and then but rely largely on rules against full contact to prevent retaliation in kind. This will of course depend on the type of karate training being considered. 

A point not emphasized by the authors in this paper concerns the relatively short time it took to decrease the aggressiveness of the students. The intermediate and advanced students of the traditional classes showed roughly the same amount of aggression while the beginners showed much greater levels. It would appear from this and other work that the beneficial effects of training do not require much time to become evident. 

Trulson and Kim (1985) conducted a cross sectional study of Tae Kwon Do students using the Jackson Personality Inventory. Those students with less than one year of experience were found to be no different than the general population on several psychological measures, indicating that there was no selection occurring on entry into the martial art classes. As experience level in the martial art increased, students showed lower anxiety, a higher sense of responsibility, a decrease in willingness to take risks, they were less "radical", had increased self esteem, and were more socially intelligent. These trends were especially pronounced in the black belt levels. Other effects were seen in increased physical fitness, defence skills, self discipline, concentration, and respect. 

 The authors note that aggressiveness often comes from low self-esteem, and the martial arts may reduce aggressiveness through this mechanism. This does not agree with the Nosanchuk study above which would seem to indicate no relationship between self-esteem and aggression. 

Trulson, in a related study (Trulson, 1986) used several measures of personality to examine male "juvenile delinquents" given training in "traditional" Tae Kwon Do, "modern" Tae Kwon Do and in physical activities, all with the same instructor. Juvenile delinquents were defined as those under 18 scoring highly on psychopathic deviation (disregard for the rules expected of individuals), schizophrenia (lack of social graces and negative or "odd" behavior) and hypomania (expansive behavior, behavior not within the normal bounds of custom. These subjects also scored low on measures of interest in the opposite sex, suggesting a predominately masculine type of response. The study was longitudinal, with measures being taken before training and after 6 months of training. All classes were taught by the author. 

The "traditional" training included meditation, general and specific Tae Kwon Do exercises including kata, lectures on philosophy stressing respect, confidence, self-esteem, fitness, patience, perseverance and honour. Personal responsibility was stressed in these lectures. The "modern" training contained only free-sparring and self-defence techniques as well as other physical exercises. The control group participated in various physical activities and was intended to control for maturation and contact with the instructor. 

At the end of 6 months the "traditional" group displayed a normal psychological profile, with no delinquent traits. They displayed an aggressiveness below the average, as well as lowered anxiety, increased self-esteem, social adroitness, and orthodoxy. The "modern" training group showed a greater tendency toward delinquency than before the training, a very large increase in aggressiveness, and in general, the opposite of the other traits noted for the "traditional" group. The control group showed no changes in aggressiveness but some increase in social adroitness and self-esteem. 

The author notes the effects on aggressiveness in the "modern" group with extreme concern as there are many martial arts schools now teaching youths which may be using this type of training and which may be producing more aggressive students. 

Trulson attributes the effects of the "traditional" training to four things: 1. The instructor acts as an authority figure to the students, 2. the instructor acts as a positive role model, 3. the physical conditioning is intense and the student uses much of the excess energy possessed at this age and 4. the practice sessions incorporate philosophical/psychological conditioning. 

In a follow-up study conducted over a year after the experiment, "traditional" students were non-delinquent while "modern" and control group students were. 

Skelton et al. (1991) studied boys and girls aged 6 to 11 for aggression level with respect to five belt levels. These students were all from the same Tae Kwon Do organization. Aggressiveness was found to decline as the belt rank increased. Aggression was ranked by the parents in this case, not the children themselves. The authors note that they had no way of controlling for the effects of student selection based on drop outs in this study, and thus cannot comment on its influence on the results. 

WOMEN, FEAR, SELF DEFENCE AND COMBAT ARTS 

From an extensive review of the assault literature (Taylor 1992), it is apparent that the main concern in the self defence or martial arts training of women should be the reduction of fear and anxiety in order to increase their involvement in society. The effects of the fear of attack are of far more importance than is the actual risk of physical assault. 

WOMEN AND SPORTS 

Williams et al. (1970) noted that in general, for all sports, athletes show low anxiety and neuroticism, and are high on measures of surgency, aggression, achievement, expediency, and independence. Athletes also tend to be ambitious, disciplined, sociable, sensitive, deferential, venturesome, bold, and confident. Often however, no differences from the general population are seen. 

In this study the authors compared the results of a 16PF and an Edwards Personal Preference study, to the skill level of women fencers. National level female fencers were ambitious, had a desire to succeed, were high on abstract thinking, imaginative, and creative. They were fast learners, independent, had a below average desire to affiliate, were loners, not followers, were aggressive, had a low desire to lead or dominate but were dominant in personality. This indicates that they had no desire to either dominate or be dominated. The fencers showed average scores on stability and anxiety, were reserved rather than outgoing, and had a low desire to need or be needed. The main difference between high and low level competitors was on the factors for dominance. 

There is little doubt that physical activities such as sports can modify or change the psychological makeup of women as well as of men. 

WOMEN AND MARTIAL ARTS 

 Finkenberg (1990) was interested in exploring the relationship of martial arts to self-concept in women. He noted that many sports are reported to have a relationship with self-concept, that self-concept may be enhanced through acquisition or mastery of a new skill, and that novices are most likely to gain in self-concept through participation in physical activities. 

Finkenberg compared women in Tae Kwon Do (TKD) classes to women in general health classes (the control) using the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. This is a scale of 100 descriptive statements which the subjects use to portray his or her own self-picture by assigning each a score out of 5 from completely false to completely true. 

The study included pre-test and post-test measures making it longitudinal over the test period of 8 weeks. The subjects served as their own controls and the health class would control for other factors which might occur over the time period. Finkenberg noted that self concept and performance is related in many sports. Self concept and behavior, general personality and mental health are also related. 

Compared to the control, a health and consumer health class, the TKD class showed no difference on self criticism, moral-ethical measures, family values or behavior. The TKD class did show higher self concept. On the subscales the class also showed higher physical, personal, social identity, and satisfaction self concept than did the controls. 

The TKD class seemed to improve self concept without affecting other social values and behaviors. The authors conclude that an 8 week course of this martial art will enhance the self-concept of women. The study agrees with the findings of Duthie et al. (1978) on self confidence, and of Richman and Rehberg, (1986) on self-esteem. 

Madden (1990) noted that in previous studies of martial arts, advanced students appeared to be more mature and showed higher self-esteem than less advanced students, which was associated with winning in tournaments. Male karate students had a better body image but were otherwise similar to others in personality. Improved body self-image might be beneficial to women students. 

In studies of self-defence courses for women, students showed enhanced perceptions of efficacy and control, while exhibiting decreased feelings of vulnerability to assault and decreased anxious, intrusive thoughts. Self-Defence courses may also increase feelings of control over danger in assault victims. 

Madden notes that martial arts classes, with their stress on restraint may be counterproductive for women who might need to be taught less restraint (see Kidder et al. 1983). A study of karate classes was undertaken to test their effect on women. Previous research by Madden, at the three month point in classes, indicated that karate students felt less in control of events and more vulnerable to misfortune than did physical education students at a similar stage. This might indicate that those who feel like victims enroll in karate but it might also show that karate classes do not always enhance feelings of control. At the initial stages of training, karate classes may make students feel less able to defend themselves. 

The 1990 study was set up as a longitudinal survey over one semester of classes. Pre and post tests were done on four semesters of students. The results of the four classes did not differ from each other. The style was American karate, based on Isshin Ryu and the same syllabus was followed each semester. The course covered basic techniques, a kata, self-defence moves, limited sparring, and lectures on attitude and martial arts philosophy. The course differed from a traditional course in that instruction was given in English rather than in Japanese or Korean. 

Madden wished to examine the student's perceived control and vulnerability. A loss of perceived control is often associated with depression, so that factor was also examined. The study explored differences in the perceptions of women and men. It also explored differences in students who had been physically assaulted as compared to those who had not. 

Overall, students at the end of the course felt in better physical condition, were less depressed, and felt they had a better control over the avoidance of attack and preventing serious injury if attacked. They also felt less vulnerable to having bad things happen, to being attacked and to being injured in an attack.

 When women were compared to men, the women felt less able to control events in general, more likely to be attacked, more likely to be injured if attacked, and more vulnerable to bad things in general. The same pattern was seen in tests before and after the class, but women improved on their scores. The men also improved when compared to themselves in pre and post class testing. 

Sixty three percent of the students had been previously attacked by someone who wanted to harm them. All the attacks were physical and none were sexual in nature. When comparing students who were previously attacked to those who had not been attacked, the students who had been attacked felt less depressed, and more in control over being attacked. Madden did not report the separate results by sex. This result is similar to one reported by Ozer and Bandura (1990) described later. Perhaps students who were previously attacked have a more realistic idea of an attack and the usefulness of the techniques learned 

Contrary to expectations based on victimization literature, the attacked students did not differ from those who had not been attacked on many variables, and where they did, they felt in greater control than the others. The fact that none of these assaults had been sexual, and that they were mostly fights, broken up quickly may distinguish them from other assaults reported in the literature. 

When asked why they had taken the course, self defence was given as the reason in 66% of the cases, general health in 61%. Thirty nine percent expressed a desire to learn the skills, 34% wanted to improve their appearance through physical conditioning and the same number (34%) wanted to improve self-confidence. The same reasons were given at pre and post class testing. 

When asked, 94% of students said they were willing to hurt an attacker, and 84% said they would be able to resist an attacker. There was no change between pre and post class answers to these questions and there was no difference in answer when attacked and non attacked students were compared. The idea that Karate training increases aggression is not supported by these results since the class did not change student's expectations of resistance, although the expectations of resistance were very high, and any changes may have been masked by this. 

Madden notes that while most students join a martial arts class for self-defence, martial arts training is not exclusively self-defence oriented, and that the skills may take several years to learn. Women who wish to learn self-defence may be better off in a class devoted to teaching women self-defence. There may be differences between the effects of self-defence and martial arts training on women, and martial arts instructors should attempt to recognize women's different socialization and experience with sport. To counter these arguments, Madden noted that both sexes benefitted from the karate class in the short term (29 classes), showing enhanced feelings of control over physical assault, reduced perceived vulnerability and reduced perceived likelihood of being attacked. 

WOMEN AND SELF DEFENCE 

Kidder et al. (1983) noted that fear is the most common reaction to victimization and that fear exacerbates the victimization. After an attack it is common for fears and nightmares to persist. Fear makes assault completion much more likely. Women who had been raped, most often reacted with fear during the attack while women who avoided the attack, most often reacted with suspicion and anger at the prospect of assault. There is a general observation, there was no difference in reaction or results even when weapons are involved. The authors note that in psychological experiments it was found that women were just as aggressive as men when told their behavior was private or when their aggressive behavior was rewarded. In general however, women tended to show more indirect aggression than did men. The authors point out that self defence and assertiveness training needs to be aimed at women because they don't know "how to say no". Women must thus take responsibility for the solution to assault, while not accepting responsibility for the problem. 

In this paper three studies are presented. In the first, the authors were participant observers in two self defence classes given twice a week for 14 weeks. From the start to the end of the course, the women felt stronger, braver, more in control, and more able to defend themselves. They were both more cautious and more confident. The women learned to recognize a potential attack as well as to handle the physical aspects. In these classes the teachers told the women to "get mad if someone tampers with you without permission" to convert fear to anger. In the practical test at the end of the course, the women were attacked by members of a wrestling team. The women did indeed get angry as they defended themselves. The authors noted that students must be taught to separate consensual from offensive acts, and to define their personal space. 

The second study examined the effects of self defence on perceived rights of resistance. The authors measured student's perceptions of rights before and after the class. In one class a male instructor taught, while in another a male and female taught as a team. The classes were similar in response at the start of the training but differed by the end. The class with the lone male instructor showed a decline in the perceived right to resist from start to finish, and no other changes. In the jointly taught class students showed an increased feeling of the right to resist, the feeling that they would resist, a reduction in the feeling that they would be afraid, and a reduction in the feeling of being helpless. The class was neutral in their perceived likelihood of feeling angry. Both classes were taught the same techniques but the teaching methods were different. The single male instructor was very cautionary, warning that the techniques should be used carefully because the attacker "might be a kid" and the women "could get sued". The instructor didn't talk about the student's rights to resist. The joint instructors stressed these rights to resist. From this result it is argued that the "psychological" lessons taught in these classes are more important than the specific techniques. 

The third study was of a class of assertiveness training, teaching women to say no, as well as teaching them how to say "I want". All these classes showed an increase in feelings of the right to refuse, the right to request, and a perceived likelihood that they would refuse or request. 

Ozer and Bandura (1990) studied a Mastery Modeling program (Model Mugging) of self defence. This course stressed learning physical skills against unarmed male sexual assailants who wear special padding which allows the women to counterattack with full force. The authors looked at the mechanisms for psychological change which were involved in this program. The course showed that students developed an enhanced perceived coping ability and better thought control. They experienced a decreased perceived vulnerability to assault (fear), lower negative thoughts and lower anxiety. 

The regulation of behavior is through a person's perceived self-efficacy and through disturbing negative thoughts. Empowerment, in this study, was defined as giving students the skills and the self-belief to exert control over their own life. Empowerment works through perceived self-efficacy. Women's lives are thought to be restricted by a sense of inefficacy or the inability to cope with the threat of sexual assault. It is imperative that methods be found to reduce and control both this fear and the physical likelihood of sexual assault. The authors give a series of relevant findings from previous studies. 1. 80% of U.S. rapes are accomplished by unarmed attackers. 2. Resistance works to prevent rape. 3. Physical resistance does not increase injury. 4. Screaming plus physical resistance is the best overall strategy. 

At this point is must be noted that women need a perceived self-efficacy to resist, and they must have this even if they already posses self defence skills. Even untrained women, if they are dominant, assertive, with an internal locus of control (they believe they can affect change) are highly likely to resist an attack. These women can be assumed to have a high self-efficacy. On the other hand, having the tools of resistance does not guarantee they will be used, especially if the woman so trained does not really believe the techniques will work. 

Perceived self-efficacy affects activity, all people tend to avoid actions and environments where they believe they can't do anything to prevent discomfort. People tend to go to places they believe they can handle. The perceived self-efficacy to exert control over threatening events has a direct effect on anxiety. Threat is not a fixed quality, it is not related to "reading the signs" but is assessed by each person with relation to their perceived self-efficacy. If one feels one can cope with the situation, there is little reason to fear. If one can't cope, one tends to dwell on that inability, and fear is the result. Perceived self-efficacy also mediates anxiety and stress. Fear and stress are low when faced with an event within the perceived self-efficacy. As self-doubts in coping arise, there is a large increase in subjective stress levels and physiological stress arousal. Perceived self-efficacy also effects thought patterns. A person with a high perceived self-efficacy in controlling intrusive negative thought will attempt to control those thoughts, and succeed. A low perceived ability to control thoughts leads, by a vicious cycle to anxiety. It is not the absolute number of negative thoughts, but the perceived ability to control them that causes anxiety. 

Fear itself does not directly affect behavior, women will walk alone at night, even when they are scared to do so. The lack of fear does not cause women to neglect self protective measures. These are taken even if the women are not scared at the moment. Perceived self efficacy affects fear and action by its influence on the judgement of personal risk and vulnerability. Perceived self-efficacy is involved in the judgement of the riskiness of any particular situation. 

Belief in self-efficacy is increased by:

 1. Mastery experiences, in doing what is fear inducing. Successful performance of fearful actions means perceived self-efficacy is increased, while unsuccessful performance means perceived self-efficacy declines.

 2. Modeling experiences, watching as a model shows how to cope with a situation.

 3. Social persuasion and changing physiological states that signal strength or other desirable traits. 

The self defence course studied in this paper uses mastery modeling (1 and 2) techniques, and also provides physiological clues to self defence capacity and the verification of that ability by "fighting" the modeling attackers. The course is mainly physical, emphasizing disabling strikes to vital targets on a padded attacker. Mastery comes through student effort, while the modeling component is provided by watching instructors and other students do the techniques. 

Students were tested before and after the course and 6 months after that. Over the period of the course and at 6 months later, the students showed increased perceived self-efficacy in the ability to defend themselves, and to control potential threats. The perceived self-efficacy to control negative thoughts did not change during the course but at 6 months post-course the perceived ability to control negative thoughts was increased over the pre-course tests. It is not surprising that negative thoughts about attack should be relatively high immediately after a self defence course is completed. A stronger coping perceived self-efficacy led to a stronger thought control perceived self-efficacy and less negative thoughts. 

An important point to note is that skill level in the self defence techniques as ranked by the instructors and models was not related to perceived self efficacy. The acquisition of skills is not enough to instill the belief in the ability to use them. This finding applies directly (and negatively) to the theory that the acquisition of an aggressive repertoire leads to aggressive behavior. 

The women showed no change in their estimates of danger in society at large, just in their own ability to judge and deal with it. They showed a reduced fear of assault. Higher coping perceived self-efficacy led to a lower sense of vulnerability, lower anxiety, and a better sense of judging risk. Perceived self-efficacy of controlling thoughts was not related to perceived risk or vulnerability which would indicate that these students are not fooling themselves into thinking they are safe. The judgement of risk in general and the judgement of perceived risk are unrelated. 

In addition to these immediate effects, the women also showed an enduring increase in participation in society, they were more active in community, social and recreational activities. The perceived ability to cope with attack, or to control thoughts both led to higher involvement. A high judgement of vulnerability is related to negative thoughts, and means a reduced ability to judge risk at any time, more negative thoughts, more anxiety, and more avoidance of outside activity. 

Some of the women taking the course had been previously assaulted. The pre-course testing showed these women to have lower coping perceived self-efficacy, to be more avoidant, to have more negative thoughts, poor risk determination ability, and to have greater feelings of vulnerability. At the post-course and 6 month follow up testing, the assaulted women showed no differences from the other women. In fact, the assaulted women showed better perceived self-efficacy to control thoughts, less negative thought and lower anxiety about sexual assault. This indicates the powerful therapeutic value of self defence courses, and their ability to change psychological states. 

 The question arises, "does self defence really work, or are these women being given a false self-confidence"? No concerns of this type were voiced by those women who had taken the course. They were not more reckless, but more adaptable to situations. 

Patricia McDaniel (1993) notes that both women and men are afraid of crime but that women's fears are greater than men's even though their risk of crime and injury is actually smaller. This greater fear of crime is usually attributed to a fear of rape. 

McDaniel notes that learning self defence skills may not guarantee a woman's safety, but they do provide women with a degree of power to determine the outcome of an attack, and prevent women from automatically assuming the role of victim. The martial arts often take years to master, while women's self-defence classes teach skills which can be mastered in 6-8 weeks. This self-defence training is as much psychological as physical, helping women overcome socialized tendencies toward fear, helplessness, passivity and low self-esteem, giving them a sense of their right to protect themselves. 

The author reviews the literature on the role of physical resistance in rape avoidance and finds that there is a good case for resistance as a method to avoid attack, avoid injury, and avoid feelings of fear and helplessness. McDaniel then goes on to discuss several objections to fighting back, and the relevant research which would seem not to support these objections. 

McDaniel then reports the results of a study of fear levels in women, before and after a self-defence class. She used eight measures of fear to characterize New Zealand women in a self-defence class called "Positive Action", and compared them to a control group (YMCA fitness class). The control subjects were less fearful than the participants of the self-defence course at the beginning of the classes. At the end of the classes, the students in the self-defence course showed reductions in all fears, as well as better self-confidence than the controls. The author suggests that although most women join a self-defence class because of fear, even non-fearful women can benefit from learning these skills. 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

Henderson and Bialeschki (1993) noted that women are restricted by fears for their physical and psychological safety, psychological safety being a fear of harassment because of bad body image. They call for all health, physical education, recreation and dance professionals to address this problem but don't suggest how. 

Some immediate suggestions come to mind which may address the problems of male aggression, female fear, and perceived gender inequality. 

"Traditional" martial arts training (as defined by Nosanchuk, Madden and Trulson) should be made available to high school students. Realistically this would be in an extracurricular format since the number of instructors is limited. Traditional training would provide a way to control aggression levels in men at a critical point in their lives, when they are changing from potentially abused children to potentially abusive adults. Although studies show that it is early childhood that is the decisive time for learning aggressive or non-aggressive behavior, it is not likely that martial arts training will be acceptable in the public school curriculum in the near future. This is not to say that it is impossible to teach young children the martial arts, as the hundreds of "kids classes" across North America will demonstrate. The ability of martial arts to change the attitudes of adults, as suggested in the papers reviewed above, would suggest a similar ability to change the attitudes of adolescents. 

Martial arts training for both men and women would allow them to learn new ways to respond and deal with aggressive impulses, and to become more accepting of their alternate gender impulses, as is seen in Konzak and Boudreau (1984). Women who are more accepting of their masculine side, and men more accepting of their feminine side could contribute to a more general equality. 

Self defence training should be included in all high school physical education programs, and even, perhaps in the lower grades. It seems undeniable that self defence courses benefit women, and there is no reason to believe that they would not benefit boys as well. Self defence is not difficult to learn and teach, and the practice would fit nicely into any system of physical training currently running in schools. There is always the fear, however, that young children taught how to defend themselves would use these skills to beat up other children. 

Boulton (1991) studied playful and aggressive fighting in middle school children. He found that children have a very good sense of what is rough and tumble play and what is aggressive behavior. It was rare, in Boulton's study, to see a rough and tumble incident escalate into an aggressive incident, which would indicate that children of this age have good self-control and can limit their encounters to "agreed upon" rules. While the ability of children to distinguish between play and fighting does not guarantee that they will not use self-defence skills to hurt each other in a fight, it does indicate that they would not accidentally harm each other with the skills while playing. It could also be argued that children who wished to harm each other would find ways to do so without exotic fighting skills. The type of bare-handed self-defence skills taught to children would not necessarily concentrate on striking or throwing skills designed to damage an attacker, in fact escape and evasion skills would likely be more practical for children who lack the strength and weight to seriously damage an adult attacker. As for such skills as eye or throat strikes, children already possess this knowledge. 

There is evidence that education programs can give children who are kindergarten-aged (Harvey et al. 1988) and those who are in grades 4 to 6 (Sigurdson et al. 1987) valuable information about the prevention of sexual abuse. These children can both understand and learn this type of self-defence material. Conte and others (Conte et al. 1986) examined several sexual abuse prevention programs for young children. They state that: "The value of self-defence training may not be just in teaching children how to defend against assaults, but also that such skill increases children's confidence in their abilities to protect themselves. This increase in confidence may be assessed by potential offenders who sense the child is 'not an easy mark'" (p.149). The authors recognize that self-defence training for children is controversial but "Even if children are not likely to be successful in using self-defence techniques to resist or escape, if research indicates it does increase children's self-confidence it may be a helpful prevention technique." (p. 150) That research should be done. 

Richard Barth (Barth 1993) presents an analysis of life-skill training which may be initiated in schools. He combined training in self-protection and self-control and gave an analysis of what specific skills are needed by children from pre-kindergarten through high school age. The combination of self-protection and self-control skills is quite similar to the description of a "traditional" martial art with its combination of fighting skill and instruction in respect, etiquette, and personal responsibility.

A final comment by Conte et al. (1986) is important. They state that "sexual abuse of children is also an inherent condition of a society which allows the strong to abuse the weak." (p. 154) If self-defence training has even a small chance to equalize the power imbalance between child and abuser, or between adolescent woman and abuser, than this type of training belongs in the school curriculum. 

Even if the training is never used, it may actually be preventing abuse. Leland-Young and Nelson (1987) describe a self-defence program for women designed to prevent and treat sexual assault by re-socializing women in non-victim behavior. The program contains segments on theory, strategy and physical tactics aimed at ending, rather than winning, an encounter. The authors suggest strongly that women who take a self-defence course may actually be deterring attackers before they are aware of the potential problem. They cite research on an attacker's choice of victims which suggests that attackers may pass over non-victim-like women before settling on a passive woman. The authors estimated that women trained in their course were three times less likely to be selected by an assailant than women who had not been trained. 

Some research is still needed to clarify the best teaching methods for achieving the particular results desired. Some of the papers reviewed above (Nosanchuk and MacNeil 1989; Kidder et al. 1983) suggest that different teaching styles can give very different results. Kidder and others demonstrated that simply learning the techniques of self defence was not enough to increase the likelihood that they would be used, and some of the reasons for this were outlined in Ozer and Bandura (1990). 

It may be necessary to define not only the psychological teaching method or the physical techniques to study, but the correct combination of the two in order to produce superior students. Landers et al. (1986) studied the factors associated with good performance in a group of competitive archers. Most studies of elite athletes have concentrated on psychological measures related to performance, ignoring the physical skills in the assumption that at elite levels they are not different. The authors combined the results of the 16PF test with physical measures to obtain a good prediction of performance. This type of information could be used by coaches to design better programs for better performance. Superior archers were found to have better leg strength, and better reaction times. The most important factors were that they thought less about past mistakes, were successful in using visual imagery, and had high self confidence. Anxiety levels were not related to performance, indicating that at this level, stress is not a factor. Using Bandura's self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1977), the authors speculate that self confidence (or perceived self efficacy) is the key intervening variable between visual imagery, thinking of past mistakes and performance. Confidence has a mutual relationship with performance, improvements in one bringing about improvements in the other. 

Teaching methods for martial arts or self defence classes should take into account these findings. Physical skills should be taught in a graduated manner so that students are constantly exposed to successful performances which will raise their perceived self-efficacy at the same time as their performance improves. Visual imagery can provide a way for students to constantly review and even improve a modeled performance so methods of imaging should be taught as well. 

Seaborne (1985) investigated mental training strategies to see if they improved Karate performance. Relaxation, visualization, positive self-instruction, or coping instruction, may all be of use to some who have trouble controlling negative thoughts but not others. Seaborne studied the effects of several approaches to training over a ten week period. Training methods consisted of either individualized programs for each student, or menu type programs (a package approach) allowing students to pick their own strategies. Both methods showed better performance at the end of the period, being superior to both no strategy and randomly assigned strategies. The study underlines the importance of mental work on the control of the mind and thoughts along with physical work on the techniques. Students can pick their own mental training strategy with minimal guidance and obtain the methods they need but providing a strategy to someone who does not need that particular method is not useful. 

The value of an instructor who has a range of motivational tools to give to those who need it is obvious. This study looked at physical performance, and found that the psychological state of the performer was important. The psychological and physical effects of martial arts training are not related in only one direction. Studies have shown that physical training affects mental state, and that mental state affects physical performance. 

While self defence courses have quite definite goals and results, the martial arts have the potential to teach things other than self-control and self-defence. Which results are desired from the training may influence the training method. 

Ken Min (1979) discussed the potential role of martial arts training in the educational setting. Although his comments are concentrated on the Japanese arts and philosophy, using several Japanese terms, his comments could also be applied to other fighting arts and other spiritual traditions. 

Min pointed out that the budo are associated with mu, emptiness, "mu is an ego-less state of mind that frees one from fear and failure, even in death." To achieve this state, training in Zen meditation during a martial arts class has tremendous importance. In this respect, a martial arts class can be a "middleman" between the self and the universe. 

Most North American Universities concentrate on varsity teams to the detriment of intramural and individual sports training. There are few students involved in these sports consuming the bulk of the available resources. Min proposes that martial arts training can counteract this trend, providing a cheap alternative activity for those who are not varsity athletes. Budo training is increasing in popularity but not supported by the schools, it is not rooted in North American culture. Classes are usually presented by extramural clubs, and sometimes as part of the physed program. 

Few schools recognize martial arts as varsity sports but most universities have individual competitors and often unofficial school teams. Martial arts classes at universities are usually coed. 

Min gives several reasons why the budo are becoming popular. The first is the influence of movies and magazines which present a distorted view of the arts. The second is that they satisfy a need. In the liberal arts curriculum there should be the ideal of building the body and mind in harmony. This should be the goal of physical education in any school, not "the big game". Western sports ideals are not appealing to many, the aggressiveness and team spirit may seem wrong. Budo offers an alternative, providing self-knowledge, self-control, and unity with nature rather than self satisfaction, the defeat of others, and the control of nature. 

Budo also offers access to Eastern thought (and philosophy) unencumbered by language and culture. It teaches the five Ss (self-discipline, self-training, self-control, self-confidence, self-respect) as well as the more obvious self-defence. According to Min the most important aspect of martial arts is mental training to allow a calm response to all situations. A group of stable people can provide great assistance to unstable societies. Some of the other social benefits include the possibility of inter-sexual practice, rather than segregated sports classes, improvements in aesthetics, posture, dance, and the possibility of almost unlimited self-expression. 

CONCLUSION 

It is our hope that this review of the wide range of research literature, focused on the psychological effects of the fighting arts, will provoke thought, discussion and further research. The literature would seem to support the notion that training in the combat arts will produce psychological change in the student, at least in the short term. How these changes occur, and what the long term effects of training are, is still to be discovered. There seems to be great potential for the use of training in the combat arts to reduce aggression and assault in our society. The fact that this seems to go against common sense makes further, careful investigation of the subject most important. 

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

I would like to thank Dr. Donna Winslow of the University of Ottawa for her valuable discussion and contributions to this paper.