Kung Fu associations are often understood as 'families' forming broader 'family trees' or lineages operating across centuries of history as well as transcultural associations. In an effort contributing to interdisciplinary martial arts studies, this paper presents data from two qualitative studies of Western practitioners of traditionalist Chinese martial arts (TCMA) in both the West and Asia by a phenomenological psychologist and an anthropological sociologist. We assess the use of the term 'Kung Fu family', what it means to the practitioners and how it impacts on their practice and their relationships with other martial artists. We argue that the conceptual metaphor of family offers a sense of belonging and solidarity within a diverse community in terms of age, ethnicity, gender, religion and social class. Meanwhile, we explore the metaphor in terms of the micro-political power dynamics that accompany martial arts collectives. Overall, the ideal of family can illuminate how identity can transcend across time ('generations' of practitioners) and place (from and to cultures an ndence of Chinese martial arts d contingents). It is thus a way of understanding the organisation, spread and transce . eywords: Collective identity; conceptual metaphor; Chinese martial arts; family; lineage; martial arts. K La familia del kung fu: una metáfora sobre la pertenencia a través del tiempo y el espacio ResumenLas asociaciones de kung fu son entendidas, a menudo, como 'familias' que forman parte de amplios 'árboles genealógicos' o linajes, que vienen funcionando desde hace siglos, y también como asociaciones transculturales. Contribuyendo al ámbito de los estudios multidisciplinares sobre las artes marciales, este artículo presenta datos de dos estudios cualitativos sobre practicantes occidentales de artes marciales chinas tradicionales (TCMA), tanto en Occidente como en Asia, realizados por una psicóloga fenomenóloga y un sociólogo antropólogo. Hemos evaluado el uso del término 'familia del kung fu', lo que significa para los practicantes y cómo afecta a su práctica y a sus relaciones con otros artistas marciales. Argumentamos que la metáfora conceptual de la familia proporciona un sentido de pertenencia y solidaridad dentro de una comunidad diversa en términos de edad, etnia, género, religión y clase social. Paralelamente, exploramos la metáfora en términos de las dinámicas micropolíticas de poder que acompañan a los colectivos de las artes marciales. En líneas generales, el ideal de la familia puede iluminar cómo la identidad puede trascender en el tiempo ("generaciones" de practicantes) y el espacio (desde y hacia culturas y grupos). Por tanto, se trata de una forma y de entender la organización, difusión trascendencia de las artes marciales chinas.Palabras clave: Identidad colectiva; metáfora conceptual; artes marciales chinas; familia; linaje; artes marciales. A família do kungfu: uma metáfora sobre a pertença através do tempo e do espaço ResumoAs associações de kung-fu podem ser entendidas como "famílias", que fo...
Psychological collectivism, traditional martial arts, kung fu, wushu, kung fu family, membership Veronika Partikova is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sport and Physical Education at the Hong Kong Baptist University. Her focus is traditional wushu (kung fu), in which she researches psychological collectivism and mental toughness and compares traditional with modern wushu. This paper offers a new perspective for viewing traditional martial arts in terms of psychology. It argues that 'traditional' martial arts offer physical skills, moral codes, rituals, roles, and hierarchical relationships which, taken together, creates the perfect environment for psychological collectivism. Psychological collectivism focuses on individuals and their abilities to accept the norms of an in-group, understand hierarchy, and feel interdependence or the common faith of the group. First, this paper introduces the theory of psychological collectivism and connects it with traditional martial arts known as wushu or kung fu. It argues that traditional Asian martial arts create situations strong enough to activate collectivistic attributes of self and suggests that practitioners' mind-sets can be different within and outside of the training environment. This kind of collectivistic interaction may provide one explanation for how non-Asian practitioners function in such training environments and how the traditional Asian martial arts can work as psychosocial therapies.
BACKGROUND: Aim of this paper is to test the Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ) in the setting of Chinese martial arts. The target population is adult European practitioners of modern and traditional wushu. Mental toughness is an established concept of being able to perform under pressure while remaining positive and perseverant. However, it has not yet been tested on this population. It is argued that Chinese martial arts can generate unique types of pressure situations, such as dealing with pain, body to body contact, fear of sparring, and a lack of designated levels of achievement, such as a belt ranking system. METHODS: 277 respondents (85 female) were sampled from 28 countries. The exploratory factor analysis was conducted in SPSS, and internal consistency was calculated. Confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS was used to evaluate the model fit. RESULTS: The EFA resulted in losing four items, with two items switching places on the components. The model reached a good fit of x 2/df = 1.307, IFI = .965, CFI = .963 and RMSEA = .047. CONCLUSIONS: This paper provided the validation of the SMTQ scale for a Chinese martial arts setting. Researching mental skills in the specific environment of Chinese martial arts may be a fruitful direction for further research, especially when developing a mental skills training program for this population. The modified model resulting from this study is the first step in this respect. Moreover, it confirms the recently discussed multidimensionality of the mental toughness model.
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