Abstract
Study objective: The effect of behavioral coaching on improvement of a waza (technique) in Aikido was examined. Design: Multiple baseline across participants. Setting: Training sessions were conducted in a university's dojo (Aikido training area). Participants: 3 female undergraduate students who were beginning learners. Intervention: Task analysis of the waza resulted in 5 subsets of behaviors. These target behaviors were taught through a combination of modeling, forward chaining, and differential reinforcement with verbal praise. Measures: Occurrence/non-occurrence of each target behavior was recorded on each trial, resulting in scores of 0 to 5 for each behavior. The participants were interviewed to evaluate the social validity of the training. Also, an external validation of the participants' trained performance was attempted through evaluation by a third party. Results: The training package improved the participants' waza. The outcome was evaluated as having social and external validity. Conclusion: The present results suggest that behavioral coaching could be effective for skill training in the martial arts.
