Purpose

  Generally, people believe that learning and practicing karate cultivates and improves the mind, body, and technique through training. However, each karate master has different coaching philosophies for practicing, and it is difficult to find a consistent direction and approach for training goals. This study aims to clarify the purpose of karate practice aimed at karate masters.

Methods

  The survey was conducted using snowball sampling from July to August 2022. In open-end questionnaires or semi-structured interviews, the participants―ten karate masters (nine male, one female; mean age=45.8; SD=±19.46)―were asked to answer questions on 1) the purpose of karate training, 2) goals of adult karate trainees, and 3) the relationship between training and mind/spirituality, body/physicality, and technique. The sampling narrative data was converted to text data, and distinctions―work (morphological analysis) and co-occurrence network analysis―were conducted to verify and graphically visualize frequent wordsʼ relationships and cluster structures by text-mining studies.

Results

  The results of the text-mining analysis extracted a total of 920 words, and words repeated more than six times such as “karate,” “body,” and “keiko” (training) were accumulated, up to 15 terms. In the co-occurrence network analysis, the 10 karate mastersʼ descriptions of practicing goals can be generally classified into four categories: 1) progress and improvement through practicing; 2) progress and improvement of social skills; 3) training bodies, gaining physical strength, and learning new techniques; and 4) self-reflection.

Discussion/Conclusion

  In this study, based on the surveys conducted with 10 karate masters, the purposes of training in karate were explored as coaching philosophies of karate masters. Four categories dealing with spirituality and sociality outside technical and body/physical classes were extracted in this research data. Following famous historical karate mastersʼ coaching philosophies, current karate masters teach that karate is not only a combat technique, but also has as a primary goal the improvement and progress of karate traineesʼ spirituality/mind and training as they build their skills. Karate became an Olympic sports event in Tokyo in 2020. Still, in addition to its sporting aspect, karate is a way to improve the comprehensive strength of “mind, technique, and body,” cultivate sociality, and reconsider oneself objectively. Karate was historically affected by Buddhism in Japan, and the concept of emptiness is one of the essential spiritual states of mind that trainees hope to develop. This also shows that it should be considered different from sports competitions in that the goal is not simply to win the game but to improve sociality and humanity based on spirituality and psychology.

【Introduction】

  In sports development, natural turf or soil sports fields have been replaced with artificial turf sports fields in Japan. Incidentally, marine microplastics are one of the current worldwide environmental issues. The rubber tips of artificial sports fields are considered microplastics when released into the environment. Our previous study reported that the rubber tips of artificial turf sports fields at university A in Tokyo were released into the environment. Additionally, laboratory experiments demonstrated that goldfish (Carassius auratus), an omnivorous model fish, actively ingested the rubber tips. In this study, we examined whether rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a carnivorous model fish, ingests rubber tips collected from artificial turf sports fields at two universities.

【Methods】

  Rubber tips collected from university A, university B, or fish feed (control group) were given to rainbow trout. The fish were dissected after 60 minutes of the treatment, and the number of rubber tips in the digestive tracts was counted.

【Results】

  Rubber tips were found in the digestive tracts of the rainbow trout, whereas control fish had no rubber tips.

【Discussion】

  The results of this study revealed that omnivorous and carnivorous fish ingested rubber tips from sports fields. These results suggested that wild fish with varying feeding patterns could ingest rubber tips released into the aquatic environment. The ingested rubber tips could cause adverse effects on fish health. We discussed possible measures to prevent the harmful influence of artificial sports fields on the ecosystem.

  There are many factors that physical education teachers should consider in class. Of these, the most important is accident prevention and safety assurance. Even if several teachers with different values are working together, none of them will object to the goal of having no accidents.

  This paper examines what kind of physical education class accidents junior high school teachers have experienced in the past and what they would have done differently to prevent these accidents. The method is a questionnaire survey of five teachers and an interview survey of three teachers. I would like to organize the results obtained there and use them as basic materials for the realization of zero accident in physical education classes.

  Three things that impressed me about the appeal to the students: “Too much enthusiasm cannot be evaluated,” “Failure does no effect on life," and "Challenge brings a growth of mind." Furthermore, there is “warmth” in the voice of the teacher in the field. I believe the results of this questionnaire and interview are a starting point for creating zero accident plan for the physical education classes.