Today, although the contents of martial arts ^{1 ）} represented by wushu and budo have been preserved in physical education and competitive sports in the form of “taolu” ^2） and “kata”, wu, which is the essence of wushu and budo, is facing challenges. What is wu? What is the significance of wu in martial arts? This study takes the Chinese character wu’s interpretation of “stop (or zhi) and dagger-axe (or ge) form wu” that appeared in Chinese classics as a clue, explores the philosophical particularities of wu and the significance of wu in wushu in the Chinese philosophy represented by Confucianism, Taoism, and Sun Tzu.
After discussing the previous research, in the second section, this study will explain the relationship between the formation of wu and Chinese philosophy in the source of “stop and dagger-axe form wu.” The third, fourth, and fifth sections will explain the reason why wu is interpreted as “stop and dagger-axe form wu” in Confucianism’s Tian-Ming, Lao Tzu’s Tian-Dao, and The Art of War, as well as the particularities of Chinese philosophy implicit in wu. Based on this, this study will take sheli, taijiquan, and kung fu as examples to explain the importance and the modern significance of wu, which was formed and matured in Chinese philosophy, in the creation of the value orientation and directionality of wushu. This study points out that wu, which has achieved spiritual awakening in philosophy, has surpassed itself. The practicality of wushu is not just in fighting; it is even a moral behavior of human beings, not only in personal growth but also in promoting social order and the harmonious development of morality and ethics. This study attempts to awaken the ancient wisdom inherent in wu, and to create an academic basis for it to continue functioning in modern society.

Practical leadership skills are essential for teachers to lead “independent, interactive, and deep learning,” especially the ability to improvise in order to respond immediately to ever-changing situations. In this study, we focused on the improvisational drama technique called “improvisation,” and analyzed the teaching practices of Jun Imai, who has extensive teaching experience, using qualitative research methods. As a result, two noteworthy characteristics emerged: （1）the way of watching to understand through physical empathy, and （2）the creation of an atmosphere to reduce learnersʼsense of anxiety about failure. In Imaiʼs teaching practice, it became clear that not only verbal but also nonverbal approaches were important, and that “physical thinking,” in which students think with their bodies rather than their heads, was emphasized.

This research considers the limitations of sex in sports and the potential of contributing to sexual diversity through a reading of Robert Gugutzer’s Body Politics.
Gugutzer is a German sports sociologist. His Body Politics, which attempts to decipher the power relationships that affect agency in terms of discourse and representation of the body, is rooted in the philosophical theory of the body as espoused by Michel Foucault and Judith Butler. Foucault’s theory of the body is noted for how it analyzes discourses related to the body, and genealogically extracts the power actions associated with the materialization and socialization of these discourses. Butler focuses on “gender trouble,” which has both limitations and possibilities, while deploying this method of Foucault, to extract heteronormative discourses that operate to maintain gender order, and at the same time, discusses the potential of a parody-like physical performance that becomes an opportunity to reflect the norms and arbitrariness of those discourses.
Gugutzer applies this theory of the body to the analysis of sports: on the one hand, he identifies the characteristics of heterosexual norms in sports through the debate over gender and the body of female athletes, recognizing the strengthening of heteronormativity in the market strategy of the Bundesliga（German football league）as it attempts to depict the body of female soccer players as “feminine bodies,” while also looking at the potentials for parody, in Butler’s use of the term, in the presentation performance of female soccer players copying the physical actions of male players.

This research aims to demonstrate the potential and significance of applying Gergen’s educational evaluation theory, which is rooted in social constructionism, to assess physical education classes.
Gergen, who based his ideas on social constructionism, which holds that knowledge and subjects, which have been regarded as entities, are born and constructed from social relationships, strongly emphasized the necessity of “relational evaluation” in order to encourage student learning and growth in school education, thereby enriching their relationships.
In the realm of physical education research, approaches to evaluation similar to Gergen have been studied through portfolio research. It has been shown that recording learning through text and videos allows us to grasp students’ learning, growth, interests and so on from a multi-faceted perspective, and, through sharing among teachers, students, and guardians, the student can get an idea of how the guardians are thinking, and their values, and conversely, the guardians can get chances to change how they view education. Research results like this fall in line with what is sought out in Gergen’s “relational evaluation” and suggest that his educational evaluation theory could be applied to physical education as well.
Gergen’s “relational evaluation”, in addition to the above point, also requires closer dialogue between teachers and students, treating them as one unit, and the inclusion of a diverse range of people, such as other teachers and community members, in this dialogue. This means that students are able to experience a wider range of ideas and values, and at the same time, it becomes possible to change views of evaluation to one in which all those involved in student learning should be responsible.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the “nature of being” （Seinscharakter）and the function of sports “meaning” such as a “strike” or a “ball” in baseball. To accomplish this goal, the semantics of Japanese philosopher Wataru Hiromatsu and the symbolism of German philosopher Ernst Cassirer were employed for analysis. The results are as follows.
We are not aware of what is in front of us （the given matter）“as such” （als solches）, but as “something more” （etwas mehr）or “something else” （etwas Anderes）. These “something more/ something else” is “meaning,” and have an ideal （immutable, universal, functional）character. In sports, too, there exist sports “meaning”. In baseball, for example, we recognize a ball thrown by a pitcher as a “strike” or a “ball,” which is “something more/something else.” These sports meaning also have an ideal （immutable, universal, functional）character.
Since we perceive the sensory trajectory of the ball under sports “meaning” （e.g., “fair” or “foul”）in baseball, we can confirm in sport the situation of the “Symbolic Pregnance” （Symbolische Prägnanz）in perception. By the conception of this Symbolic Pregnance, athletes perceive the ball in play as sports “meaning”, at the same time they play accordingly. In this way, the sports “meaning” functions as a form that defines the playerʼs perception and performance.