Participation Motivation in Martial Artists in the West Midlands Region of England

The objectives were to identify the participation motivations and the perceived importance of certain
participation factors in martial artists in the West Midlands, England, UK. A 28-item adapted version of the Participation Motivation Questionnaire with additional demographic questions was distributed to 30 martial arts clubs in the West Midlands region. Eight questions that assessed the perceived importance
for participation of progression through grades, learning self defence skills, technical ability of
instructors, cost of participating, development of confidence, underpinning philosophy and instructional
style were included. Seventy-five questionnaires were returned from a total of 11 clubs from across
representing practitioners in Tai Chi, Karate, Kung fu, Aikido, Jeet Kune Do, British Free Fighting,
Taekwon-Do and Jujitsu. Results indicated that the rank order in terms of participation motives was: 1-
Affiliation; 2-Friendship; 3-Fitness; 4-Reward/status; 5-Competition; 6-Situational and 7-Skill
development. Participants who trained for more than 4 hours per week placed greater importance on the
underpinning philosophy of the martial art. Findings suggest that whilst there is a gender discrepancy in
participation level, once engaged, females were equally committed to weekly training. The ‘style’ of the
instructor is of paramount importance for enhancing student motivation to participate. High volume
practitioners would appear to be fully immersed in the holistic appreciation of the martial art through
increased value placed on its underpinning philosophy.