Karate practice: empowering solutions to mitigate school-age bullying

Abstract

Karate is a martial art and it is known that its practice promotes cognitive, affective, social, and behavioral benefits, including in children. Bullying has been configured in recent years as a public health problem that can seriously affect school-age children and young people. Although the practice of karate is positively associated with the biopsychosocial development of children and adolescents, little is known about its impact on bullying behaviors among school-age peers. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of karate practices on the psychosocial responses of children regarding episodes of victimization, aggression, and observation of bullying behaviors. A questionnaire was applied to 336 Portuguese children (79 karatekas and 257 non-karate practitioners). The data were examined using the Chi-square test or the Fisher test and the V Cramer test. Concerning the bullying phenomenon, our results show that karate practitioners differ from non-practitioners by the lower number of times they are victims of aggression (p <0.05), /showing to be more resilient in the victimization process. Karate practice is recommended for children as a way to assist their psychosocial development. Key words: karate, martial art, bullying, victimization, aggression, proactivity