2018, Volume 14

Personality profiles of karate masters practising different kumite styles



Paweł Piepiora1, Kazimierz Witkowski1, Zbigniew Piepiora2

1Wydział Nauk o Sporcie, Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego we Wrocławiu, Wrocław, Poland
2Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland


Author for correspondence: Paweł Piepiora; Wydział Nauk o Sporcie, Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego we Wrocławiu, Wrocław, Poland; email: pawel.piepiora@awf.wroc.pl


Full text

Abstract

Background and Study Aim: As far as common adaptive effects are concerned, long-term karate training based on kumite technique (socially acceptable form of hand-to-hand-fighting) results in increased resistance to opponent’s strikes and ability to tolerate pain and certain type of body injuries. Therefore, it could be assumed that karate masters possess most of all certain personality traits, but kumite technique (style) is not a factor that significantly modifies this relationship and the profile of the world champions of the kumite style may differ from this model. The goal of the study is to verify this hypothesis.
Material and Methods: In total 150 best Polish kumite competitors were included in the study; 30 each from five techniques (styles) of karate, including: semi contact- World Karate Federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (in this paper: WKF) and shōtōkan; full contact- Oyama; mix fighting- shidōkan; knockdown- kyokushin. The subgroup of kumite karate champions (KKC, n = 23) consisted of winners of the gold medals of the world championships, whereas the subgroup of karate masters (KM) consisted of other athletes (n=127). Personality measurements were based on five NEO-FFI scales (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism).
Results: It is true that karate masters have distinctive personality traits (which include: low neuroticism and high conscientiousness), whereas it would be false to assume that kumite technique (style) is not a factor that significantly modifies this relationship. WKF karate athletes exhibits the lowest neuroticism when compares to other ones (p<0.01); Oyama karatekas exhibits lower extraversion than WKF, shidōkan and kyokushin athletes (p<0.05). It turned out to be true that personality profiles of gold medal winners of the World Karate Championships of kumite style (KKC) may differ from the model of the remaining KM.
Conclusions: The new empirical argumentation is an important premise for conducting in-depth personality studies on athletes at every stage of a sports career. Such knowledge combined with studies of other predispositions and adaptive effects (that are in relation to unique events determined by various types of sports) is a prerequisite for embodying social and health-related mission of sports in an optimal manner.


Key words: sports psychology, poomse, NEO-FFI, kata, tori, uke


Cite this article as:

AMA:

Piepiora P, Witkowski K, Piepiora Z. Personality profiles of karate masters practising different kumite styles. ARCH BUDO. 2018;14

APA:

Piepiora, P., Witkowski, K., & Piepiora, Z. (2018). Personality profiles of karate masters practising different kumite styles. ARCH BUDO, 14

Chicago:

Piepiora, Paweł, Witkowski Kazimierz, Piepiora Zbigniew. 2018. "Personality profiles of karate masters practising different kumite styles". ARCH BUDO 14

Harvard:

Piepiora, P., Witkowski, K., and Piepiora, Z. (2018). Personality profiles of karate masters practising different kumite styles. ARCH BUDO, 14

MLA:

Piepiora, Paweł et al. "Personality profiles of karate masters practising different kumite styles." ARCH BUDO, vol. 14, 2018

Vancouver:

Piepiora P, Witkowski K, Piepiora Z. Personality profiles of karate masters practising different kumite styles. ARCH BUDO 2018; 14