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Title [Martial Arts Globe] Judo as an education tool to develop autonomy in a VUCA world

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    26-09-2022
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* Photo is not directly related to the writing. Photo by Fas Khan on Unsplash


Judo as an education tool to develop autonomy in a VUCA world

Patrícia Mattos Taveira do Amaral

 

Judo can be an educational tool to develop in children the autonomy necessary to be agents of change towards the cultivation of sustainability in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world—a set of characteristics that are usually synthesized by the acronym "VUCA". Thus, judo instructors can intentionally design training experiences adapted to the characteristics and needs of the contemporary world.

 

The impact of the VUCA world on children

The contemporary world is characterized by increasingly rapid and unexpected changes (volatility), by the lack of predictability and by the lack of knowledge of the future (uncertainty), by a greater web of interconnected, interdependent, and often hidden variables and factors that contribute to the emergence of phenomena (complexity), and by the fact that we have to make decisions and act from a nebulous vision and subject to various interpretations of what is happening (ambiguous).

However, a large number of children today are still exposed to an obsolete worldview incompatible with the characteristics of the contemporary world that can impose obstacles to sustainability goals: how could it be possible to ensure sustainability when, faced with an increasingly VUCA world, education is still conducted under obsolete assumptions? At this rate, society will be able to experience with increasing force the potential consequences of the disparity between the complexity of the world and the complexity of the development of children who, in the future, will make decisions and act in the world.

Currently, society largely assumes that children are only passive recipients and, thus, fails to prepare them to develop the necessary skills so that they can adapt to the characteristics of the contemporary world and can contribute to a more sustainable world. However, by 2050, children will make up 21% of the world's population, and together they could have a major impact on the world's unfolding (von Braun, 2017).


Judo as a non-formal education method

The UN (1987) defines sustainable development as that which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. To achieve sustainability goals, it is necessary to review the education model and the role of children in society. Education, in this perspective, must collaborate for the development of children who are agents of change, that is, children whose actions can impact their families, colleagues and local community and, thus, contribute to a more sustainable world.

Judo can be a powerful tool to develop children's autonomy, a fundamental ingredient for sustainable development in the face of the VUCA world. Part of the challenge of understanding judo (and other martial arts) as a means of education lies in the idea that education equates to schooling. However, schooling is a part of the lifelong learning process. Education is not restricted to formal school learning. On the contrary, learning can take place in different contexts, in an organized way or not, addressed by different stakeholders (Sabates & Yardeni, 2020, p. 16). Indeed, judo, like other martial arts, can be understood as a non-formal education tool.

 

The four historic waves of judo

Jigoro Kano believed that the practice of judo should be adapted according to the prevailing characteristics in society (Kano, 2008, p. 79). As UNESCO-ICM (2021) points out, the adaptability of a martial art is fundamental to its continued existence and relevance. The unfolding of the history of judo reveals how it went through different "waves" in which the objective of its practice was adapted to correspond to the current needs (Nakajima & Thompson, 2012; Sánchez-García, 2016).

After the first wave of educational judo, the second wave of militarized judo, the third wave of the globalization of judo is preceded by the fourth wave of the Renaissance (Mitsumoto et al., 2013), which calls for a return to the educational roots of judo. The idea, however, is not a return to the 19th century, when judo was created, but a return to the educational vision of judo initially postulated by Kano, adapted to the needs of the contemporary world. From this perspective, judo training experiences can favor the cultivation of autonomy, a contemporary need for sustainable development.


Judo and the development of autonomy

Through practicing judo, children can learn that their actions matter and they are capable of exercising autonomy and making choices with the potential to influence themselves and other. Ultimately, these experience help them to feel increasingly self-confident to take the initiative and to assume the necessary sense of responsibility to be agent of change.

In the VUCA world, this sense of autonomy is the foundation for critical thinking, a self-taught learning stance, taking action in their communities, and nurturing the sense of social justice which are all fundamental to sustainable development.

 

Practical suggestions for judo instructors for the development of autonomy

In the same line of thinking as Sheldon & Ryan (2011), the structure and discipline inherent in martial arts classes and support for autonomy may seem antagonistic, however, structure and autonomy can be integrated to optimize results.

Research on supporting autonomy in physical education (How & Wang, 2016) demonstrates that the combination of (1) integrating activities and tasks with students' interests; (2) provide meaningful rationales in order to make explicit the importance of the proposed activity or task; (3) use flexible, informational and non-controlling language; (4) display patience for students' learning; (5) knowing how to deal with negative affect and misbehavior, especially taking into account the student's perspective; and (6) to the extent possible, giving students some power of choice over activities and tasks, may be a strategy adopted by judo instructors intentionally to create training experiences with the potential to develop in children the autonomy necessary in the VUCA world for them to be agents of change towards sustainability.

 

References

Amaral, P. M. T., & Gabriel, C. A. (2021). The Contribution of Judo to the Development of Key Cognitive Skills Needed in Contemporary Society. The Arts and Sciences of Judo1(1), 60–61. https://78884ca60822a34fb0e6-082b8fd5551e97bc65e327988b444396.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/up/2021/04/IJF-Journal-FINAL-web-16189163-1618916315.pdf

 

Gabriel, C. A. (2021). The Psychoneurobiology Behind Personal and Interpersonal Transformation Through Judo. The Arts and Sciences of Judo1(2), 18–21. https://78884ca60822a34fb0e6-082b8fd5551e97bc65e327988b444396.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/up/2022/02/The_Arts_and_Sciences_of_Judo_-1643815617.pdf

 

How, Y. M., & Wang, J. C. K. (2016). Creating an Autonomy-Supportive Physical Education (PE) Learning Environment. In L. W. Chia, J. W. C. Keng, & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Building Autonomous Learners: Perspectives from Research and Practice Using Self-Determination Theory (pp. 207–225). Springer.

 

Kano, J. (2008). Energia Mental e Física: Escritos do Fundador do Judô. Pensamento.

 

Mitsumoto, K., Agemizu, K., Imamura, T., Shirase, H., Nakanishi, T., Inoue, K., & Hamada, H. (2013). Recognition of the Judo Renaissance Movement (No.3). Research Journal of Budo46, 95. https://doi.org/10.11214/budo.46.95

 

Nakajima, T., & Thompson, L. (2012). Judo and the process of nation-building in Japan: Kanō Jigorō and the formation of Kōdōkan judo. Asia Pacific Journal of Sport and Social Science1(2–3), 97–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2012.743701

 

Sabates, R., & Yardeni, A. (2020). Social Determinants of Health and Education: Understanding Intersectionalities During Childhood. In R. Midford, G. Nutton, B. Hyndman, & S. Silburn (Eds.), Health and Education Interdependence: Thriving from Birth to Adulthood (pp. 13–34). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3959-6_2

 

Sánchez-García, R. (2016). The development of Kano’s judo within Japanese civilizing/decivilizing processes. Asia Pacific Journal of Sport and Social Science5(2), 108–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/21640599.2016.1186583

 

Sheldon, K. M., & Ryan, R. M. (2011). Positive Psychology and Self-Determination Theory: A Natural Interface. In V. I. Chirkov, R. M. Ryan, & K. M. Sheldon (Eds.), Human Autonomy in Cross-Cultural Context: Perspectives on the Psychology of Agency, Freedom, and Well-Being (pp. 33–44). Springer.

 

UN. (1987). Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Futurehttps://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf

 

UNESCO-ICM. (2021). World Martial Arts: Towards a global overviewhttp://unescoicm.org/eng/library/bookreport.php?ptype=view&idx=7424&page=1&code=bookreport_eng

 

von Braun, J. (2017). Children as Agents of Change for Sustainable Development. In A. M. Battro, P. Léna, M. S. Sorondo, & J. von Braun (Eds.), Children and Sustainable Development: Ecological Education in a Globalized World (pp. 17–30). Springer Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47130-3_2

※ Views in this writing are the author's own.