The popularity of capoeira, a dance based in the martial arts and originating among slaves in Sixteenth-Century Brazil, has increased greatly in recent decades as it has spread worldwide as a performance representative of Brazilian history and culture. In 1974, capoeira was declared the national sport of Brazil. Today capoeira academies and competitions may be found wherever Brazilian culture is celebrated and communicated in many major foreign cities. My thesis, through the participant/observer method and the use of long interviews, examines capoeira as it is practiced in one particular academy far from the art form's place of origin. In the tradition of the cultural studies branch of communication, my thesis analyzes the movements, manners, and fashions of capoeira. I conclude that capoeira constitutes a cultural communication that has evolved from its roots in human slavery, suffering, and rebelliousness to a modern-day expression of athleticism, art, and community-building.

Adherence to physical activity has received a great deal of attention in research literature due to the positive effects it has on many health problems and mood. Despite these benefits, adherence in physical activity programs is beset by high attrition rates. The present study focused on a tae kwon do sample in which attrition at the beginning level is high. The purpose of this study was to assess a relationship between selected variables and adherence of the beginning students. Forty-three subjects (27 male: 16 female) participated in the study. The average age was approximately 21, with a range from 18 to 47. The sample was collected from three university sites which were part of the American Moo Duk Kwan Society, a university based, tae kwon do club. Participants voluntarily completed a questionnaire packet that included the following: a demographics form, an assessment of level and strength of self-efficacy, an assessment of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, and a measure of time, effort, and obstacle barriers. Significant correlations were found between level of self-efficacy and both dependent variables (hours of attendance and participation in the promotional belt test). In addition, strength of self-efficacy was correlated with participation at the promotional belt test; and the time barrier measure was correlated with hours of attendance. These findings suggest that self-efficacy plays a significant part in adherence of participants in tae kwon do. Further research should be conducted to assess the possible causal relationship of these variables.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2002. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Bibliography: leaves [306]-320.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1930. / "List of Martial's epigrams and their Spanish translators": p. 114-115. "Spanish authors and their translations from Martial": p. 112-113.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-06T17:07:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 resumo Rodrigo Batalha.pdf: 124696 bytes, checksum: 43256abd6110a66d342ab174fc3f660b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-19 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Introduction: Among the sports of combat (MEC) in the present, one has stood out by mixing techniques from other martial arts. This kind of sport is given the name of mixed martial arts (MMA). The large training load and the danger that the sport provides, can generate significant psychological changes in these athletes. It is important that arise further research on the psychological aspects of MMA athletes. Objectives: To investigate the mood and motivation of professional and amateur mixed martial arts athletes in training; and, through systematic review, analyze (a) the scientific production in the Sports Science on mixed martial arts and, (b) the scientific production of Psychology of Sport related to mixed martial arts. Method: This dissertation consists of studies of systematic and empirical reviews. The study included 46 athletes of mixed martial arts aged between 18 and 36 years. The instruments used were the Questionário de caracterização geral de atletas de MMA, Brunel Mood Scale and the Sport Motivation Scale. Data were collected in gyms with the athletes always at the beginning and end of the training, with a total of one to three training sessions. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 through the normality tests Shapiro-Wilk and in accordance with the proposed distribution, the Wilcoxon test, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used. The significance level of p <0.05 was adopted. Systematic reviews followed the Prisma Protocol and searches occurred in SciELO, ScienceDirect and Web of Science databases. Results: It was found that the amateur and professional athletes are characterized by high school, they have another job besides being an athlete and most professionals compete in national or international events. The athletes showed the mood profile similar to the "iceberg profile". The training increased the fatigue of athletes as well as the fact that sponsored atletes changed their vigour. Athletes with scheduled fight showed changes in tension and anger of the athletes before and after training. Athletes with worse quality of sleep had altered levels of depression, vigour and fatigue. MMA athletes had high intrinsic motivation, average levels of extrinsic motivation and low amotivation. The identified regulation was higher in professional athletes. The amotivation was higher in athletes who reported having regular health. Conclusions: The athletes presented mood profile similar to the "iceberg". The training decreased the fatigue of athletes as well as the fact that sponsered athletes had an increase in vigour. The fact that athletes with scheduled fight had an increase in tension and anger before and after training. Athletes with worse sleep quality got worse in the levels of depression, vigour and fatigue. In motivation, MMA athletes are characterized to have a high level of intrinsic motivation, especially internal motivation for stimulating experiences, low amotivation and medium levels of extrinsic motivation, especially the identified regulation. / Introdução: Dentre as modalidades esportivas de combate (MEC) existentes na atualidade, uma vem se destacando por misturar técnicas de outras lutas. A esse tipo de esporte dá-se o nome de artes marciais misturadas ou mixed martial arts (MMA). A grande carga de treinamento e o perigo que a modalidade proporciona, pode gerar alterações psicológicas importantes nesses atletas. É importante que surjam novas investigações sobre os aspectos psicológicos de atletas de MMA. Objetivos: Investigar o humor e a motivação de atletas profissionais e amadores de mixed martial arts em treinamento; e, através de revisões sistemáticas, analisar (a) a produção científica nas Ciências da Esporte sobre mixed martial arts e, (b) a produção científica da Psicologia do Esporte relacionada ao mixed martial arts. Método: Esta dissertação é composta por estudos de revisão sistemática e empíricos. Participaram do estudo 46 atletas de mixed martial arts com idades entre 18 e 36 anos. Os instrumentos utilizados foram o Questionário de caracterização geral de atletas de MMA, Escala de humor de Brunel e a Escala de Motivação Esportiva. Os dados foram coletados nas academias junto aos atletas sempre ao início e ao final dos treinos, com o total de um a três sessões de treinamento. Os dados foram tratados pelo programa estatístico SPSS versão 20.0, através dos testes de normalidade Shapiro-Wilk e de acordo com a distribuição apresentada, foram utilizados os testes Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney e Kruskal-Wallis. Foi adotado o nível de significância p< 0,05. As revisões sistemáticas seguiram o Protocolo Prisma e as buscas ocorreram nas bases de dados Scielo, ScienceDirect e Web of Science. Resultados: Verificou-se que os atletas amadores e profissionais se caracterizam por ter Ensino Médio, possuírem outra profissão além de ser atleta e a maioria dos profissionais competem em eventos nacionais ou internacionais. Os atletas apresentaram o perfil de humor semelhante ao de iceberg . Os treinamentos aumentaram a fadiga dos atletas, bem como o fato de possuir patrocínio alterou o vigor. Atletas com luta marcada apresentam alteração na tensão e raiva dos atletas antes e depois do treinamento. Atletas com pior qualidade do sono apresentam alterações nos níveis de depressão, vigor e fadiga. Atletas de MMA possuem elevada motivação intrínseca, níveis médios de motivação extrínseca e baixa amotivação. A regulação identificada foi maior nos atletas profissionais. A amotivação foi maior nos atletas que relatam ter saúde regular. Conclusões: Os atletas apresentam perfil de humor semelhante ao de iceberg . Os treinamentos diminuíram a fadiga dos atletas, bem como o fato de possuir patrocínio foi um fator de aumento do vigor. O fato de os atletas estarem com luta marcada, aumentou a tensão e raiva dos atletas antes e depois do treinamento. Atletas com pior qualidade do sono apresentam piora nos níveis de depressão, vigor e fadiga. Na motivação, os atletas de MMA se caracterizam por possuir um elevado nível de motivação intrínseca, com destaque para a motivação interna para experiências estimulantes, baixa amotivação e níveis médios de motivação extrínseca, com destaque para a regulação identificada.

Introduction: Wushu, Chinese martial art, consists of modern and traditional groups of styles. Previously it was researched that modern and traditional martial arts have different outcomes. Since traditional wushu is said to be rooted in Chinese values, its environment is a unique place to research psychological collectivism. Moreover, mental toughness is a new topic in the field of martial arts, and its connection with psychological collectivism was only researched on the society, not personality level. Methods: This mixed methods research consisted of qualitative Study 1 and quantitative Study 2. Study 1 aimed to understand, what is the experience of psychological collectivism in traditional wushu training. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight European adult participants of traditional wushu and were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. In the Study 2, 277 European adult respondents (111 modern wushu and 166 traditional wushu practitioners) filled in the Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire and Psychological Collectivism Questionnaire. To research the relationship of practicing modern or traditional wushu with psychological collectivism and mental toughness, several steps were taken. First, the Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were run to test both models. Next, the final model was tested using Structural Equation Modelling. Model comparisons, path analysis and effects were completed. Results: In Study 1, five themes emerged from the data. The first described how kung fu (traditional wushu) provided structure and direction for the interviewees. Also, it described how practitioners better adapted to the outer world and their ability to switch from being gentle to being ruthless. The second theme described perception of time. The third one explored the kung fu community, provided a probe into the group identity, and looked at how positioning closer to the master provided better learning options; the community served as the knowledge keeper. The fourth theme explored bridging gaps in communication. Finally, the fifth theme discovered seriousness of the practitioners, who had to endure mentally and physically torturous training. In Study 2, during the structural equation modeling the final model was confirmed as well as differences in the two groups of modern and traditional wushu. Moreover, it was found, that the number of joined competitions or years of training did not result in a significant path with mental toughness, but perceived level of skill did. The relationship between psychological collectivism and mental toughness was found only in the traditional wushu group, limited to a marginal p level. Conclusion: Psychological collectivism was explored in traditional wushu and helped to understand the structure and functioning of the wushu community. The seriousness of its members served as a commodity, to negotiate better position in the group. In the quantitative study, this seriousness seemed to be connected with the perceived level of skill. This variable resulted in the significant path with mental toughness. It is suggested that the social environment of the serious practitioners, who put themselves through demanding training, helped to develop mental toughness. This development is not based on the number of years in training, but rather on the way the practitioners perceive themselves.

This thesis represents the first full-scale commentary on Book 10 of Martial�s Epigrams. Jenkins� commentary on Book 10, a thesis from Cambridge in 1982, is the other detailed commentary on Book 10, but examines only 23 of the 104 epigrams from the book, selected according to significance or as being representative of broad categories and themes. My primary purpose is to present a literary analysis of the complete book, taking into account the literary tradition, and explaining the poems from a historical, social and political perspective. Most commentaries follow a traditional approach where the focus is investigation of the philological aspects of each epigram. These commentaries in their analysis of individual poems often fail to provide insight into Martial�s literary intentions for a particular poem, and the book as a coherent whole is generally not taken into consideration. My commentary provides an exploration of programmatic and structural issues which contribute to the book�s thematic continuity and unity. Aspects for consideration include the function and application of themes and motifs throughout the book, interrelationships of poems and their position within the book. Examination of these features is fundamental towards understanding Martial�s literary objectives in Book 10.

The purpose of this study was to determine kinetic and kinematic characteristics of Thai Boxing Roundhouse Kicks. In order to measure the kinetic variables of peak force and impulse, a triaxial accelerometer was inserted into a kicking bag. The force data were derived from the known mass and measured acceleration of the kicking bag. Validation testing comparing applied forces to estimated forces based on accelerometers output showed this instrument provided accurate estimates of the force applied to the kicking bag (r=.99). The MacReflex motion analysis system was utilized with three cameras operating at 120 frames per second to obtain the kinematic characteristics of final linear velocity of the kicking ankle, linear velocity of the kicking ankle and knee, angular velocity of the knee, and the angular velocity of the shank and thigh projected onto the horizontal plane. The subjects were ten male Thai Boxing performers with 8 to 48 months of training experience. The kicking trials were conducted at three height levels. It was hypothesized that the peak force, impulse, and the final linear velocity of the kicking ankle at impact would be greater for the lower level of kicks as compared to the higher level of kicks. It was also hypothesized that peak force and impulse would be positively related the subjects' leg strength. For the relationship between kinetic variables and kinematic variables it was hypothesized that peak force and impulse would be positively related to the final linear velocity of the kicking ankle. In comparing the roundhouse kick at different height levels the middle level kick generated the greatest peak force and impulse, while the high level kick involved the least force and impulse. The amount of peak force and impulse were directly related to the final velocity of the ankle (r=.86, and r=.79 respectively), but they were not significantly related to the leg strength. This study found that the Thai Boxing roundhouse kick can easily generate enough force to cause neurological impairment, skull fractures, facial bone fractures, and rib fractures. These results suggest that there is a greater need for regulations protecting the competitors in Thai Boxing. / Graduation date: 1997

Thesis (LL. M.)--Judge Advocate General's School, U.S. Army, 1961. / "April 1961." Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in microfiche.