The Use of Basic Karate Techniques to Enhance Self-Efficacy

This study examines the potential use of basic karate techniques to enhance specific domains of self-efficacy, defined as a context-specific assessment of competence to perform a specific task or range of tasks in a given domain. Adult volunteers with no prior martial arts experience were randomly assigned to a 12-week basic karate training program or a no-training comparison group. On completion of the training period, all participants were assessed on measures of global self-esteem, total self-concept, body functioning, self-criticism, preoccupation with danger, and outward anger expression. Learning karate significantly increased self-efficacy on five of the six measures, suggesting that for some clients, martial arts training may be a useful adjunct to traditional therapy.