Martial arts and combat sports in physical education and sport sciences degrees - a comparative study of Brazil, France, Portugal, and Spain

摘要

This paper examines the Martial Arts and Combat Sports (MA&CS) pedagogy in the Physical Education and Sports Science (PESS) degrees offered in Brazil, France, Spain, and Portugal. Document analysis was used to observe the study plans of the universities. In the European countries, we tried to analyze every university with a PESS degree while in Brazil we examined at least one public university per state. The existence of MA&CS, the name of the subjects, the combat sport emphasized and the type (required or elective) were the main variables observed. An overview of each country appears in the accompanying tables. These tables show the percentage of universities that have MA&CS in their curriculum, as well as the disciplines and if courses are required or elective. French universities presented MA&CS in all the analyzed degrees, but Judo, “General Approach” (a term we define below), and Boxing/French Boxing were the styles most frequently offered. Most Spanish universities offered MA&CS in PESS degree and in these programs Judo has supremacy over other practices. Less than half of the Portuguese universities offered MA&CS, and the ones who did usually offered either Judo or a “General Approach.” In Brazil there was a high incidence of MA&CS in the PESS degrees, and the “General Approach,” known as “Luta,” was typical. The Brazilian MA&CS of Capoeira is also popular in Brazilian universities. It is possible to state with confidence that MA&CS are frequently included in PESS degrees in these four countries. It is also possible to confidently conclude that Judo is the most influential sport in these countries’ PESS programs. However, further studies are required to determine if what the course catalogues describe accurately describes what is being taught by the professors.