Participation motivation in martial artists in the west midlands region of England.

The objectives were to identify the participation motivations and the perceived importance of certain participation factors in martial artists in the West Midlands, England, UK. A 28-item adapted version of the Participation Motivation Questionnaire with additional demographic questions was distributed to 30 martial arts clubs in the West Midlands region. Eight questions that assessed the perceived importance for participation of progression through grades, learning self defence skills, technical ability of instructors, cost of participating, development of confidence, underpinning philosophy and instructional style were included. Seventy-five questionnaires were returned from a total of 11 clubs from across representing practitioners in Tai Chi, Karate, Kung fu, Aikido, Jeet Kune Do, British Free Fighting, Taekwon-Do and Jujitsu. Results indicated that the rank order in terms of participation motives was: 1-Affiliation; 2-Friendship; 3-Fitness; 4-Reward/status; 5-Competition; 6-Situational and 7-Skill development. Participants who trained for more than 4 hours per week placed greater importance on the underpinning philosophy of the martial art. Findings suggest that whilst there is a gender discrepancy in participation level, once engaged, females were equally committed to weekly training. The 'style' of the instructor is of paramount importance for enhancing student motivation to participate. High volume practitioners would appear to be fully immersed in the holistic appreciation of the martial art through increased value placed on its underpinning philosophy. Key PointsWhilst there is a gender discrepancy in participation level, once engaged, females were equally committed to weekly training.The four most important participation motivations evident were 'Affiliation', 'Fitness', 'Skill Development' and 'Friendship'.The three least influential motives were 'Rewards/status; 'Situational' and 'Competition'. " There were no significant gender or experience differences for any of the emergent motivational factors.Instructor 'style' is of paramount importance for enhancing student motivation to participate.