Abstract - The relationship between creativity and martial arts – Comprehensive review of quantitative and qualitative evidences
Background. Creativity is seen as one of the most crucial elements in martial arts.
Problem and aim. How creativity and martial arts are related remained unknown. This research was performed to examine the correlation between creativity and martial arts.
Material and method. This research employed a scoping review method, in which findings from research publications indexed by WOS and Scopus were thoroughly reviewed. Tables 1 and 2 present the parameters used in paper search: martial, martial arts, and openness to experience. The inclusion requirement set in this research included only 8 papers among 58 others published between 2018 and 2023.
Results. Two major conclusions were drawn overall. First, martial arts competitors need to be creative in order to compete well. Second, creativity – particularly openness to experience – may be developed by traditional martial arts training, and this can be utilized to improve one’s quality of life. Ultimately, a paradigm regarding the relationship between creativity and martial arts was proposed using these two findings as a foundation, integrating other perspectives and findings from earlier studies.
Conclusions. The results of this research conclude that creativity and martial arts have a reciprocal relationship. Martial arts athletes require creativity to do well in competitions. Martial arts training also fosters creativity, which can help someone develop a healthy psychological life. However, the length of time it takes for martial arts athletes to develop creativity has not yet been scientifically explored. According to one perspective, expertise and creativity are related. Acquiring the required skills requires more than ten years of experience. It can also be inferred from this relationship that a martial arts practitioner has two main goals; making achievements and helping people to develop good mental health.