Abstract - Teaching karate for the 21st century
Background, problem & aim. Karate and other martial arts typically have long histories of development that have been explored in the literature from different perspectives but how they have been, or are, taught is yet to attract significant attention. To address this oversight, we examine and implement cutting-edge pedagogy in the form of Athlete-centred coaching and use it for karate teaching.
Methods. Drawing on the disciplines of history and education this article examines the hegemony of a ‘Command Style’, teacher- centred pedagogy for karate to suggest an alternative approach to teaching karate. It locates the dominant militaristic approach to karate teaching within the socio-political context it developed in from the turn of the 20th century and challenges its suitability
for the 21st century. It draws on knowledge in sport pedagogy to offer an alternative way of teaching that suggests what an athlete- centred coaching/teaching approach can offer to augment traditional teaching.
Results. Linking with the older, more traditional Okinawan teaching methods the pedagogy we present provides an example of an effective alternate way of teaching karate that one of the authors used in his dojo to work on his students’ gyakuzuki (reverse punch).
Conclusion. Our examination of the literature on Athlete-centred coaching and the use of it in a dojo suggests that it has potential to improve and augment current teaching for learning in karate.