It is now known that, respecting certain conditions, physical activity induces an improvement in the state of health. Instead, what deserves to be deepened is that certain psychological benefits can be connected to a sporting practice, according to the physical activity practiced.
THE’Therapeutic effect of sport on the psychic sphere It seems evident: it is fundamental for a harmonious development of the personality, it is an instrument of education, socialization, balance and therapy, it is fundamental in the development and growth of the individual and is of considerable help in cases of neurosis and, often, psychosis.
It is now common opinion that sport is therefore for everyone. It can be defined on the basis of at least four psychologically important elements: movement, game, norm, competitiveness. Based on these elements, it could be a fundamental, decisive if not decisive element for a normal and harmonious psychic development of the child and the adult.
In physical activity there is not only living one’s aggression, there is also instinct, love, sexuality. Sport can exercise a huge influence, because there is a unloading of tensions towards specific ideals.
Sports activity can therefore be defined as “psychotherapeutic-simile”, because it promotes the emancipation of the ego, its natural expression, and a healthy downsizing of reality. From it they are used to benefit above all neurotic subjects aged between 20 and 30 years (especially through activities such as, for example, martial arts).
In some groups of therapy with neurotic subjects, it has been seen how to practice a sport led to positive results, such as less need for psychotropic drugs or the development of greater self -control. Antonelli speaks of sports as “health sentry”.
If sport is effective as aid to traditional psychotherapy and pharmacological therapies for neurosis, it can actually also be for psychosis; In such cases, however, we are faced with problems that sports activity can only mitigate and, only within certain limits, contain.
In particular, the best known disciplines such as martial artswhich by their own nature merge body and mind, in this sense therapeutic virtues have. Martial arts cannot be defined precisely by the end of sport, as we mean it today: this is because they are different in the conception and purposes. They have a tradition and a philosophical and formative component that go far beyond the pure competitive part.
They were born for precise reasons and needs, and their historical path also has its own specific meaning. By their own definition, the main purpose is the improvement of the individual’s character.
Just as they have come to us today, martial arts can be divided into two large classes: the “soft” martial arts and the martial arts “hard”so advanced for different purposes and purposes.
The hard school makes use of direct and precise blows, with the aim, one could say, to oppose strength to the power of the opponent. Hard martial arts are, for example, the Kung-Fu, the Thai-Boxe, the full contact.
The soft school is instead characterized by wide, circular, slow and, in fact, soft, without muscle rigidity movements: the purpose is mainly to direct the opponent’s strength against the opponent himself. Soft martial arts are, for example, Tai Chi Chuan, Judo, Aikido.
On closer inspection, however, the division between hard and soft arts is not often not marked: among the soft styles (also defined as “interiors”, which emphasize philosophy and meditation) and the “hard” styles (also defined as “external”, which instead emphasize competition and combat) would actually be a continuum.
A martial art is one of the few activities that can be practiced throughout the life span.
It is not necessary to have a purpose to be achieved, just simply live what you are doing. Martial art is a journey in which it is important to enrich yourself along the way. The important thing is the process, not the product.
The parallels between the psychotherapy and the martial arts They are different. It can be said that all martial arts can be conceived as a sort of psychotherapeutic path and, for this reason, excellent aid to classic treatment.
The effectiveness of the physical approach is attributable to the physiological basis of the experience.
Piaget showed that children learn primarily through visual, tactile and kinesthetic ways, which are later integrated into higher cognitions.
Stern argued that the physical way of experience is present throughout life, and the ability of what he calls “transmodal perception” indicates that this physical learning is automatically transported to the cognitive and emotional sphere.
Fuller believes that some martial arts have quality that support psychological health and promote personal changes in a socially desirable direction.
Nardi examines the parallels between Ellis’ Rational Emotive Therapy and some principles of martial practice (for example the concept of Mushin, that is, a state in which the mind is not fixed in particular on something, but remains open and available towards all things and reflects as a mirror would do).
As Parsons, he considers the abilities of a psychotherapist and a martial arts teacher as essentially complementary.
Gleser and Brown point out that the concept of Ju (soft), that is, the yield to use the opponent’s strength against the opponent himself, is a concept that has been unknowingly applied in dynamic therapy and strategic psychotherapies of several authors including: Erikson, Watzlawitck, Rogers, Bandler and Grinder.
According to Seitz and collaborators, martial arts have a lot to offer to psychotherapy, particularly in terms of energy (who or KI), as regards the body, mind and interpersonal relationships. An effective energy management is an important dimension in martial arts, as in professions concerning mental health.
To this are also added the concepts of distance, times and position. Weiser and collaborators propose martial arts as a legitimate form of therapy both for neurosis and for some chronic mental diseases, already in themselves, but especially in addition to standard psychotherapy: They are all the more useful in supporting psychotherapy in subjects who have difficulties in relationship with a verbal method, such as patients with social anxiety, psychosomatic disorders and alexithymia.
Even more interesting, what is demonstrated by Kutz and collaborators, regarding the possibility of martial arts to highlight problems that, if observed and recognized in time by expert masters, can be treated in psychotherapy by specialists in the sector: for example, they clearly prove to be the difficulties of relationship, the feelings of fear and the regulation of interpersonal distances.
Thus psychotherapy, combined with the practice of martial arts, can directly improve mental health: it favors body-entertainment, relaxation, attention, communication, self-acceptance.
Regarding the short -term effects of martial arts, there are still few studies, but a minimum of activities would seem necessary for significant changes to take place.
Since it was considered that martial arts can offer psychological benefits, a large number of people has looked to them as a valid aid to psychotherapy in the treatment of some disorders or psychological inconvenience.
Guthrie has found, for example, like the combination between Psychotherapy and martial arts It has been helpful above all to women victims of psychosexual abuses; A certain utility has also been highlighted for the treatment of eating disorders, abuse of substances and growth in dysfunctional families.
Martial arts would also be useful in the psychotherapy of disabled people as well as of violent psychotic patients, difficult to reach with standard psychotherapy, awarded in the classic way.
Also in psychotherapy aimed at teenagers with behavioral problems and children with behavioral problems, martial arts would provide greater increases in self -esteem than traditional treatment alone.
Finally, it should be considered that martial arts can be contraindicated in some cases: in particular, they may not be suitable for subjects who may use combat techniques inappropriately, as a sociopathic personality, or people who abuse drugs or other substances.
Following the hypotheses on the psychotherapeutic possibilities offered, there are therefore multiple research developments, regarding their use as an integration or support for traditional psychotherapy.
