Thread: Motivation in the Martial Arts (A study of the young students in Shaolin Academies)

A Qualitive Study Into The Motivation of Young Martial Artists in China.

Liam Beale.


1.0 Introduction.

Martial arts has been a popular pass time over the last thirty or so years. Whether it's Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan flipping through the air on the big screen, Ryu doing a hadouken in Street Fighter 2, or just an after school activity - martial arts has established itself as a part of our own western culture and lifestyles.

It is therefore rather strange that in England martial arts hasn't been given the academic attention that its' popularity demands of it. The way in which martial arts are taught in England remains very different from the traditional ways they are taught in some other countries, for example China.

In the UK people that train in martial arts do so comfortably, for roughly 2-4 hours a week spread over 1-2 evening classes. These classes typically are of very low intensity, low risk and heavily focused on the externally motivating, coloured belt system. Typically media images flood peoples minds at a young age - and martial arts becomes a hobby that a lot of children try out, often to emulate a particular media role model.

In the countries where that these martial arts originated however, a very different system is in place. In China there are kung fu academies that firstly teach children martial arts, and secondly the scholarly subjects such as maths and language. This system encourages pupils to grow up with a firm basis of martial arts, training hours of every day from age five upwards.
In the same schools there are no grading systems within the martial arts, which globally is typical of traditional martial arts practice but in the West we adopted grading and belts to formalise the arts and make them more accessible and understandable to a large audience. In China it is largely seen that a martial arts student is only as good as they are, and grades are only to organise them into teaching groups.

Also, Chinese sport in general has been the subject of many negative comments in terms of treatment of children and human rights, which has caused much controversy during the Beijing Olympics. Sport is an important part in global-social relationships, and a country’s ability to win at sport often implies a certain sense of success irrespective of how the country is run.
In England however we have a much more relaxed attitude to sporting success, martial arts in particular, which to us holds little identifiable cultural significance.



Above : Liam Beale with one of the children of the Seping Training academy in Ji Lin, China.

So given that the young martial artists in China train to a higher extent, and volume - with less of the child-oriented classes that have been established in the West - where does their motivation come from? What pushes children of such a young age into such heights of physical ability?

2.0 Aim

This study aims to establish the possible motivational factors in young martial artists.

For the purpose of this study the definition of ‘young’ is the age range from 7 to 21 years old.
For the purposes of developing martial arts practice in the UK, a qualitative study will be made to explore the differences in English and Chinese martial arts practice, focusing on :

-The reasons given by students as to why they train.
-The benefits that they feel that they get out of training.
-Their incentive, if any to continue training.
-Any problems or worries that they have encountered during training.




3.0 Literature Review.

3.1 China and sport - Global opinion.

In the build up to the Olympic games in Beijing, China came into focus and scrutiny under allegations of child abuse in the training of child athletes, as globally the games are an beacon of success to the rest of the world, and naturally countries are eager to stand out and succeed above other countries - and China in particular, much like the former Soviet union, has a certain reputation for pushing its athletes harder and harder.



An example of this can be seen from Matthew Pinsent and his observation of the training of gymnasts in China:

"I was wondering whether the western approach compared to the eastern approach is a bit different, but I do think those kids are being abused....


"....When I talked to the vice-principals, they said hitting was against the law, but then there were parents who want you to do it."


"....They said this is what they needed to do to make them hard...." ( Sir Matthew Pinsent, from BBC News (2005))

There is perhaps a different ethos on the idea of "abuse", in China or even the East in general. It is important to consider that ethics, is an arbitrary term with no universal boundary - and as countries differ in other aspects, particularly in areas with developing economic status, ethics itself is not a crucial element to society.

An example of this can be seen through a survey conducted by UNICEF in 2005, that focused on schools and universities, with a sample of 3500 students over six provinces:


"...close to half of the respondents reported were instances of being hit, kicked or slapped.

About one in three said they had been beaten with an object, like a stick or belt.

A minority of less than five per cent said they'd experienced multiple instances of abuse, often of a very serious nature.

Schools emerged as a key place for violence. Teachers, who command high levels of status and respect in China, are described as key perpetrators of severe physical punishment and abuse."

(BBC (2005))

It is worth mentioning, that Unicef received the cooperation of the Chinese government in this report, which marked a significant turning point in openness to discussion of ethics and human rights within a global setting.


Zhang Liling of the Children's Department of the Guangdong Provincial Women's Federation elaborates upon abuse in China.

"Many parents and teachers seem to think that abuse, either physical or mental, is helpful for children's future development,"

(Zhang Liling, from China Daily (2006))

So it is entirely possible that the conditions of training in China are physically and mentally different than the conventional ethical boundaries of training in the West, with our legal system firmly in place and health and safety guidelines present without exception - and particularly our view of what amounts to creating success and learning.

If we are to look at the conventional standards of teaching sport in the UK, it is quite clear what should be avoided in our society:


"- When there is persistent lack of love or affection
- When there is constant overprotection which prevents children from socialising
- Children are frequently being shouted at or taunted
- Children are continually made to feel inadequate by remarks made by parents
- There is neglect, physical or sexual abuse
- Indicators: It will be very difficult to recognise unless the child is known for a period of time
- Child loses interest on tennis
- Child avoids situations such as matches because they fear the verbal abuse which a
poor result will bring
- Change in the behaviour of the child that may be abrupt or gradual
- Inability to grow and thrive
- Speech may be affected
- The child may become withdrawn and quiet and develop nervous behaviour
- In sport: When parents or coaches subject children to constant criticism, bullying or unrealistic pressure to perform high expectations"
(International Tennis Federation (2004))


However, do we fulfil these terms in Western society, and furthermore, do these guidelines and ethics actually have any place in sporting success, particularly sports as inherently aggressive as martial arts?

Diane Francis of the Huffington Post in response to the criticism of China during the Olympics, wrote the article "Female Gymnastics is Always about Child Abuse", in which she discusses the idea that we, in the West, are also supporting a form of child abuse in our teaching of sport:


"This is because, for females, developing Gold Medal skills is a race against puberty. So little girls, as young as four or five, are recruited and spend their childhoods in gyms raised by coaches, some of whom behave like Svengalis. These kids are brainwashed into attempting dangerous tricks, accepting injuries and pain. These gyms always have a psychologist on staff to goad or guilt these kids. Parents often don't know what goes on because they are usually banned from the gyms. This is as true in the United States as it is in China.

The reason female gymnastics is a race is against puberty is because once maturity happens the female body adds 5% body weight which adversely limits their strength and endurance. By contrast, male gymnasts can only be developed after puberty because that is when they acquire sufficient strength to do their tricks. This also means that their careers are not only post-puberty but last longer into adulthood.


....A 20-year-old female gymnast is an oxymoron. Doesn't exist."

(Diane Francis, Hufftington Post (2008))


This perhaps lends to a comparison between our two societies, that they are not so different - and that perhaps human biology, the physiology behind sporting success, has an effect on how we view ethics, even in the West.

With this in mind though - the treatment of boys, presumably, cannot be justified in this sense, as Francis points out - the male body becomes stronger at an older age as metabolism increases, therefore the male sporting peak arrives much later in life, and therefore male children do not need to be pushed to perform at such a young age - it would lack any biological justification.

There is very little research on the Shaolin in particular - and as we see from the above collection of research, papers concerning ethics of sports training in China largely consists of the treatment of girl in gymnastics training - and largely the idea of motivation in sport is seen as an example of abuse.

Potentially, if the trend of this research is to be followed, the motivation behind the training of the young shaolin will largely be around external motivators, such as, their parents and their teachers - of avoiding what we would consider abuse.



4.0 Methodology.

For the purposes of this investigation, a small qualitive interview will be given to various members of a martial arts academy in Ji Lin, China.

4.1 The target population

The target population of this questionnaire is mainly the Chinese students of this academy, who typically age from seven to seventeen. The younger students could potentially be a greater representation of why children study martial arts at the academy, as throughout a child's life there is a progression from external motivation, ie, the will of their parents, into internal motivation, as a form of consciousness grows as people age - and with it, genuine motivation.

Therefore, although the younger children could be seen to provide less valid or reliable information based on their age and lesser-developed communication skills that go hand in hand with age, it would never-theless prove an interesting and harmless addition to any study on children's motivation - and given that this first and foremost is a qualitive investigation. Such results can be looked at on an individual basis, and would not obscure any trends as if presented as statistics.

The questions will be presented to students in one of two methods, although the questions will largely be the same, the two methods do carry significant differences in their application.


4.2 - Email interviews with Children in Shaolin

The email interview will start with a basic introduction:


"(大家好， 我的名字叫里廉必, 因为我的大学课程,我需要了解你们在练习中国工夫过程中的感受. Hello there, my name is Liam Beale, and for my university course I need to know your feelings about training in Gong Fu.) ( 请你们轻松地按照你们的感觉回答下面的问题,"

This is a very simple outline of the reasoning behind the questionnaire and includes a much-needed human element. Such introductions allow the participants to realise that there is an actual human being responsible for the questions, and as a result encourages them to actually participate.

Also, the tone of the questioning is notably very simple - taking into account that the majority of participants will be children.

And then in addition to this participants will be told:

"就算你们写得是很小的细节,我也都肯定我会觉得很有意思 Please feel free to write as much as you like in your answers, no matter how detailed I'm sure I will find them very interesting."

This may initially seem slightly destructive to the validity and reliability of any study - but this might not be the case. In Internet study, the time needed for replying is an important factor in response rate - the shorter the predicted time needed to respond, leads to a higher response rate.

Also, in leaving the amount of detail open, means that participants have the opportunity to go into issues as much as they are willing, which in itself can be interpreted further.

Firstly, students will be contacted via email with a list of questions translated into Chinese. These questions are as follows:



"请你们诚实回答哦(Please be as honest as you can.)"

A seemingly redundant point to make in a questionnaire, where it is automatically assumed that one should be honest - but given the cultural aspects of honesty in China, as has been elaborated on in the proceeding texts around Ethical Considerations, this statement may be entirely necessary - as a prompt to the direct nature of the honesty required.

This prompt, although redundant from a Western context, may have the value of reminding participants that this interview is for the purposes of establishing truth and not saving face.

At this point the actual questions begin:

"How long have you trained at Gong Fu?(你练功夫多久了?)"

A very basic question, with little interpretable results as such - but can be used to establish the basic level of motivation that a student inevitably has - as of course, the length of time spent training is a clear indication that they have been motivated to train for that amount of time.

"What is it that you like about gong fu training? Why do you train in it?(你喜欢中国功夫什么呢?为什么你会学习中国功夫呢?)"

A very simple, direct question. It is very possible that the answers given to this question, however, will not be so direct given the context of the answers - it is more than likely that students will not know what is it that they like about Gong Fu - this question's main purpose is to find and establish answers that can be interpreted based on their depth - as in which answers show genuine passion, and which seem to be answering for the sake of answering. The tone of the answers given, may, in this case, indicate more than the answers themselves.

"What is it that you don't like about gong fu training?(你不喜欢功夫的哪些地方?)"

A question imperative for establishing feelings of motivation, as motivation is, in part, the overcoming of resistance and obstacles - while disguised as the natural follow-up to the question prior to it.

"Would you say that you're good at gong fu?(你能说你的功夫很棒吗?)"

Here we establish the all-important issue of self-efficacy, which is in term essential to the idea of personal motivation. The self efficacy of a person is likely to act as an indication of two things:

-Firstly, the self efficacy of a student indicates their level of motivation somewhat - as a well-motivated student will undoubtedly report as having either good, or bad abilities in Gong Fu. A student that believes themselves to be good, is motivated through their own enjoyment, where as one that sees themselves as lacking in skill, presumably, is motivated through external, comparative methods.
-Secondly, this shows us the position of the teachers on the students, as well as other external, judging factors. A prevalence of students with low self-efficacy shows a particularly strict regime, which as the background literary review has sadly shown, may be prominent in teaching of sport in China.

"Have you ever been injured as a result of your training?(在你训练的过程中你受过伤吗?)"

Another question, that delicately point towards the potential harms of Gong Fu training - although a clear distinction has to be made in interpretation of these results as to the real responsibility of these injuries, which is a separate matter then will be addressed.

"How long do you train most days?(基本上你一天训练多长时间?)"

A very basic way of comparing the extent of training that these students go through, necessary for any comparison with Western martial art schools. In establishing the extent of training we also create a necessary scale to which any motivation will be measured.

"Would you say that the training is hard work?(你觉得训练很苦吗?)"

Again, this question acts for the all-important function of establishing the extent of training, or more aptly in this case, the perceived rate of effort. This however, may show little difference from school to school, environment to environment, as students may adapt training, and consider it the norm - but nonetheless would prove interesting once compared to other results - perhaps the most relevant being how long they have trained.


"In England, people that train gong fu sometimes only train for 3-4 hours a week, do you think this is enough?(在英国,练习功夫的人有时一个星期才训练3到4 个小时,你觉得他们的训练时间足够吗?)"

Such a question really comes back to the initial grounding of the investigation - the necessity of a comparison between Eastern and Western methods of training. In investigating this, important information can be learned as to the necessary extent (Or rather, in this case, volume) or training needed to become adequate at Gong Fu

4.3 Stage Two : Unstructured Interviews
The second part of the research revolves around two unstructured interview with Western students that have attended Shaolin training academies and can offer observations on the treatment of children within the institution.

The first subject to be question is ‘Stan’, a Russian-American that trained in China for a year, through three Gong Fu academies - two of which had a population of more than 50% under 15 year old - the third had only three students, all of which were adults.

Stan’s scope, having been to multiple schools over different areas of economic prosperity will help to discover any trends throughout China - as to not form needless generalisations based from a single academy, in one part of China, with students from one typical financial background.


The second subject is an Italian called ‘ Uzzo’, who trained at a gong fu academy three separate times over the course of four years. This academy had a training population of more than 50% of students being under 15 years old. Such an interview would be valuable in terms of being able to establish any changes over time, finding a more valid trend as Chinese society has or hasn't changed.

These interviews will focus on:

- The motivations of the child students in these academies to train in Gong fu and attend the academy.
-The extent of their training, potential hardships and benefits of the training.
-Potential effects of informal teaching on the socialisation of these children, effects on their future
-Trends towards the social importance for the academies, or ideas towards social importance in these academies.


4.4 Ethical Considerations

China

This study in particular has a huge amount of ethical considerations that need to be addressed.

Firstly, this is a study that may inadvertently step on the issue of human rights, itself an ethical issue, at a time, and in a country where such issues are treated with the utmost political sensitivity.

The 2008 Olympics sparked up debate into the issues of human rights in China - an issue that the Chinese government treated very seriously. English athletes were told specifically not to speak out on the subject whilst representing their country in the games.

China, as a communist state, is sometimes regarded as upholding certain aspects of domestic affairs with extreme, and in some cases violent, actions - much like the world of George Orwell's ‘1984’ - which is well established by the BBC (2002, 2005 and 2008) - and despite the likelihood of stimulating such a reaction being incredibly low, just as a matter of common sense and courtesy, must all matters that could possibly reflect negatively on China as a country - for example the enquiry into human rights - should be treated with an absolute delicacy.

Children

As this study may skim the surface of the issues of human rights, it is of crucial importance that the study itself is conducted in a manner that in no way demands the participant to give sensitive information - the structure of the interview must reflect this, in no way asking direct questions regarding human rights violations, and child abuse.

Using children for the purpose of this study also poses an ethical issue as to the effect of asking children such questions. The enquiry into certain subjects may act as an informal implication into the circumstances in which these children live.

For example, a completely tactless question, such as "Are you scared of the Chinese Government?" Automatically presupposes a message towards that Chinese Government, implying that there is some cause to fear them.

Similarly it could be said for a whole range of topics regarding these children's lifestyles - enquiring to closely into their family, teachers or the school itself, could create unnecessary doubts in a young child's mind - which goes far beyond an interviewer's authority and responsibility.






4.5 Analysis

As in with all qualitive studies, the particular quality of results as valid, pragmatic truth, is as much an issue of logical interpretation as it is a mater of methodology.

With this in mind, it is imperative to the actual usefulness of such results to create a foundation of basic considerations before interpreting results.

It must be made clear, in all cases, the extent of the hardships for students in order to then gauge the motivation required of them - and in doing so we will be comparing results along side a list of guidelines from the UK-based Martial Arts Standards Agency, as shown:

"The Coach’s responsibilities to children


UK law defines a child as under 16yrs old (or under 18 if in full-time education). The responsibilities include;

• To be aware of the legal Duty of Care (which is greater towards children than towards adults)

• To follow the guidelines offered by Governing Bodies and/or Associations and ensure that they are qualified to provide the services they offer (what qualifications do you have to coach children?)

• To safeguard children form all forms of abuse

• To follow guidelines of good practice to reduce the possibility of allegations of inappropriate behaviour to children

• To warn participants thoroughly, repeatedly and clearly of the inherent risks of the activity

• To carry adequate and appropriate insurance cover

• To be aware of and use strategies to prevent injury to children

• To protect the confidentiality of all parties involved"


(The Martial Arts Standards Agency (2005))

In the comparison of the results with these guidelines, and those of the International Tennis Foundation, we will be able to draw a strong parallel with the English and Chinese teaching methods, and establish a reference point for the otherwise arbitrary term "Abuse".







4.6 The Significance of a qualitative study


Often research focus's on the ‘ How’ of an issue, as opposed to the ‘Why’.

For example, a study on martial arts, typically focus's on the institution, the governing effects of this institution and the rules it dictates that inevitably have an impact on individual students. We might typically investigate the effect of Rule A on Group B, the correct procedure in the teaching of Group C, or the trend of those practicing X, Y and Z.

The problem with this approach, is that martial arts, are unlike many sports, not team-based and incredibly dependant on individuals.

Does this have an effect on how martial arts should be studied?

Clearly.

An individual martial artist unlike many team sports, is not bound by rules and systems, and therefore it is of less relevance to study martial arts quantitatively.

Modern martial arts is becoming a vast and varied field, where two martial artists may have completely different interpretations of what a martial art is. With the introduction of deconstructive concepts, such as Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, martial arts has broken down the boundaries and conventions of traditional sport - a martial artist is no longer part of a team, part of a school, system or style.

In this sense, a martial artist cannot possibly be studied as a generalisation as part of a school or social system. It has become apparent throughout the history of martial arts, that those that understand the arts, that are successful with the arts, and therefore embody martial arts itself, defy the established conventions of their surroundings.

This can be seen in the example of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, as Lee defied the traditional styles with their kata, that he likened to "Land Swimming." In his own understanding of martial arts Lee pushed away from the needless gimmicks and ritualistic tradition - which in turn, lead to him becoming perhaps the most famous martial artist in history.

Miyamoto Musashi also expressed a raw and pure theory towards martial arts, in using two swords in a time that typically only one was used, therefore giving him an advantage over opponents that were not accustomed to fighting such a style.

So, it seems that martial arts itself, is largely about the exponent developing a sense of individuality, rising above trends and finding their own ‘How’. Clearly, the school itself is of very little relevance, as a pupil that truly embodies martial spirit cannot truly be a part of a school or system.

To summarize and hopefully simplify this in a sentence: "Under the assumption that a true martial artist defies all structure, the study of martial arts more so than any other sport, must be studied with particular disregard for trends and structure."

To bring this theoretical perspective back to the proposed study - In the interview of individual students we are far more able to establish quality information into the all-important aspect of why students feel so compelled to practice such martial arts, because within martial arts it is the basic motivation of the individual that then creates the surrounding learning environment.

However, in the case of children, especially in the Shao Lin is a different issue entirely. One has to wonder how much genuine motivation children can have at such an age.

The advantage of studying students individually and directly is that we can hear and compare the reasons for training. This could not be done quantitatively, as direct questioning about certain topics, such as "How do you feel about your treatment from teachers?" or "Do your parents tell you to train?", although direct, would almost definitely be an incredibly sensitive issue - and the questioned will undoubtedly give information that they feel they have to.

In this way, more detailed interviews are more likely to give breathing space for more important information to appear. While such methods cant bring a decisive trend through statistics, certain words and replies that give a suggestion of certain facts, cannot be denied, even if interpretable - and may prove a worthy foundation as a direction for further research.



5.0 Results

5.1 The results from email questionnaire from, a 13 year old training in a gong fu academy in Northern China:


1. i had train kwung fu for about 3 years

2. Honestly at first i training kwung fu just for training my body, because i used to be sick when i'm small ( little )

3. eh.. like beautiful actions it's not really useful , but we still have to train it

4. In fact i can not say it , I'm not very good , but compare to the others , I'm okay in any field i thought

5. during Kong fu training , it is normal for trainer got injured

6. i'm not like used to be training kongfu all the day , because i changed my major , so ... i training kong fu for 2 or 3 hours a each day .



5.2 The Unstructured Interview with former Shaolin Student Stan:
The interview with Stan was conducted over three separate conversations between August 21st and August 25th over through Skype Internet messaging systems and then reformatted into the following.



Above: Liam Beale and Stan Tsires, of the Seping Traditional Gong Fu academy (Taken September 2005)

Question: I understand that as a former student of Gong Fu in an academy in China, and I am very glad to have you taking part in this interview.

Stan : No problem, happy to help.

Question : why do you think people train gong fu in china?

Stan : First of all, physical training (including some martial arts) is a part of the Chinese education system. Physical training is present in kindergartens, schools and universities. Many families also send their children to martial arts schools or camps for a short time in order to improve their health and discipline.

Question : So, what is the motivation behind children being sent to gong fu academies, where they train mainly martial arts?

Stan : If we're talking long-term, then many parents send their kids to those martial arts school in order for them to have a career in the army, police or security.

Question : So presumably the emphasis for them would be on fitness and self defence, not performances as such.

Stan: This kind of schools/training camps are usually located in rural areas, so it's a good opportunity for them in a country that struggles to create enough jobs.

The emphasis is on later employment opportunities more than anything, in my opinion

Question : does it genuinely make these people able to serve though? Does it create the strengths in a person, like a mental focus or actual ability to defend themselves?

Stan : They're physically stronger and mentally more disciplined - but it doesn't make them fighters or anything like that. Self defence, or the defending of another person altogether requires much more than the training provided.

Realistically speaking, people these days do not fight with century-old weapons like swords and spears - they fight with guns, knives - and even beyond that, real danger is something far more subtle than one-on-one combat with obvious enemies - it is something far more chaotic.

There are different types of Martial Art schools in China by the way. The ones that are popular in the media are more sports oriented, producing mostly performers and future trainers. The other kind is the more military-oriented one, where the emphasis is put on discipline rather than performance (they're more like military camps).

Question : From what you're saying, it sounds like it's not really important how good the student is - just that they've been through the system?

Stan : The better performers also get a chance to move up to more prestigious schools in big cities and have a career in sports. Both discipline and physical fitness are important. Like in anything, you're supposed to get good at it in order to get ahead of others. And that is especially true for China.

Question : Do you think that the students themselves are aware that they are training to establish a better job in the future? Or do you think they have a separate motivation?

Stan : In China they don't have such a glorified view of martial arts as they do in the West. There is a share of excitement and "mystique" as well, but mostly among the kids and not nearly as much as in the west.

I do think that professional martial arts training in China is done more for career reasons..

You have to remember that China has a growing economy and a huge population to boot. Recently they have been facing a problem with employment, especially in the rural areas. And incidentally, those martial arts boarding school are usually located far from the big cities, where employment is not as big of a problem. Therefore it's a good alternative for families who don't have enough money to send their children to institutions of higher learning.

As far as training martial arts as a hobby or a health exercise, it's not at all prevalent among the younger Chinese

Question : I would assume that many parents push their children into training kung fu as a naive attempt at making the next Jackie Chan or Jet Li, seeing as these two movie stars are tremendously well-known throughout China, and are paid huge amounts of money and are able to live wherever they like in the world - It would be easy to imagine parents pushing their children to live up to the success of such images.

Stan : The best of the best do have that opportunity, but considering China's total population..

If you read Jet Li's own story, you'd be astounded by the amount of training (and punishment) that he endured as a child, in addition to his natural talent. He was fortunate enough to have one of the best masters - and Jackie Chan was fortunate to be sent to the prestigious Beijing Opera school


5.3 Unstructured Interview with ‘Uzzo’, a student in multiple shaolin academies, multiple times from 2005-2008

Question - Why do you you think that the children in these academies train? What motivates them?

Uzzo - Well, most of the kids get sent there by their parents, and sadly, most of the time they really don't want to be there. There was a girl last time, that was the only girl amongst crazy, aggressive kick boxers. Everyday she said "Oh my God! I cant stand it!", almost in tears,which made me incredibly uncomfortable.

Still, graduating from such academies opens a door to job opportunities. Mostly mundane security jobs, although not the greatest of jobs, in rural China it stands out above other jobs. Security guards have a sense of authority, and respect.

Also sometimes it's a real investment for the parents sending their kids there, since a normal school, where you learn the normal academic skills, would be more expensive, and less specialised.
The main source of their motivation is represented by a thick two-meter long stick, that is held by a moody sifu - and there is no limit to how often they choose to use it.

Question - How do you think they were treated?

Uzzo - If nobody likes them, including the sifus, then naturally they are not treated too good. Some of them fight almost daily, outside of training time I mean, (some enjoy it, some don't). Some are treated roughly by the sifus, meaning they have to remain in a push-up position for a certain amount of time, for barely any reason (other than that he doesn't like them).

Some are just ignored - mainly the overweight kids. Some are treated much better, with the intention of actually teaching them something.

Some children are treated like family (There are no parents around and most of the sifus are young and don't have children themselves)


6.0 Discussion.
The results of the interview with these three people shed light on some particular areas.

13 year old:
Firstly it has to be noted that although his answers may sound simple, English is in fact his second language - and surely the fact that a child of such an age can even understand and reply to such questioning shows that the education system he is in is able to produce that.

His answers are incredibly brief, given his limited knowledge of English - but even in this important direction can be gathered for the scope of further research - especially when the two samples are compared. In this sense the two methods complement each other to an extent.

For example, Stan's comments on his view that the children that train do so mostly as a means of securing future employment- and through the child’s answers we see an alternative, that he was sent due to poor health as a child.

One area where a relevant cross-over is made is in his assertion that what students were taught is not useful - which is consistent with Stans viewpoint. This brings into question why there is this perception of Shaolin Gong Fu as being beneficial towards a career in the emergency services, as clearly performance-based martial arts and self defence are two distinctly different things. One has to wonder if this distinction in the Chinese public's perception of Gong Fu.



Stan:
The concept that Gong Fu training secures children with future job opportunities in the Emergency Services opens a whole new area of questioning and potential research.

Firstly - There is the question of: "Does training in Gong Fu actually have any benefits to somebody working in the emergency services?"

And then, as a division of this - the benefits of training traditional Gong Fu, over contemporary styles, or the training of schools that are more oriented around self defence and combat (Sanda camps.) - and whether or not the emergency services are aware of the differences that these different academies produce in students.

Understanding this difference could lead to a shift of many parents insisting that their children attend an academy that is seen to be more relevant to future employment - which would lead to a huge shift in how martial arts is practiced in China. It is likely that if parents both wanted their children to have careers in the emergency services, and understood the needs of these services, we would see a lot more popularity in people training in more self-defence oriented schools and sanda camps on the basis that it is possibly more appropriate for the emergency services that often have to protect themselves and others.


Uzzo:
Uzzo's interview gives information that is the most concerning of the three interviews. The implication that children are socially neglected, mistreated or ostracised brings into question the worth of this training and style of life.

7.0 Conclusion
A basic conclusion is that the children that enter these martial arts academies are perhaps mostly motivated by external, structural factors - their parents choice to put them into this school and the rules of the schools themselves. Children seem to have relatively little choice in the matter.

However, from this initial research it becomes apparent that many other branches research have been left unexplored, and might be appropriate in making a greater establishment into the reasons for Chinese children training martial arts in China - as more refined areas of study could be addressed.

7.1 Recommendations for further research

Future research in the following areas would be of great benefit.

-The Parents of these children, their financial background, and their particular feelings towards Shaolin training schools and future employment for their children.

-The perceptions of the Chinese public in general to the benefits of traditional Chinese Gong Fu, to institutionalised learning, to the needs of the emergency services.

-More research into the roles of the emergency services, the roles that are required of them and the practical effects of traditional and contemporary gong fu. The benefits of other training in comparison.

These areas require research into a more specialised population - In some instances relying on the existing population of students from Shao Lin academies in China, or branching out much further into issues of China as a nation, which would prove a massive challenge.



8.0 Reference List


BBC (2002) "Behind China's Internet Red Firewall." BBC NEWS | Technology | Behind China's internet Red Firewall

BBC (2005) `Breaking down the great firewall' BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Breaking down the Great Firewall


BBC (2005) "Chinese Child Abuse 'Widespread'" Found at: BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Chinese child abuse 'widespread' [September 18th, 2008]

BBC NEWS (2005) "Pinsent shocked by China training found at BBC SPORT | Other Sport... | Gymnastics | Pinsent shocked by China training [18th of September 2008]

BBC (2008) `Viewpoint: The Forbidden Beijing"
BBC - Today

Department for Children, Schools and Families (2007) found at The Standards Site: Sports September the 12th, 2008

Francis Diane (2008), "Female gymnastics is always about child abuse" Hufftington Post, Newyork found at Diane Francis: Female Gymnastics Is Always About Child Abuse

Ho, Gerry (2008) "Shaolin vs UFC" Squat E-magazine found at Squat - Shaolin Vs UFC 12th September, 2008


Martial Arts Standards Agency (2005) "Standards for Martial Arts/Clubs" MASA, Cheltenam


Internation Tennis Federation (2004) "Avoiding Child Abuse: Guidelines for those working with children in tennis" ITF, London


TDA (2007) "Supporting the induction process: TDA Guidance for newly qualified teachers" Training and Development Agency for schools, London


Quanlin Qiu (2006) "Child Abuse on the rise in Guangdong" China Daily [Found at: Child abuse on the rise in Guangdong on 19th of September, 2008]