ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on survey data to consider the health motivations for taking up martial arts of those included in the research who are not martial arts teachers. Using the Office of National Statistics measures for health for England and Wales, the chapter considers the perceptions of those included in relation to improvements in their health, their health awareness and their health behaviour. How lifestyle choices have been influenced by martial arts, for example, the cessation of smoking, reduction in sugar and alcohol consumption and weight loss, will also be briefly explored. The chapter considers in some depth by drawing on additional interview data that explored the role of martial arts to health. The interview data pay particular attention to the elderly as well as to those who use martial arts to support specific conditions such as arthritis, cancer and mobility. Finally, this chapter focuses on the process of learning itself as well as some of the associated factors.
