Trauma-Informed Martial Arts
Yoga, meditation, qigong, expressive arts, and many other lifestyle practices have been shown to have a positive effect on trauma processing and the treatment of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Practices that stress breath awareness and connection, movement of the physical body, and intentional focus on somatic sensation have consistently generated results in allowing the survivors of trauma to access their physical selves, and reintegrate their somatic knowledge to themselves as a whole. Extending these principles and criteria outward, there are a number of other physical practices that should, in theory, provide similar benefits: dance, weight-lifting, running, the martial arts, and others (Van der Kolk, 2014). But with regard to the martial arts specifically, open calls for research and study have only been met by a handful of pilot programs and small-sample studies. As of yet, no comprehensive, well-developed studies have examined the utility of martial arts practice for the treatment of traumatic stress, and no clinically validated programs have attempted to develop a trauma-informed system of martial arts instruction.
However, small independent trauma-informed martial arts programs do exist, including a Tanzanian program developed by Brazilian Jiujitsu instructor Claire Hayes. Hayes’ program, oriented specifically toward sexual assault survivors, emphasizes re-establishing control and autonomy within one’s own body. While martial arts, especially more modern styles like jiujitsu, prioritize heavy contact and imposition of physical force, Hayes modifies her own program to take a graduated approach to the art. The program is oriented toward a discussion of sport jiujitsu, rather than drawing explicit parallels between the art and situations of self-defense and assault, and moves through a series of less-to-more-invasive techniques from wrist grabs to standing grapples to takedowns and full grappling. Hayes has begin to assemble a course framework for use in other studios. Similarly, Australian kickboxing instructor and Muay Thai fighter Georgia Verry adapted an online trauma-informed kickboxing class during the COVID-19 pandemic. Verry’s program blends shadow-boxing and pad-focused kickboxing techniques with meditation, stretching, and somatic processing of stimuli, which Verry conceptualizes as the accessing of traumatic stored emotion as it is brought up during the class (Valentish, 2020).
These pilot programs are small, do not collect efficacy data, and are not focused on building an empirically validated system of clinical intervention around post-traumatic experiences. But they nonetheless show valuable proof-of-concept that trauma-informed martial arts can exist, can draw a student base who may benefit from that specific service, and can be organized and carried out in a way that is responsible and avoids retraumatization. As these pilot programs hopefully become more common, they should ideally be paired with some form of basic participant data collection to measure program efficacy, symptom reduction, somatic reintegration, and other goals of trauma-informed movement therapies. Further, the onus is now on clinicians and researchers to begin to explore the integration of martial arts into formalized trauma-focused therapy, and explore whether martial arts can be efficacious in that manner.
References:
Valentish, J. (2020). ‘You feel like you’re getting your power back’: How martial arts helps recovery from trauma. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/nov/08/you-feel-like-youre-getting-your-power-back-how-martial-arts-helps-recovery-from-trauma.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking.