Date of Award
Spring 2025
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Department/Major
Kinesiology and Sport Management
First Advisor
Joseph Tinguely
Second Advisor
Zoli Filotas
Third Advisor
Hyung Suk Yang
Keywords
play philosophy, martial arts, play, combat sports, philosophy
Abstract
Play philosophy stands at the heart of all martial arts interactions through the medium of play fighting. Moreover, when examined more closely, martial arts serves as the culminating form of play fighting and the idealized representation of play philosophy. Simply put, martial arts embodies play thoroughly, and the specific style of combat-based martial arts serves as the perfect example of play fighting. To understand how the movement from play fighting to martial arts evolved, we can examine the inherent structure of play through authors such as Wojciech Cynarski, Scott Erble, and Kurt Riezler. Applying Scott Eberle’s elements of play and Kurt Riezler’s discussions on seriousness allowed play to be applied to a fighting form. Play was then analyzed to determine how it differed from survival using Gavin Ardley’s examination of play. Drawing on the views of Zack Agoff et al. on the development of martial arts internalization, a definition of combat-based martial arts was established, firmly establishing the definition structure of combat martial arts as the primary idealized representation of play fighting and play philosophy.
Recommended Citation
Donahoe, Joseph RN, "Play and Martial Arts: Play Philosophy's Perspective on Fighting" (2025). Honors Thesis. 374.
https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis/374