ICAPS-55 Survey

[CKohalyk]

Here is your chance to talk about the latest survey on Kendo World Online:

ICAPS-55 (http://www.kendo-world.com/)

[CKohalyk]

We have decided to add some extra incentive to the survey. All respondants who enter their name and email address will have their information entered into a draw to win the following:


a 1 year subscription to Kendo World Magazine (which can be added to your subscription, or given to a friend)
a choice of ONE of the three books currently available from KW Publications (http://www.kendo-world.com/kw_publications/index.php)


For the four of you that have already replied, please go back and do it again as we will discard your current answers.

Thank you very much and GOOD LUCK!!! :ditsy:

[xvikingx]

We have decided to add some extra incentive to the survey. All respondants who enter their name and email address will have their information entered into a draw to win the following:


a 1 year subscription to Kendo World Magazine (which can be added to your subscription, or given to a friend)
a choice of ONE of the three books currently available from KW Publications (http://www.kendo-world.com/kw_publications/index.php)


For the four of you that have already replied, please go back and do it again as we will discard your current answers.

Thank you very much and GOOD LUCK!!! :ditsy:

Now you tell me! :cry: hhmmmmm... I can't take the survey again. Can I just PM you my name and e-mail?

[Paul Kerr]

How come I can't see the results of the test?

[CKohalyk]

xviking, I am PMing you right now.

Paul, because there are no results yet. This is a SURVEY and not a TEST. We know you are a balanced individual ;)

This survey is used to get a GENERAL IDEA of how balanced the GENERAL KENDOIST is. The results will be written up and released in the new year (and the draw winner will also be announced too).

Any other comments on the survey?

[xvikingx]

xviking, I am PMing you right now.

Paul, because there are no results yet. This is a SURVEY and not a TEST. We know you are a balanced individual ;)

This survey is used to get a GENERAL IDEA of how balanced the GENERAL KENDOIST is. The results will be written up and released in the new year (and the draw winner will also be announced too).

Any other comments on the survey?

Thanks again. I still don't quite understand the purpose of this survey. Is it to see how well the average non-Japanese kendoka would be able to adapt to a new environment? If so why?

Oh yeah, you don't have to wait untill the new year to tell me I won. :cheeky:

[Alex]

Thanks again. I still don't quite understand the purpose of this survey. Is it to see how well the average non-Japanese kendoka would be able to adapt to a new environment? If so why?

Oh yeah, you don't have to wait untill the new year to tell me I won. :cheeky:

The survey is to establish, in this case, how well non-Japanese kendoka rate on the ICAPS scale. In other words, how social and culturally adaptable they are compared to 1. Japanese kendoka, 2. people who have nothing to do with kendo at all. Originally it was used to test the Character Developing attributes of studying Judo. See attached research paper below (http://before.ijf.org/events/WC/2001wc/2nd%20Judo%20research%20conference/The%20Intercultural%20Adjustment%20potrntial.htm) for the tables and full report. We have been asked to collate similar information on non-Japanese kendoka.

The Intercultural Adjustment Potential of Japanese University Judo Players

: Does Judo Really Aid in the Development of Character?

Hidenaka Wakayama (International Budo University)

Masayuki akeuchi (Daito Bunka University)

Ryuji Okada (Kinki University)

Mariko Iwamoto (San Francisco State University)

and David Matsumoto (San Francisco State University)



Introduction
Judo has long been considered not only as an international sport, but also a system of intellectual, physical, and especially moral education. Jigoro Kano, for example, the founder of judo, said that the ultimate goal of the practice was judo was the perfection of oneself and one’s character. Banners, signs, and slogans to this effect are hung in dojos all around the world, and most practitioners of judo, especially instructors, call upon this belief to describe the many benefits of judo training.

Judo practitioners around the world have rallied around this belief in the promulgation of judo and its practice. In fact, it is probably true that this aspect of judo contributed greatly to its popularity and widespread diffusion and promulgation around the world. Indeed, historical examinations of the spread of Japanese culture and judo around the world suggests that the focus on intellectual, physical, and moral development far outweighed the sporting aspects of judo as it gained worldwide acceptance.

Nowhere is this belief held more widely than in Japan. The Japanese have long been a moral beacon for the rest of the world, in judo and for culture in general, for years, even centuries. That this belief exists contributed to the acceptance of judo into the physical education program of the Japanese educational system, and Japanese judo instructors across the country speak of these benefits of judo. In turn, the world looks to Japan as its moral leader in this aspect of judo training.

Yet, this belief has always been just that – a belief. To our knowledge, there has never been a study that has reliably and validly measured the moral character of judo players to actually document the positive (or negative?) effects of judo training. In today’s world, as the scientific study of judo (and all Olympic sports) has gained increasing prominence in recent years, it becomes incumbent on the judo world to document these supposedly positive effects on its practitioners, if judo is to truly set itself apart from other Olympic sports.

One large reason why there has never been such a study is because there has never been a reliable and valid way to measure some of the psychological and moral skills supposedly associated with the positive changes in character. Moreover, most of the tests and measures developed in the field of psychology have been developed with other target countries and populations, mainly the U.S. Thus, the generalizability of the validity of such tests to Japanese individuals is severely limited.

Recently, however, major advancements in the field of cross-cultural psychology and intercultural communication have addressed this void. More specifically, Matsumoto and his colleagues recently developed a scale called the Intercultural Adjustment Potential Scale (ICAPS), which was designed for use in Japan and validated on Japanese samples. The ICAPS measures the degree to which individuals have the psychological skills necessary for international, intercultural, and social adjustment. It assesses four major psychological skills – emotion regulation (ER), openness (OP), flexibility (FL), and critical thinking (CT). A total score is also created, and reflects a general degree of social adjustability. Matsumoto and his colleagues (Matsumoto et al., in press; Matsumoto et al, in preparation) have reported a total of 16 studies that have amply documented its internal, temporal, and parallel forms reliability, as well as its construct (convergent, divergent, and incremental) and predictive validity (concurrent and prescriptive).

Although the ICAPS was originally designed for use in the fields of intercultural communication and cross-cultural psychology, it has considerable application to the study of the psychological correlates of judo training. Its scales – ER, OP, FL, and CT – are all related to personality and psychological traits having to do with aspects of character that are referred to in judo training. In particular, ER should be associated with discipline, self-regulation, and emotional control – all aspects of psychological development that are typically associated with judo. The ICAPS total score, as a measure of overall social adjustability, should also reflect important psychological correlates of judo training. Research using the ICAPS to date has documented its correlations with major life issues, such as marital satisfaction, life satisfaction, culture shock, depression, anxiety, and general social adjustment, further documenting its utility in studies related to judo.

The availability of this scale, therefore, is a major plus for studies not only in psychology and communication, but also in judo. Because the scale measures psychological skills related to the development of social adjustment, it can be thought to directly assess the concept of “character” which is so often discussed in the goal of judo practice. As such, the ICAPS can be used to empirically test the hypothesis that judo practice is associated with positive developments in one’s mind and character, which is so often discussed in judo circles.

The goal of this study, therefore, is to test the claim that judo practice is associated with positive mental and psychological consequences. To test this hypothesis, a large sample of university judo players in Japan completed the ICAPS, and their scores were compared to those of normative data from overall 2,000 individuals. In addition, we examined the correlation between judo experience and ICAPS scores within our university student sample. To our knowledge, this is the first test of its kind in the history of judo to examine empirically the validity of the notion that judo training is associated with the development of positive psychological aspects of character.

We contend, therefore, that the overall pattern of ICAPS scores obtained seriously questions the validity of the claim that judo practice is associated with positive character developments in Japanese university judo players. The data presented here suggest that Japanese university judo players actually have less skills related to social, intercultural, and international adjustment, and self-regulation, emotional control, and discipline. At the same time, they may be searching for new stimulation and opportunities, without having the concomitant social skills necessary to integrate these experiences into positive and mutually satisfying relationships.

That the correlations between the ICAPS scores and the experience-related variables were generally not significant indicated that skill level may not necessarily be related to the psychological skills measured by the ICAPS. In fact, the findings reported above do not necessarily imply a causal relationship between judo practice and ICAPS scores. It may very well be the case, for instance, that individuals with low ICAPS scores to begin with are those that self-select to do judo. Given that, it may also be the case that judo practices helps to improve ICAPS scores across time, but that they just never reach the level of the Japanese norms. Or, judo training may worsen ICAPS related skills. The lack of correlations would suggest that such effects are not true; yet, the only way to tease these possibilities out would be to measure ICAPS in students before they begin judo practice, and across time as they practice judo.

Regardless of the causes of the findings reported here, they nevertheless seriously call to question the validity of the supposed benefits of judo training, at least in Japan at the university level. These findings should be a cause for concern among the entire judo community, not only in Japan, but around the world, and should force us to continually evaluate, and re-evaluate, the possible psychological effects of judo practice on its participants, separating myth from reality. To the extent that such examinations suggest that judo is not doing the job we think it should be doing, they can help us to consider ways of reconceptualizing training goals and developing different training methodologies to achieve those goals, so that judo actually is associated with more functional, positive psychological skills.

[CKohalyk]

Does that answer your question VIking? ;)

Leave it to the man with the PhD.

CK

[xvikingx]

Does that answer your question VIking? ;)

Leave it to the man with the PhD.

CK

Oh yeah, I'd say that just about covers it! :cross_eye I know I am getting a little off subject now, but do they plan to do further testing to see if judo worsens these skills or if judo is a way to make up for a lack there of... etc? I look forward to results of the current survey.

[Alex]

Oh yeah, I'd say that just about covers it! :cross_eye I know I am getting a little off subject now, but do they plan to do further testing to see if judo worsens these skills or if judo is a way to make up for a lack there of... etc? I look forward to results of the current survey.


To be honest, in order to get a good indication of how judo/budo affects personality, the same test would have to be taken periodically on the same people over a couple of decades. This is just the start, so the data we collect from this survey will be important to prove that we kendoka are not a flock of social ignoramuses!!! :confused2

[mingshi]

One large reason why there has never been such a study is because there has never been a reliable and valid way to measure some of the psychological and moral skills supposedly associated with the positive changes in character.

How reliable is this test, really?

Am I the only person finding this question a little bit too funny?


51. People who want to get rid of sexy publications are mentally ill.

... Uhmmm I never notice these things are kendo-related. :rolleyes:

[Alex]

How reliable is this test, really?

Am I the only person finding this question a little bit too funny?



... Uhmmm I never notice these things are kendo-related. :rolleyes:


It's not kendo related! That's not the point. The point is to get some data on the type of people who are doing kendo, and compare with other groups. How reliable is it? How long is a piece of string?

Never mind, just do it and be into WIN!

[xvikingx]

This is just the start, so the data we collect from this survey will be important to prove that we kendoka are not a flock of social ignoramuses!!! :confused2

I don't know.. I have my moments. Hope I don't drag the rest of you down. Anyways thanks for info. Very interesting.

[Miravil]

I think it is a common way to do a survey on people. My previous company does that almost every year. The problem is that there are so many questions that sometimes I took nearly 45 minutes to finish it. :cat:

[Kent Enfield]

The one that vexed me was
39. I am a traditional person.I left this neutral as I have no idea what it means. Traditionally people have two arms, two legs, etc., so I guess I should have voted strongly agree.

[nodachi]

The one that vexed me was I left this neutral as I have no idea what it means. Traditionally people have two arms, two legs, etc., so I guess I should have voted strongly agree.

I would think having two arms, two legs, etc makes you anatomically correct, and not traditional... :)

I would assume that the survey expects you to assume traditional means following a "traditional" lifestyle fitting to your culture or location, but what is traditional is always up for discussion and the vagueness does make it not a very objective question.

[Yowai]

How about a way to obtain the results instantly?

[mingshi]

It's not kendo related!
Er, okay.

51. People who want to get rid of sexy publications are mentally ill.
Tho on the other day I thought the term "sexy publications" refers to the KW mag :D

The wordings are indeed confusing... (or maybe we are social ignoramuses?)

[kendomushi]

There are no right or wrong answers on a survey like this.
The wording is intentionally a bit vague so that you are free to think of it as you choose.
The intent is to simply get an idea of our general opinions and attitudes to a wide variety of subjects and situations so that they can be compared to each other and to persons of other groups.

[xvikingx]

Tho on the other day I thought the term "sexy publications" refers to the KW mag :D

May not be a bad idea. You guys could do it like the hotrod magazines and come out with a "Babes of Kendo World" calendar. Just a thought :wink:

[Future Head]

Traditionally people have two arms, two legs, etc., so I guess I should have voted strongly agree.

YEAH! And it's the handicapped and amputees that are ruining this country by destroying the traditional concept of people! That just ain't right! ;)

[aikanaro]

LOL :)

Thought supported!! If there are "babes-n-guns" calendars, let's see some "babes-n-swords" ...

mwahahahahaha!

[dnakase]

I don't know about non-Japanese, but a friend made the anticdotal (sp?) observation that you could tell which Japanese cops were kendoka and which did Judo... the Judoka were the "bad cop". All uptight and mean. While the Kendoka were melow.

As for International kendo people, don't you have to be maladjusted to don bizar kit and hit people with sticks while screaming at the top of their lungs????