The Personality of Black-Belt and Nonblack-Belt Traditional Karateka

Obtaining a black-belt (or Dan grade) in traditional Karate-Do (the Way of the emptyhand) requires great perseverance and much diligence on the part of the trainee. Because such practice is taxing on both mind and body and progress often slow and painful, few students aspire to the prestigious Dan grades. As personality traits describe largely stable and enduring characteristics, it seems of value to examine possible predisposing factors in those individuals who have attained the Dan rank and compare them to their subordinates. A sample of 110 male gaded karateka of kyu (i.e., nonblack-belt) status, and 32 male Dan grades, were taken from five traditional Shotokan karate associations. The length of training for kyu grade subjects ranged from some 3 mo. co 4 yr. Dan grades ranged from Shodan (1st Dan), w~lh a minimum of 5 yr. training, to Godan (5th Dan) with a minimum of 20 yr. training. There was no significant difference between the two samples with regard to age. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975) was administered to measure the trait variables Extraversion (El, Neuroticism (N), and Psychoticism (PI. Mean scores for the Dan and kyu samples were: Extraversion 12.22 (SD = 4.62), Neuroticism 8.04 (SD = 5.30), Psychoticism 3.73 (SD = 2.55), and Extraversion 14.15 (SD = 4.91), Neuroticism 11.56 (SD = 5.71), Psychoticism 3.87 (SD = 2.721, respectively. Differences between the means, via independent two-tailed t tests were for Extraversion 1.97 (p < .05), for Neuroticism 3.09 (p < .01), and Psychoticism 0.26. Spearman's rho indicated no significant relationship between level of Dan p,rades and any of the three personality measures. As the study of traditional Karate-Do is a very ordered and largely a singular and personal activitylexperience, that requires much repetition in its practice, it may readily be appreciated that the less extraverted, who are more susceptible to conditioning and are inclined to operate their lives within relatively precise and narrow parameters, are predisposed to reach the higher grades. Conversely, the greater the Extraversion, the greater the inclination for subjects to shift their attention to ventures new and so probably accounts, in part, for the tremendous dropout rate in Shotokan karate kyu grades. Similarly, ic seems reasonable to suppose that calm and controlled individuals, being able to respond to situations in a relatively unworried and less emotional manner, will progress in a demanding and calculated martial art. This would account for the lower Neuroticism scores in the Dan sample.