Learning the hard way – Reflections on the translation of insights from the pedagogy of martial arts to social science

Abstract

In this paper I elaborate and reflect shortly on the particularities of martial arts pedagogy, and the lessons we might bring over to teachings in social science. This idea stems from the meeting between my own experiences with practicing the martial arts of Taekwon-Do and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on the one hand, and my role as a university teacher on the other. The idea is developed further in an interplay between the initial idea, the literature on the pedagogies of martial arts, student perspectives, and perspectives from colleagues.