Quality of Life Improvement among Malaysian Martial Arts Practitioners

Abstract

Martial arts which promotes meditation, discipline and physical activity have positive effect on overall health and well-being of the practitioner. This study aimed to investigate the improvement of quality of life of martial arts practitioners such as silat. This randomized interventional study was conducted in six states in Malaysia including Pahang, Terengganu, Selangor, Kelantan, Kedah and Sabah. Participants were randomly divided into control (not practicing martial arts) and intervention (practicing martial arts) groups. Self-administered questionnaires consisting of socio-demography (5 items), smoking cessation (4 items), physical activity (6 items) and overall wellbeing (7 items) were distributed to both groups at pre- and post-intervention. A total of 200 participants (age group of 18-28 years = 95%; male = 98%; Muslim = 98%; collage/university education level = 99%) were recruited. Intervention group showed better improvement on lethargy (78.0% vs 66.0%), agitations (80.0% vs 54.0%), restlessness (82.0% vs 53.0%), depressions (92.0% vs 56.0%) and smoking cessation (100.0% vs 75.0%), compared to the control group. Martial arts promote a positive effect on a person's overall quality of life. This finding encourages an alternative for better health promotion specifically among youths