2022, Volume 18, Issue 1
The scientific literature on karate in the Web of Science® – a narrative review
Laís de Lima Amaral1, Leandro Carlos Mazzei1, Tiago Oviedo Frosi1, Guilherme Kioshi Yamanaka1, Débora Jaqueline Farias Fabiani1
1Faculty of Physical Education, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
Author for correspondence: Laís de Lima Amaral; Faculty of Physical Education, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil; email: l219686@dac.unicamp.br
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Abstract
Background & Study Aim: Karate is a worldwide combat sport. With the dissemination of this sport (and martial art at the same time) on a global scale and inclusion in the Olympic Games program, the scientific production related to this sport may have been influenced. The aim of this review is to know about the scientific interests of the authors of works dedicated to the phenomenon of karate based on a bibliometric analysis from 1900 to 2021, using the Web of Science® (WoS) database.
Material and Methods: Original articles were extracted from the main WoS collection. The articles were qualitatively and quantitatively analysed, using the Bibexcel, SciMAT, and Iramuteq software. Content analysis of titles, keywords, and abstracts was also performed.
Results: We identified 450 original articles published in 202 journals. In total, 67% of the articles were published in the last 10 years. Perceptual and Motor Skills was the journal with the most published articles. The most used references are concentrated in the areas of biodynamics and performance, with focus on sports science. European and Anglo-American authors are the ones who publish the most about karate. Training is the most recurrent thematic area, followed by sports medicine/injuries.
Conclusions: The diversity regarding the journals, references, and authors that wrote the articles is considerable. The highest performances of athletes do not correspond to teams from countries where considerable science is produced. There are research gaps in areas, such as sports management in karate, history, and other sociocultural disciplines as well as studies on pedagogy, training of new practitioners, athletes, and coaches.
Key words: kata, filtering, content analysis, bibliometric, kumite, martial arts