A sociological analysis of martial arts in Spain. A focus on the recent evolution, characteristics and social profile of judo, karate and taekwondo practitioners

This article presents a sociological approach to the study of martial arts in Spanish society. With few exceptions, martial arts have not received much attention from Spanish social scientists. After carrying out a historical contextualization of the emergence and evolution of martial arts, specifically judo, karate and taekwondo, the study offers a sociological analysis of the practice of these martial arts based on data from various annual statistical directories and surveys on sport participation. These sources make it possible, on the one hand, to examine the evolution of the number of clubs and federative licenses included in the category of martial arts and, on the other, to provide a more in-depth view of the characteristics and socio-demographic profile of their practitioners.