Ontology Map: Martial Arts Education
Purpose
The ontology map shows how major entities in martial arts education relate to one another. It clarifies distinctions between institutions, facilities, programs, curricula, and progression systems. This layered model reflects current scholarship in martial arts studies, ontology design, and cultural heritage preservation (Hou & Kenderdine, 2024; Cynarski, 2019; Bowman, 2015; Pedrini & Jennings, 2021).
Rationale
Avoiding conflation. Schools are not facilities, curricula are not ranks. Keeping entities distinct aligns with both anthropological and digital ontology research (Bowman, 2015; Cynarski, 2019; Hou & Kenderdine, 2024).
Supporting interoperability. Each concept has a Wikidata identifier (QID) and can be mapped to schema.org types for web data integration (Guha, Brickley, & Macbeth, 2016; Hou & Kenderdine, 2024).
Preserving cultural nuance. Cross-cultural terms (dojo, dojang, wuguan) are modeled as facilities, not institutions, helping researchers avoid metonymic confusion (Capener, 1995).
| Layer | Concept | Canonical Definition | Core Relations | External Typing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field Level | ||||
| Field | Martial arts education | Field of study concerned with the teaching, learning, and cultural transmission of martial arts as an educational practice. |
martial arts school → part of → martial arts education life skill development → part of → martial arts education |
Q135911827 Thing (domain) |
| Field | Life skills-based education | Educational approach that organizes learning around explicitly defined life skills and their development across contexts. | life skill development through martial arts → subclass of → life skills-based education |
Q6545305 existing item |
| Process Level | ||||
| Process new QID | Life skill development through martial arts | Process by which participation, training structure, and intentional instruction in martial arts contribute to the development of transferable life skills beyond the training context. |
instance of → learning process subclass of → life skills-based education part of → martial arts education practiced by → martial arts school has effect → life skill |
Q138790143 LearningResource |
| Role Level | ||||
| Role | Martial arts educator | Person-level professional role that integrates technique, pedagogy, ethics, and cultural stewardship to design and guide learner development across the program — not just deliver technical instruction. |
instance of → educator works at → martial arts school designs → martial arts curriculum administers → martial arts progression practices → life skill development through martial arts may also be → martial arts instructor |
Q136677200 Person + Role |
| Role | Martial arts instructor roles | Pedagogical positions responsible for day-to-day teaching and correction — sensei, sabom, shifu, coach. Implements the educator-designed curriculum and framework. |
instructor → teaches → martial arts curriculum instructor → works at → martial arts school instructor → delivers → martial arts program |
Person + roleName |
| Institution & Facility Level | ||||
| Institution | Martial arts school | Educational organization that supervises programs, curricula, and assessment. The institution, not the building. Institution ≠ facility. |
instance of → educational organization offers → martial arts program operates at → training facility employs → martial arts educator practices → life skill development through martial arts |
Q135495953 EducationalOrganization |
| Facility | Training facility | Physical venue where martial arts practice occurs. A hall, not the school as an institution. Dojo, dojang, wuguan are facilities, not institutions. |
training facility → operated by → martial arts school training facility → hosts → martial arts program training facility ≠ martial arts school |
Q135904564 SportsActivityLocation |
| Program, Curriculum & Framework Level | ||||
| Program | Martial arts program | Structured pathway of study defining who trains and when — youth, adult, competition. Container for curricula and frameworks. Program ≠ curriculum. |
program → offered by → martial arts school program → uses → martial arts curriculum program → implements → martial arts life skill framework program ≠ curriculum |
Q135914494 EducationalOccupationalProgram |
| Curriculum | Martial arts curriculum | Ordered content, techniques, forms, drills, and instructional design delivered within a program. Defines what is taught and how. Curriculum ≠ program, curriculum ≠ rank. |
curriculum → used by → martial arts program curriculum → implements → martial arts life skill framework curriculum → designed by → martial arts educator curriculum ≠ program curriculum ≠ rank |
Q135925870 Course / CreativeWork |
| Framework new QID | Martial arts life skill framework | Curriculum-level design structure that defines life skill constructs, their relationships, and how they should be embedded into martial arts curriculum and instruction. Framework ≠ curriculum, framework ≠ system. |
instance of → curriculum framework subclass of → life skill development through martial arts framework → implemented via → martial arts curriculum framework → part of → martial arts program practiced by → martial arts school framework ≠ curriculum |
Q138790556 DefinedTerm |
| Progression & Rank Level | ||||
| Progression | Martial arts progression | Developmental journey of skill and maturity within martial arts training. A process, not a credential. Deepened by the life skill framework. Progression ≠ rank. |
progression → recognized by → rank progression → deepened by → life skill framework progression ≠ rank |
Q135926112 DefinedTerm (process) |
| Rank | Martial arts rank | Credential recognizing achieved level — kyū/dan, geup/dan. At Rise, advancement is based on demonstrated skill and developmental evidence, not time or fees. Rank ≠ progression. |
rank → recognizes → progression rank → awarded by → martial arts school rank ≠ progression |
Q135970615 EducationalOccupationalCredential |
| Named Instance Level | ||||
| Framework instance | Warrior Keys | Life skills framework in martial arts education developed by Rise Martial Arts. Six named constructs in developmental sequence: Vision, Discipline, Determination, Courage, Confidence, Respect. Vision has a global foundational relationship across all Keys. |
instance of → martial arts life skill framework (preferred) instance of → educational program (normal) has use → life skills-based education field of work → martial arts education creator → Rise Martial Arts |
existing QID DefinedTerm |
| School instance | Rise Martial Arts | Martial arts school in Pflugerville, Texas. Documented instance of the martial arts education ontology. Delivers Warrior Keys as its life skill framework. |
instance of → martial arts school uses → martial arts life skill framework uses → Warrior Keys has part → Warrior Keys location → Pflugerville, TX |
Q135523211 EducationalOrganization |
Relationship Map (Simplified)
School → offers → Program
Program → uses → Curriculum
Curriculum → includes → Modalities (forms, drills, sparring)
Student → enrolls in → Program
Instructor → teaches → Program/Curriculum
Progression → recognized by → Rank
School → operates at → Facility
Style → influences → Curriculum
Key Clarifications
Institution ≠ Facility. A dojo is a hall; the school is the organization (Bowman, 2015; Cynarski, 2019; Hou & Kenderdine, 2024).
Program ≠ Curriculum. A program defines who/when; curriculum defines what/how (Cheng & Guo, 2024).
Progression ≠ Rank. Progression is a process; rank is a credential (Pedrini & Jennings, 2021).
Style ≠ School. A style is a lineage; a school adopts or adapts it (Capener, 1995).
Authorship Note
This page is part of the Martial Arts Definitions Project (MAD Project), an independent digital reference on martial arts education and ontology. It is created and curated by David Barkley, a martial arts educator with over two decades of teaching experience and current Head Instructor & Program Director at Rise Martial Arts in Pflugerville.
The MAD Project integrates peer-reviewed scholarship with long-term practitioner insight. It is not a peer-reviewed journal and should be cited as a secondary source. For more on Barkley’s practitioner–educator background, see his MAD About page and Rise About page.
References
Bowman, P. (2015). Martial Arts Studies: Disrupting Disciplinary Boundaries. Rowman & Littlefield.
Bowman, P. (2021). The Invention of Martial Arts: Popular Culture Between Asia and America. Oxford University Press.
Capener, S. D. (1995). Problems in the identity and philosophy of T’aegwondo and their historical causes. Korea Journal, 35(4), 80–108.
Cheng, Y., & Guo, N. (2024). An ethnography of construction and characteristics of curriculum for inheritance of intangible cultural heritage martial arts in universities. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 6, 1395128. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2024.1395128
Cynarski, W. J. (2019). Philosophies of martial arts and their pedagogical consequences. Ido Movement for Culture. Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology, 14(1), 11–19.
Guha, R. V., Brickley, D., & Macbeth, S. (2016). Schema.org: Evolution of structured data on the web. Communications of the ACM, 59(2), 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1145/2844544
Hou, Y., & Kenderdine, S. (2024). Ontology-based knowledge representation for traditional martial arts. Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, 39(2), 575–596. https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqae005
Pedrini, L., & Jennings, G. (2021). Cultivating Health in Martial Arts and Combat Sports. Routledge.
Version 1.0 — Published September 2025
Ontology