UNLEARNING MASCULINITY – A program manual for coaches to support emotional regulation among practitioners practicing MACS

 UNLEARNING MASCULINITY is an exploration of how design interventions can support practitioners’ emotional well-being within male-dominated sport environments, using martial arts and combat sports (MACS) as a case study. The project was developed in collaboration with Växjö Titans and informed through interviews and participatory engagement with coaches and practitioners, resulting in a program manual for coaches.

In today’s world, male-dominated sports can often reinforce masculinity norms, particularly MACS, which play an important role in shaping what it means to be masculine, signaling which behaviours and traits count as “real” masculinity (Schiller, 2020). This can reinforce hegemonic masculine ideals and discourage behaviours that do not align with it, including emotional vulnerability. This suggests that emotional well-being is not explicitly emphasized within regular MACS training environments.

By introducing guided practices that combine somatic and reflective exercises, the project aims to support emotional regulation among practitioners, potentially creating conditions where alternative emotional behaviours and forms of expression are practiced and normalized. Over time, this could broaden what is considered acceptable emotional behaviour and contribute to a shift in how masculinity is perceived within MACS training environments.

One of my key learnings from this project was the significant influence of coaches in shaping the emotional climate of the training environment. Because of this, I chose to approach coaches as the primary target group for the project, positioning them as the facilitators for the guided practices.

Somatic practices became particularly relevant due to the understanding that emotional experiences are embodied and can be expressed not only as cognitive or verbal processes, but through movement as well (van der Kolk, 2014). Given that MACS environments are deeply rooted in embodied engagement, these practices offered an accessible way of engaging with emotional well-being without relying on direct emotional disclosure or vulnerability.

In the first workshop where I tested the practices, there was hesitation towards engaging with the exercises, which was understandable considering my ‘feminine’ approach was unfamiliar for their male-dominated environment. However, engagement became more natural throughout the session, and by the end of it, some of the participants even approached me, expressing how they felt more connected to their body and could focus better during training.

After this workshop, I decided to delve deeper into the initial resistance practitioners faced at the beginning, which led me to further explore the coach’s role in creating psychological safety. As a result, I  included coach introductions for each practice session, where they acknowledge how the exercises may feel unfamiliar, and that practitioners may experience hesitation, nervousness, or pressure to perform. Through having the coach acknowledge these unspoken dynamics, it becomes possible to contribute to psychological safety within the training environment (Brown, 2018).

Over the course of this project, I realised that sometimes all that is required is to plant a seed in an existing system, rather than trying to produce immediate change. If that seed is nurtured, it will eventually grow and contribute to change overtime. This highlights the powerful role of design when used as a practice to creating conditions for change, rather than attempting to control the outcome.

 References

Schiller, K. (2020). Masculinities in martial arts and combat sports – an interdisciplinary issue. Sport in History, 40(3), 291–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/17460263.2020.1784510

van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking, Penguin Random House.

Brown, B. (2018). Dare to lead: Brave work. Tough conversations. Whole hearts. Vermilion.