Orient fighting arts as body training and consciousness disciplining school and its pecularities in lithuania

SUMMARY Sandra Sušinskytė Exercising Body and Disciplining Consciousness in Oriental School of Martial Arts and Its Peculiarities in Lithuania Master’s degree work The problems of Oriental martial arts schools operation, efficiency and fulfilment of their educational objectives in Lithuania are framed in this thesis. Firstly, various Lithuanian and foreign literature on Oriental martial arts’ philosophy analysed and systematized. Secondly, a martial arts’ teacher and student survey has been carried out to see teachers’ attitude to martial arts schools in Lithuania and their methodology, examine their theoretical work during lessons: discussions with students about Zen philosophy and its meaning for martial arts, effort to get students’ attention on this topic, and to determine the effect of this effort on young personalities. The work discovered that there is a need for martial arts schools in modern Lithuania, for the reason that disciplining consciousness together with bodily workout ensures efficiency of activities. It is the first time that Oriental martial arts have been researched from an educational perspective. This thesis puts significant influence to reconstructing the model of Oriental martial arts in modern society, as well as reinforcing interdisciplinary connections (between sports, religion, philosophy, and pedagogy). The author’s hypothesis has been confirmed: body exercising and consciousness disciplining Oriental martial arts are appropriate means to ensure Lithuanian students’ personal harmony, stimulate their awareness and efficiency of their activities