When asked what I teach, I enjoy the brief exchange that usually follows my response which includes a schedule of courses such as graduate level Exercise & Sport Science, and Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment in Physical Education, and undergraduate level Motor Learning and Theory and Analysis of Combative Activities.

It gives me an opportunity to share about the multidisciplinary nature of physical education/kinesiology, drawing on biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and pedagogy. When asked what my favorite course is, immediately I respond with Combative Activities.

What are combative activities? They incorporate person-to-person combat such as wrestling, self-defense, and judo. In this course, I emphasize the importance of inclusion of combative activities in the secondary physical education curriculum. Learning a combative activity can provide critical skills necessary for self protection and personal safety, and there is tremendous potential for fitness development. Reflective of its importance, combative activity is one of the eight curricular areas mandated in the CA Education Code for high school physical education and is included in the CA State Standards for Physical Education – which is why we require CSU Stanislaus physical education students preparing to be teachers to take Theory and Analysis of Combative Activities.

Despite the noted benefits of learning combative activities and its mandated curricular inclusion, in my first few years of teaching at CSU Stanislaus, I was beginning to suspect that combative activity was commonly being overlooked in California secondary physical education programs. Observation of programs in the state, interactions at state conferences, and anecdotal information provided by my students were continually raising my concern. This prompted me to conduct a statewide survey funded through a research grant from the CAHPERD Foundation. Results suggest that less than half of the high school physical education programs in California incorporate combative activities. Survey responses indicate several reasons for not including combative activities, most notably fear of injury liability suits and fear of concerns raised from physical contact (teacher-student and student-student) inherent in combative venues. In an article published in the CAHPERD Journal, I respond to these concerns and make recommendations for teaching combative activities appropriately.

It is particularly important for female Physical Education majors to master the course content. With women’s wrestling being an international sport with World Championships since 1989 and an Olympic sport since 2004, girls’ wrestling in the U.S. has increased significantly. Having females prepared to coach junior high and high school teams that have female members could be critical for addressing concerns raised about males teaching/coaching female students in the context of wrestling. In 1987, my first year as a high school wrestler, there were 124 girls (compared to 246,771 boys) in the U.S. documented by the National Federation of State High School Associations to be competing on boys’ high school wrestling teams in this country. Now, there are over 5,048 girls (compared to 257,246 boys) wrestling on high school teams in the U.S., and Hawaii and Texas classify girls’ wrestling as an official state-recognized sport with female teams. California is one of the states with the greatest number of high school female wrestling participants, tallying 1,142 girls, though California does not yet recognize girls’ wrestling as an official sport.

The controversy, history, and evolution of the sport of female wrestling is fascinating, with early formal discussion about the appropriateness of women and girls wrestling debated in Plato’s dialogues found in Republic and The Laws. Among Plato’s radical social proposals was a call for gender equality in physical education, a large component of which was wrestling. Threads of Plato’s discussions described the virtue of physical training for girls and women designated as guardians of their community equivalent to that of their male guardian counterparts. In contemporary Western society, the road plowed by pioneering wrestling girls and women has been turbulent. Denied access to boys’ junior high and high school wrestling teams, discrimination suits, misinterpretation of Title IX, and the eventual inclusion of women’s wrestling as a medal sport in the Olympics has painted a colorful history. For me, particular satisfaction was enjoyed watching women’s wrestling debut in the Olympics in 2004, the year the Games were hosted in Athens, Greece. While it was certainly occasion for celebration, it seemed especially fitting that women wrestlers of the highest level were competing in the place that was once Plato’s home.

I plan to eventually write a book about women’s wrestling. There are amazing women’s stories to be told, struggles to share… and most certainly not just on the mat. My years of dedication to women’s wrestling as a competitor, researcher, and fan, is in part why I love teaching Theory and Analysis of Combative Activities. It is an opportunity to share with my students my passion for the activity, the importance of including it in the physical education curriculum, and the tools to implement it. Sharing the combative activity experience with my students and watching their growing interest and excitement is one of the very many reasons I love being a professor of physical education at CSU Stanislaus. For me, this course is the absolute intersection of teaching, research, and living – each continually informing one another.