Psychological benefits of practicing fencing at an early age, in the province of Artemisa

Abstract

Sport is a social phenomenon of great public interest that has an important role in the physical-mental well-being, growth and comprehensive development of people. The present study had as objective to analyze the psychological benefits of practicing fencing at an early age, in the province of Artemisa. Theoretical research methods such as historical-logical, analytical-synthetic and induction-deduction were used, as well as the empirical ones as the interview that allowed to know the specialized opinion on the practice of fencing in Artemisa; the analysis of documents to explore the content of the normative documents that govern fencing and the measurement applied in the Tolouse-Pieron attention concentration test and the Torrance quick thinking test to measure individual particularities of thinking. A consultation with specialists was also carried out to highlight the importance and psychological benefits of fencing. The sample was represented by ten nine-year-old children from the "Gabino Labrador" Primary School located in the San Cristóbal municipality. Five children who had been practicing fencing for two years and five who had not were intentionally selected. The results showed that the practitioners had a greater development of the variables analyzed, this confirmed the psychological benefits that practicing this sport at an early age provides.