Professor wonders what adults lose when they stop engaging in competitive play
Janet O’Shea says the answer has implications far beyond things like fitness and fun
Janet O'Shea is a professor of dance in the UCLA Department of World Arts & Cultures/Dance. She has dedicated her life and career to the study and performance of dance. Inspired by martial artist Bruce Lee in the 1970s and armed with years of dance training, O’Shea began more recently to practice jeet kune do, the martial art that Lee created. Her newest book "Risk, Failure, Play: What Dance Reveals about Martial Arts Training,” provides insight into her training and describes the individual and societal benefits of physical play through the martial arts.
"More than just an opportunity to break a sweat and maybe have some fun, competitive physical activity like sparring allows people to explore disagreement with respect, according to Janet O’Shea, professor of dance at UCLA, who recently wrote a book about the value of play. “If I’m trying to punch you and you’re trying to kick me in the head, we disagree on a pretty basic level. But we agree as to the terms of our interaction. At the end, we shake hands and most of the time we actually mean it.”
Janet O’Shea says there are lessons in competitive play that can be useful in other arenas. As teenagers become adults and are no longer required to take physical education classes in school, chances to engage in physical competition tend to drop dramatically. What we lose is far more than simply exercise, O’Shea says."— UCLA Newsroom, Feb. 6, 2018
This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the UCLA Newsroom website.
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