ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1630461
Positive Youth Development through Taekwondo: A Journey to the Black Belt
Provisionally accepted
Yongsun Lee1
Seami Lim2,3*- 1Korea Science Academy of KAIST, Pusan, Republic of Korea
- 2Division of Sport Science, Incheon National University, Incheon, Republic of Korea
- 3Division of Sport Science, Incheon, Republic of Korea
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This study explored the role of Taekwondo (TKD) in promoting positive youth developmental outcomes (PYD) among young practitioners. Utilizing the Sport-Based Youth Development (SBYD) framework, the research investigated the experiences of youth Taekwondoists during their journey to achieve the black belt. The study employed an embedded case study design, focusing on four TKD academies in the Southeastern United States. It utilized document analysis, including student handbooks, instructor manuals, and black belt essays, and recommendation letters to gather data on the Taekwondo experience and its impact on youth. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results highlighted that 1) the journey to the black belt provided a holistic experience in learning both physical skills and life skills that foster personal growth and development; 2) the belt ranking system served as a structured way to set and achieve goals, reinforcing life skills; and 3) teaching core life skills, such as perseverance, integrity, and leadership, were integral to the TKD curriculum across the four TKD academies. The importance of goal setting and the integration of life skills in the TKD curriculum were discussed. Overall, the result of this study suggests that the TKD black belt journey could play a significant role in promoting PYD outcomes if/when youth have educational experiences of setting specific goals, providing behavioral guidance to achieve it, and learning life skills that improve their lives.
Keywords: Sport based youth development1, life skills2, Taekwondo3, psychological assets4, document analysis5
Received: 17 May 2025; Accepted: 10 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lee and Lim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Seami Lim, Division of Sport Science, Incheon National University, Incheon, Republic of Korea
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