Combat Sports and Wellbeing - Volume IV: Implementation, Equity, and Real-World Impact

Combat sports and martial arts are increasingly recognized as multidimensional practices capable of supporting physical, psychological, and social wellbeing across the lifespan. Volume I established their broad relevance to health and inclusion, Volume II examined prevention, protection, and development, and Volume III presented advanced evidence-based, innovative, and sustainable practice. In this framework, Volume IV now focuses on the next challenge: translating knowledge into equitable, safe, and effective action in the settings where combat sports are taught, practiced, governed, and integrated into health and community systems.Although research has identified both promising benefits and some considerable risks, evidence does not automatically lead to high-quality teaching and practice. Programs may differ substantially in reach, instructor competence, equal treatment, cultural relevance, conveying of values, accessibility, fidelity, available human and material resources, safeguarding in general and injury prevention in particular, and long-term sustainability. Stronger evidence is therefore needed on how policies, recommendations, and interventions are adopted, adapted, implemented, evaluated/monitored, and scaled without weakening their essential components or excluding underserved populations.This Research Topic welcomes contributions that examine how combat sports and martial arts can generate meaningful and measurable impact across sport organizations (e.g. local, regional and national), academic institutions (e.g., schools, universities), healthcare and rehabilitation services, community organizations, and elite performance systems. Relevant themes include, but are not limited to:• Implementation, scale-up, sustainability, fidelity, adaptation, and cost-effectiveness of combat sport programs• Equity in access, participation, retention, and outcomes across sex, gender, age, disability, socioeconomic position, ethnicity, migration status, and geography• Safeguarding, ethical governance, trauma-informed practice, psychological safety, and the prevention of harassment, abuse, violence, and discrimination• Coach education, professional skills, organizational culture, leadership, and workforce development• Long-term participation, adherence, dropout, athlete transitions, dual careers, retirement, and lifelong engagement• Integration of combat sports within health promotion, rehabilitation, education, social care, and community development pathways• Digital, hybrid, and data-informed delivery, including wearable technologies, artificial intelligence, remote coaching, and ethical data collection, storage and usage• Monitoring frameworks and outcome measures that capture wellbeing, safety, inclusion, quality of delivery, and social impact• Co-design and participatory research involving relevant interest groups (e.g., athletes, practitioners, coaches, sport managers, families, communities, and decision-makers)• Pragmatic trials, natural experiments, longitudinal studies, mixed-methods research, realist evaluations, and implementation-focused evidence synthesesVolume IV seeks to connect scientific knowledge with responsible delivery and decision-making. It invites original research, systematic and scoping reviews, meta-analyses, methods papers, study protocols, consensus/position stand manuscripts, policy and practice reviews, brief reports, case studies, community case studies, perspectives, and theoretical contributions. Interdisciplinary and cross-cultural submissions are particularly encouraged, especially those reporting transparent implementation processes and actionable implications for practitioners, organizations, and policymakers. Topic editors: Simone Ciaccioni, Nemanja Stankovic, Flavia Guidotti, Pascal Izzicupo, Elena Pocecco, Pinelopi S. Stavrinou Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86015/combat-sports-and-wellbeing---volume-iv-implementation-equity-and-real-world-impact