Subjective Quality of Life of Portuguese Karateka: A Comparative Study with General Population

Sports and quality of life have a well-established connection. Karate-Dō is now a global scale sport, although it preserves traditional values and behaviors. The main aim of this study is to compare the difference in subjective quality of life levels between people engaged in Karate-Dō and people who are not. This is an exploratory study where a quantitative methodology was used. A globally accepted instrument was used to measure the subjective quality of life: Personal Wellbeing Index©. A total of 186 questionnaires were administered at a national level (online). Of these, 108 were administered to a sample of the general population (not engaged in martial arts) and 78 were administered to a sample of Karate-Dō athletes or karateka. Although the dimension and distribution of the samples does not allow data generalization, these data clearly show a higher quality of life perception, in all domains, in Karate-Dō athletes. Nonetheless, globally and in all the different domains, the level of perceived quality of life can be considered quite positive in Karate-Dō athletes. This finding suggests that the practice of Karate-Dō may have a strong relationship with a high level of subjective quality of life.