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Sample Statement of Purpose for Recreation and Leisure Studies
The Martial Art (wushu) and the Technique of Deep Breathing
(qigong) constitute an integral part of Chinese traditional culture
and one of the essential cultural legacies of the world civilization.
Even now, those two ancient health-building techniques are still
indispensable in facilitating people’s health. Yet, it is regretful to
notice that they seem to have stopped developing in the modern era. I
believe that the best way out of this dilemma is to integrate those
two traditional health-building techniques with the latest research
achievements of western recreational and leisure studies. I believe
that by undertaking a Ph.D. program in recreation and leisure studies
at your esteemed university, I will be well positioned to make
contributions to this integration.
I completed my undergraduate and postgraduate programs respectively at
xxxxx Institute of Physical Education and xxxxxx University, arguably
two first-rate sports universities in China. I first majored in the
Chinese martial arts then in Chinese traditional Taiji and health
Qigong. This systematic and rigorous educational background has given
me a necessary academic foundation for your program. My 7-year
education allowed me to not only learn the theories and the skills in
my specialties but also gain insights into the essence of the wushu
and qigong—the perfect union between the physical and the mental. In
two programs, I was particularly fascinated by a number of courses
such as Martial Arts Serial Exercise Training, Taiji Boxing, Health
Cultivation Qigong, Yoga, Exercise Physiology, Sport Medicine, and
Sport Anatomy. I benefited from the martial arts training, taiji
boxing and qigong exercises by deriving the spirit of perseverance and
the pursuit of an active and balanced life characterized by a tactful
aggressive attitude. In this way, I maintained a tranquil state of
benign physiological-psychological cycle. Energetic and aggressive, I
made efforts to win academic successes one after another.
Entering the xxxxx Institute of Physical Education as the third top
student in my province in that year’s national university entrance
examination, I maintained a leading position in my academic
performance, not only winning scholarships (available only to the top
5%) every year but also receiving the honor of Outstanding Student,
Outstanding Graduate and Excellent Intern. With top scores in the
qualifying examinations for the postgraduate program, I was enrolled
into Beijing Sport University. As a postgraduate, I had ample teaching
assistant experience. First, I taught taiji boxing and health
cultivation qigong to undergraduates. Then, because of my sound
English proficiency and interpersonal skills, I worked as a teacher of
taiji boxing and health cultivation qigong, on behalf of our
university’s Foreign Affairs Section, to foreign students and
taiji-qigong fans from France, Canada, the United States, Japan and
African countries. In addition, I was a voluntary teacher offering
free taiji-qigong trainings to the elderly people at Martial Arts
Association of China Academy of Sciences and Beijing Ever-Green
Geracomium. All those activities helped me accumulate important
teaching experience and raise my service awareness.
The research I have done in writing my undergraduate thesis and
postgraduate dissertation is closely aligned with the program I am
currently applying for. Entitled The National Characteristics of
Chinese Martial Arts, my undergraduate thesis demonstrates the
underlying cultural features and the healthcare medical effect of the
martial arts—their ability to temper one’s psychology and cultivate
one’s temperament in addition to their direct health cultivation
through physical exercises. My Master’s dissertation focuses on the
Philosophical Characteristics of Chinese Traditional Sport Health
Cultivation Practices. By an in-depth analysis of the theoretical
premises of Chinese traditional sport practices, such as “the
supremacy of prevention”, “parallel development of internal and
external mechanisms,” and “equal emphasis on mental and physical
cultivation”, the dissertation offers an interpretation of the
philosophical basis of those practices. I also examined how those
philosophical principles are embodied in the actual practices. I
applied an interdisciplinary approach in writing this dissertation,
soliciting constructive comments from senior professors in Chinese
medicine, arts, social sciences, and, of course, sports.
My work experience since the completion of my Master’s program is
related to sports administration as I have been working at the Center
of Health Qigong Administration, State Administration of Sport. Our
center is a governmental organization devoted to providing
consultations to elderly citizens concerning sports activities and
exercises. Apart from drafting major government policies, I have taken
part in important academic activities over the past two years. I have
been a member of a research team on two research projects sponsored by
the State Administration of Sport and other relevant
departments—Creating and Standardizing Certain Health Qigong Practices
from Chinese Traditional Health Cultivation Forms and Evaluating their
Physical Effect and Research into the Current State of Public Health
Qigong Activities. For the first project, I have received the National
Award for Sports Science and Technology Advances. In addition, I have
co-authored four books published by the People Sports Publishing
House, including Tendon Changing Classic of Health Qigong Practices
(please refer to my Resume for detail). I have also attended important
academic conferences, acted as research assistant and trainer. In this
way, I have developed valuable practical experiences, enhancing my
teaching, training and research abilities.
In my proposed program, I am deeply interested in studying recreation
and leisure. My work experience shows that Chinese traditional health
cultivation practices like qigong and martial arts, themselves
recreational and leisure events, have sound preventive and therapeutic
effects. It is a pity that, without scientific guidelines, we have not
made full advantage of those important resources. The underlying
reason is that we have not been able to perform systematic and
comprehensive research. Another reason is that, even though people now
enjoy much more spare time than ever before, they have little idea how
to spend their leisure and undertake recreation in an intelligent
manner. I hope that I can help people understand the importance of the
principle of “LIVE WELL THROUGH HEALTHY LIFESTYLE.” I also hope that,
through your program, I can continue to broaden my administrative
knowledge so that I can ultimately facilitate recreation and leisure
activities through government and community channels.
I would like to apply for admission into the School of Health,
Physical Education and Recreation of xxxx University. Your program of
Recreation and Leisure Studies offers an interdisciplinary study that
encompasses a rich variety of subjects ranging from Recreation
Management to Leisure Behavior. You have advanced facilities, mature
curriculum and effective research methodologies, thereby providing a
sound condition for me to carry out my studies and research. I would
like to concentrate on Therapeutic Recreation, Recreation
Administration, Recreational Sport Management, and Leisure Studies,
Leisure and Health, Leisure and Healthy Lifestyles, Leisure and Aging,
Sports for Seniors. I am particularly interested in Therapeutic
Recreation because I hope to focus on exposing the socially
underprivileged people, that is, the weak and the elderly, the
patients of chronic and deeline diseases, the handicapped and the
mentally retarded, to a satisfying leisure lifestyle by practicing
yoga, taiji boxing, qigong, and martial arts.
I wish that your program will develop me into a researcher,
administrator, teacher and/or counselor in recreation and leisure who
can treat and rehabilitate people in need by using recreational sports
and therapeutic recreational services. My undergraduate and
postgraduate specializations and my work experiences all point to my
qualifications as a worthy candidate for your Ph.D. program. I believe
that my Oriental background, especially my understanding of
traditional Chinese philosophy and my skills in Yoga, Taiji boxing,
Qigong and Martial Arts will be a unique contribution to the diversity
of your program.
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