Exploring the Practical Significance, Challenges, and Pathways of Integrating Martial Arts as Intangible Cultural Heritage into University Curricula in the Context of Sports- Education Integration

This study employs research methods such as documentary analysis and logical reasoning to explore the practical significance and implementation pathways for integrating martial arts intangible cultural heritage (hereinafter referred to as “martial arts ICH”) into university curriculum development under the policy framework of sportseducation integration. Against the backdrop of the sports-education integration initiative, the paper proposes multiple practical implications of martial arts ICH incorporation, including: enhancing students’ cultural confidence, promoting national spirit, facilitating living inheritance of cultural genes, resolving the dilemma of “emphasizing technical skills over cultural values”, improving students’ physical and mental health, advancing physical education reform in higher institutions, enriching ideological-political elements in sports curricula, and contributing to the implementation of sports-education integration. The research systematically articulates these practical values while maintaining academic rigor through methodical analysis and standardized academic expression. Academic research indicates that the integration of intangible martial arts cultural heritage into higher education curricula faces multiple challenges, including ambiguous value orientation, insufficient attractiveness, weak curriculum implementation, inadequate resources, monotonous teaching methodologies, and unsystematic evaluation mechanisms with undefined criteria, all of which hinder the depth of sports-education integration. To address these issues, this study proposes actionable pathways through the following dimensions: strengthening cultural identity and value cultivation, enhancing faculty development and textbook construction, innovating teaching methods and pedagogical approaches, improving evaluation systems, excavating ideological-political education elements within martial arts heritage, and intensifying the integration of ideological-political components in sports-education convergence. These recommendations aim to provide theoretical support for policy formulation and educational practices while promoting the sustainable development of martial arts cultural heritage in academic settings.