Influence Of Traditional Games on Improving The Physical Fitness of Students at Murombuh 1 Elementary School

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate how the traditional game of Bentengan affects the physical fitness of students aged 10 to 12 at SDN Morombuh 1, and to check the idea that traditional games can improve students' fitness levels significantly. A quantitative experimental method was used with a two-group pretest-posttest setup. The group included 32 elementary school students from the 2025/2026 school year. Participants were chosen through total sampling and divided equally into experimental and control groups using the ordinal pairing method. The data collection utilized the Indonesian Physical Fitness Test (TKJI), which assessed a 40-meter sprint, a 600-meter run, vertical jump, hanging jump, and sit-up exercises. The experimental group engaged in regular Bentengan game sessions two to three times each week, while the control group continued with their usual classroom activities. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, Levene’s homogeneity test, paired sample t-test, independent sample t-test, and N-Gain analysis via SPSS software. The results indicated a significant improvement in the experimental group, which recorded a posttest average of 19.50, whereas the control group had an average of 17.75. Statistical evaluations showed significant differences both within the experimental group (p = 0.000) and between the two groups (p = 0.012). Additionally, the experimental group achieved an N-Gain score of 47.01%, classified as moderate, while the control group had a score of 25.31%, categorized as low. These findings suggest that traditional games can serve as a fun and effective method in physical education to boost students' fitness and aid in the preservation of local cultural traditions. This document contains 2 journal articles, 2 textbooks, 2 conference proceedings, 2 theses/dissertations, 7 tables, and 1 testing instrument (TKJI).