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Copyright of Ido Movement for Culture. Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology is the property of Idokan Poland Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background and Study Aim Developing exercise programs to maintain the fitness and health of retired athletes is crucial as a preventive measure against common health problems in this population. Equally important is the creation of an exercise evaluation tool to assess the effectiveness of these programs. This study aims to test the validity and reliability of a physical fitness test instrument for retired martial arts athletes. Material and Methods This study used an evaluation approach with data collected through tests and measurements. A total of 147 subjects participated. For validity testing, there were 35 retired male martial arts athletes and 37 retired female athletes. For reliability testing, there were 36 retired male and 39 retired female martial arts athletes. The instruments used included body mass index (BMI) measurements with digital scales, flexibility measurements with the sit-and-reach test, muscle strength measurements with a leg and back dynamometer, and cardiovascular endurance measurements with the Cooper test. Validity was assessed using a concurrent validity approach. Reliability was tested using the test-retest method. The Pearson product-moment correlation was used for validity analysis, while Cronbach's alpha was used to assess reliability. The JASP software was used for the analysis. Results For male athletes, the r-values for each test item exceeded the r-table value of 0.275, confirming the validity of the body mass index (BMI), sit-and-reach test, leg and back dynamometers, and the Cooper test. Similarly, female athletes demonstrated r-values above the r-table value of 0.267, confirming the validity of all test items. The reliability of each item was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha values, which were above the 0.7 threshold for both male and female athletes. The Cronbach's alpha value for BMI was 0.998 for both male and female athletes, indicating excellent reliability. Other test items, such as flexibility and muscle strength, also showed strong reliability, with Cronbach's alpha values ranging from 0.742 to 0.985. Conclusions The study highlights the importance of developing valid and reliable instruments to assess the physical fitness of retired martial arts athletes. Such instruments are essential for monitoring the effectiveness of training programs aimed at maintaining the health and fitness of retired athletes. The findings of this research confirm the value of structured fitness tests. These tests effectively evaluate key physical components such as body composition, flexibility, muscle strength, and cardiovascular endurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Study Aim. Developing exercise programs to maintain the fitness and health of retired athletes is crucial as a preventive measure against common health problems in this population. Equally important is the creation of an exercise evaluation tool to assess the effectiveness of these programs. This study aims to test the validity and reliability of a physical fitness test instrument for retired martial arts athletes. Material and Methods. This study used an evaluation approach with data collected through tests and measurements. A total of 147 subjects participated. For validity testing, there were 35 retired male martial arts athletes and 37 retired female athletes. For reliability testing, there were 36 retired male and 39 retired female martial arts athletes. The instruments used included body mass index (BMI) measurements with digital scales, flexibility measurements with the sit-and-reach test, muscle strength measurements with a leg and back dynamometer, and cardiovascular endurance measurements with the Cooper test. Validity was assessed using a concurrent validity approach. Reliability was tested using the test-retest method. The Pearson product-moment correlation was used for validity analysis, while Cronbach's alpha was used to assess reliability. The JASP software was used for the analysis. Results. For male athletes, the r-values for each test item exceeded the r-table value of 0.275, confirming the validity of the body mass index (BMI), sit-and-reach test, leg and back dynamometers, and the Cooper test. Similarly, female athletes demonstrated r-values above the r-table value of 0.267, confirming the validity of all test items. The reliability of each item was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha values, which were above the 0.7 threshold for both male and female athletes. The Cronbach's alpha value for BMI was 0.998 for both male and female athletes, indicating excellent reliability. Other test items, such as flexibility and muscle strength, also showed strong reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.742 to 0.985. Conclusions. The study highlights the importance of developing valid and reliable instruments to assess the physical fitness of retired martial arts athletes. Such instruments are essential for monitoring the effectiveness of training programs aimed at maintaining the health and fitness of retired athletes. The findings of this research confirm the value of structured fitness tests. These tests effectively evaluate key physical components such as body composition, flexibility, muscle strength, and cardiovascular endurance.

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper deals with karate activity in the areas of physical culture in the broad sense. It is a concise and clear approach to the topic, which aimed to conceptualise the inclusion of karate in areas of physical culture as a contemporarily attractive physical activity. Karate was described here as a combat sport, martial art, and self-defence system in the following areas of physical culture: physical education, physiotherapy, recreation, sports, and tourism. Reference here was made to physical activity focused on bunkai (circuit interpretation exercises), kata (circuit exercises), kihon (technical exercises), and kumite (combat exercises). It has been determined that practitioners' involvement in karate culture affects their level of sense of coherence. In addition, the conditioning for using karate in physical culture to the maintenance of health was mentioned. Here, reference was made to the perceptual perspective of the bodily and mental practice of karate for health. It has been established that this can be effective by adopting only the objectives of karate as martial art. Based on the above, it was concluded that practising karate is present in all areas of physical culture as combat sport, martial art, and self-defence system, but practising karate only as martial art provides opportunities for maintenance of health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared the heart rates of male and female Pencak Silat athletes during competition rounds. The study involved 32 well-trained athletes, including 16 males and 16 females, who were 21 ± 1.23 years of age, a bodymass of 65.94 ± 11.01 kg, and a height of 167.44 ± 4.96 cm. The competition was designed to reflect real competition rules. Heart rate was recorded during each phase of the competition, including the resting periods between rounds. The analysis using Two-way ANOVA with repeated measures showed there was no interaction between groups x rounds. However, the females had a higher average heart rate than the males (180.44 ± 7.01 vs. 176.44 ± 6.73) (P = 0.029). Comparing heart rates within groups found that the males had a lower average heart rate in round 1 than in rounds 2 and 3 (P ≥ 0.01, P = 0.003, P = 0.002, respectively). Similarly, females had a lower average heart rate in round 1 than in round 2, with a significant difference (P = 0.034). This study shows that the female athletes have higher heart rates than the male athletes, and using heart rate to measure training load during real competitions is a useful method for determining intensity levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the recognized influence of body mass on combat techniques, the relationship between body segment mass (BSM) and combat moves remains unexplored. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the striking arm mass (SAM), kicking leg mass (KLM), and body mass (BM) and the dynamic forces of direct punch (DP), palm strike (PS), elbow strike (ES), front kick (FK), and countermovement jump (CMJ) performance. Sixteen male military cadets (22.3 ± 1.8 years, 181.4 ± 7.0 cm, 82.1 ± 8.5 kg) performed combat techniques, with their performance measured by using a force plate and their body segment mass assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Spearman's correlation analysis, the Wilcoxon test, and Cohen's d were applied. The results indicated the relationship between the KLM or BM and the FK impulse (r = 0.64, p = 0.01; r = 0.52, p = 0.04, respectively) and CMJ impact force (r = 0.80, p ≤ 0.01; r = 0.70, p ≤ 0.01, respectively). The FK peak and impact forces were moderately correlated with the CMJ jump height (r = 0.74, p ≤ 0.01; r = 0.77, p ≤ 0.01). Moreover, the FK peak force was significantly higher than that for DP, PS, and ES (p ≤ 0.01, d = 3.32; p ≤ 0.01, d = 1.6; and p = 0.013, d = 1.3, respectively). The highest relationship was found between the KLM and the FK impulse; however, the difference in variability explained by the KLM versus the body mass was only 12%. This suggests that knowledge of the BSM did not provide a significantly better estimate of the dynamic forces of the punches and FKs than the knowledge of the BM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ido Movement for Culture. Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology is the property of Idokan Poland Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article aims to present a new argument on the validity of utilizing karate in youth safety education. First, the important role of safety education and the need to seek new means of influencing young people is presented and the significant role of sport in this area. The field of Far Eastern combat sports was underlined here as being particularly important because they contain internal codes of moral conduct. Therefore, the new argument is to take the perspective of karate as a combat sport, martial art, and self defence system in one. Karate as a combat sport refers to fighting skills in the following directions: traditional, sport and Olympic; and in the following systems: semi contact, knockdown, full contact, mix fighting. Karate as a martial art has a health-promoting character and emphasises the psycho-physical development of practitioners and the recognition of ethical codes. And karate as a self defence system is concerned with proficiency in out-of-sport confrontations, but also in risk assessment. Karate has been found to be an effective means in educating young people to safety, but in order for it to be effective, it needs to be adopted in its entirety. Because the combat sport perspective activates youth in physical culture, the martial art perspective educates according to norms and rules; and the self defence system perspective teaches how to act in difficult situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: College students in the United States report high rates of psychological health concerns. Psychological and physical complementary health approaches have been found to be protective for college students. The aims of this study were to assess the feasibility and acceptability of Boabom, a martial art, with college students and to explore any changes in psychosocial outcomes. Participants: Twenty-six college students (25 females; mean age 21.73 years) participated in an 8-week Boabom intervention. Methods: Feasibility measures were attendance and retention of participants; acceptability was based on participants' cognitive and emotional responses to Boabom and was determined through analysis of focus group data. Psychosocial outcomes were assessed through analyses of pre- and postintervention measures of mindfulness, perceived stress, anxiety, depression, resilience, perceived health, and life satisfaction. Results: The Boabom intervention was feasible as 23 of 26 participants attended at least six of eight classes, and 22 participants attended the last class. Students found the intervention acceptable, with three themes emerging from the focus group data to describe the participants' experience with Boabom: (1) disengaging from constant, daily stress and breathing and moving as a group leads to sense of calm, (2) empowerment through incremental mastery of skills, and (3) recognition of the value of health benefits to be gained. Participants reported positive changes in mindfulness, perceived stress, anxiety, depression, resilience, perceived health, and life satisfaction from pre- to postintervention. Conclusions: Boabom may be a feasible and acceptable offering for college students; still, further piloting with other college student populations is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ido Movement for Culture. Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology is the property of Idokan Poland Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aim: The study aims to compare choroidal thickness, deep and superficial retinal capillary plexuses, and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) parameters in elite martial arts athletes and a healthy sedentary control group. Methods: The study included martial arts athletes (32 individuals, 64 eyes) and healthy sedentary persons (43 individuals with healthy sedentary lifestyles, 86 eyes) aged 18–35 years. In this single non-repeated observational and cross-sectional study, choroidal thickness, superficial and deep retinal capillary plexuses, and FAZ measurements were measured using Swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) and compared between groups. Results: No statistically significant differences were found (p > 0.05) in age, IOP, AL (axial length), and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) parameters between groups. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in choroidal thickness, superficial and deep retinal capillary plexuses, and FAZ parameters determined by the OCTA method (p > 0.05). Conclusion: In our study, we observed that the retinal and choroidal structures of martial art athletes and healthy sedentary individuals were similar. This observation implies that the putative microvascular effects on the choroid and retina in martial arts, especially those based on the anaerobic energy system, may reflect similar outcomes to those observed in individuals with sedentary lifestyles characterized by healthiness.

This paper deals with karate activity in the areas of physical culture in the broad sense. It is a concise and clear approach to the topic, which aimed to conceptualise the inclusion of karate in areas of physical culture as a contemporarily attractive physical activity. Karate was described here as a combat sport, martial art, and self-defence system in the following areas of physical culture: physical education, physiotherapy, recreation, sports, and tourism. Reference here was made to physical activity focused on bunkai (circuit interpretation exercises), kata (circuit exercises), kihon (technical exercises), and kumite (combat exercises). It has been determined that practitioners’ involvement in karate culture affects their level of sense of coherence. In addition, the conditioning for using karate in physical culture to the maintenance of health was mentioned. Here, reference was made to the perceptual perspective of the bodily and mental practice of karate for health. It has been established that this can be effective by adopting only the objectives of karate as martial art. Based on the above, it was concluded that practising karate is present in all areas of physical culture as combat sport, martial art, and self-defence system, but practising karate only as martial art provides opportunities for maintenance of health.

Action recognition in martial arts can offer valuable insights for technicians, athletes, and coaches. Accurate action recognition can enhance performance analysis, inform training strategies, and improve decision-making processes by providing detailed evaluations of technique execution, movement patterns, and match dynamics. This can lead to more effective coaching, better athlete preparation, and a deeper understanding of competitive outcomes. Existing methods in human action recognition often struggle with challenges such as background clutter, occlusion, and variations in appearance and speed, particularly in dynamic combat scenarios. In this study, we proposed a novel Spatio-Temporal Hierarchical Keypoint Aggregation (ST-HKA) framework for martial arts combat action recognition and localization. The ST-HKA model effectively leverages a deep learning-based approach that treats human skeleton keypoints as 3D point clouds. Unlike conventional methods that use graph convolutional networks or appearance-based techniques, our approach adopts a point cloud paradigm to treat human keypoints as a 3D point cloud, significantly improving scalability and robustness against occlusion and variations in appearance. Additionally, we incorporate a weakly supervised spatio-temporal action localization mechanism using a Context-Aware Pooling Mechanism. The proposed model was evaluated on both the Kinetics Human-Action and Taekwondo datasets, demonstrating superior performance in recognizing complex martial arts actions. The ST-HKA model achieves a Top-1 Accuracy of 88.6% and an F1-score of 83.9% on the Kinetics dataset, and 88.7% accuracy and an F1-score of 84.4% on the Taekwondo dataset. The proposed model also exhibits higher precision in detecting precise temporal boundaries, as reflected by its strong performance in action localization tasks. These results highlight the effectiveness of ST-HKA in handling complex martial arts actions with high accuracy and robustness.

Copyright of Ido Movement for Culture. Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology is the property of Idokan Poland Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article aims to present a new argument on the validity of utilizing karate in youth safety education. First, the important role of safety education and the need to seek new means of influencing young people is presented and the significant role of sport in this area. The field of Far Eastern combat sports was underlined here as being particularly important because they contain internal codes of moral conduct. Therefore, the new argument is to take the perspective of karate as a combat sport, martial art, and self defence system in one. Karate as a combat sport refers to fighting skills in the following directions: traditional, sport and Olympic; and in the following systems: semi contact, knockdown, full contact, mix fighting. Karate as a martial art has a health-promoting character and emphasises the psycho-physical development of practitioners and the recognition of ethical codes. And karate as a self defence system is concerned with proficiency in out-of-sport confrontations, but also in risk assessment. Karate has been found to be an effective means in educating young people to safety, but in order for it to be effective, it needs to be adopted in its entirety. Because the combat sport perspective activates youth in physical culture, the martial art perspective educates according to norms and rules; and the self defence system perspective teaches how to act in difficult situations.

Abstract Background The capabilities of the biomotors are essential to the success of the taekwondo athlete. This study aimed to compare eight weeks of functional training and traditional resistance on the bio-motor capacities of elite female taekwondo athletes. Methodology Seventeen elite taekwondo athletes (mean age = 21.7 years, mean height = 167.2 cm and mean weight = 60.8 kg) volunteered to participate in the study. They were randomly divided into two groups: functional training (FT) and traditional resistance training (TRT). Participants trained for 8 weeks, 3 sessions per week, for 75–90 min. Aerobic power, anaerobic power, speed, reaction time, agility, muscle power, dynamic balance, flexibility, upper and lower body muscle strength, core and upper body muscle endurance, and blood lactate level were measured before and after training programs. Results Non-significant differences were observed in all indicators between the FT and TRT groups (P > 0.05). Both groups showed significant improvement in time-related outcomes except for fatigue and flexibility (P > 0.05). There was significant progress in both groups in aerobic power, muscle power, speed, agility, reaction time, lower body strength, upper body strength, dynamic balance of the right leg, and dynamic balance of the left leg indices from pre to post-tests. The FT group displayed significant improvement in peak power (P = 0.006) and mean power (P = 0.015) from pre- to post-test. Conclusion Both interventions improved most biomotor abilities in elite female taekwondo athletes. It should be noted that since muscle power is vital for taekwondo, therefore, it is recommended to include FT in the taekwondo workout program.

Despite the recognized influence of body mass on combat techniques, the relationship between body segment mass (BSM) and combat moves remains unexplored. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the striking arm mass (SAM), kicking leg mass (KLM), and body mass (BM) and the dynamic forces of direct punch (DP), palm strike (PS), elbow strike (ES), front kick (FK), and countermovement jump (CMJ) performance. Sixteen male military cadets (22.3 ± 1.8 years, 181.4 ± 7.0 cm, 82.1 ± 8.5 kg) performed combat techniques, with their performance measured by using a force plate and their body segment mass assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Spearman’s correlation analysis, the Wilcoxon test, and Cohen’s d were applied. The results indicated the relationship between the KLM or BM and the FK impulse (r = 0.64, p = 0.01; r = 0.52, p = 0.04, respectively) and CMJ impact force (r = 0.80, p ≤ 0.01; r = 0.70, p ≤ 0.01, respectively). The FK peak and impact forces were moderately correlated with the CMJ jump height (r = 0.74, p ≤ 0.01; r = 0.77, p ≤ 0.01). Moreover, the FK peak force was significantly higher than that for DP, PS, and ES (p ≤ 0.01, d = 3.32; p ≤ 0.01, d = 1.6; and p = 0.013, d = 1.3, respectively). The highest relationship was found between the KLM and the FK impulse; however, the difference in variability explained by the KLM versus the body mass was only 12%. This suggests that knowledge of the BSM did not provide a significantly better estimate of the dynamic forces of the punches and FKs than the knowledge of the BM.

Judo is a well-known Japanese martial art that also features in Olympic games. Recently, an increasing interest has been observed in the application of judo as a multicomponent exercise, with a growing body of evidence showing that this feature improves physical and cognitive performance in older adults. Therefore, this review highlights the benefits of judo training in preventing physical and cognitive decline in older adults. Specifically, first, this review outlines the basic characteristics of judo (philosophy, match, and training). Subsequently, prior research examining the impacts of judo training on the physical and cognitive aspects of elderly individuals is reviewed. Thereafter, the brain mechanisms underlying the effects of judo training in improving physical and cognitive performance are discussed. Throughout this review, judo training demonstrated some positive effects on physical (gait and balance, among others) and cognitive (memory and executive function) function in older adults. These positive effects are attributed to a variety of changes in the brain (e.g., increased neurotrophic factor expression and increased cerebral blood flow, among others) that affect different brain regions and networks both functionally and structurally. From these findings, this review concludes that judo training can be an effective way to maintain and prevent physical and cognitive decline in older adults.

Background: The capabilities of the biomotors are essential to the success of the taekwondo athlete. This study aimed to compare eight weeks of functional training and traditional resistance on the bio-motor capacities of elite female taekwondo athletes. Methodology: Seventeen elite taekwondo athletes (mean age = 21.7 years, mean height = 167.2 cm and mean weight = 60.8 kg) volunteered to participate in the study. They were randomly divided into two groups: functional training (FT) and traditional resistance training (TRT). Participants trained for 8 weeks, 3 sessions per week, for 75–90 min. Aerobic power, anaerobic power, speed, reaction time, agility, muscle power, dynamic balance, flexibility, upper and lower body muscle strength, core and upper body muscle endurance, and blood lactate level were measured before and after training programs. Results: Non-significant differences were observed in all indicators between the FT and TRT groups (P > 0.05). Both groups showed significant improvement in time-related outcomes except for fatigue and flexibility (P > 0.05). There was significant progress in both groups in aerobic power, muscle power, speed, agility, reaction time, lower body strength, upper body strength, dynamic balance of the right leg, and dynamic balance of the left leg indices from pre to post-tests. The FT group displayed significant improvement in peak power (P = 0.006) and mean power (P = 0.015) from pre- to post-test. Conclusion: Both interventions improved most biomotor abilities in elite female taekwondo athletes. It should be noted that since muscle power is vital for taekwondo, therefore, it is recommended to include FT in the taekwondo workout program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Judo is a well-known Japanese martial art that also features in Olympic games. Recently, an increasing interest has been observed in the application of judo as a multicomponent exercise, with a growing body of evidence showing that this feature improves physical and cognitive performance in older adults. Therefore, this review highlights the benefits of judo training in preventing physical and cognitive decline in older adults. Specifically, first, this review outlines the basic characteristics of judo (philosophy, match, and training). Subsequently, prior research examining the impacts of judo training on the physical and cognitive aspects of elderly individuals is reviewed. Thereafter, the brain mechanisms underlying the effects of judo training in improving physical and cognitive performance are discussed. Throughout this review, judo training demonstrated some positive effects on physical (gait and balance, among others) and cognitive (memory and executive function) function in older adults. These positive effects are attributed to a variety of changes in the brain (e.g., increased neurotrophic factor expression and increased cerebral blood flow, among others) that affect different brain regions and networks both functionally and structurally. From these findings, this review concludes that judo training can be an effective way to maintain and prevent physical and cognitive decline in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of a 6-week taekwondo-specific high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in simulated normobaric hypoxia on physical fitness and performance in taekwondoists. Methods: Eighteen male and female black-belt taekwondoists trained twice a week for 6 weeks in normoxia or in hypoxia (FiO2 = 0.143 O2). The HIIT was composed of specific taekwondo movements and simulated fights. Body composition analyses and a frequency speed of kick test during 10 seconds (FSKT10s) and 5 × 10 seconds (FSKTmult), countermovement jump (CMJ) test, Wingate test, and an incremental treadmill test were performed before and after training. Blood lactate concentrations were measured after the FSKTmult and Wingate tests, and a fatigue index during the tests was calculated. Results: A training effect was found for FSKT10s (+35%, P <.001), FSKTmult (+32%, P <.001), and fatigue index (−48%, P =.002). A training effect was found for CMJ height (+5%, P =.003) during the CMJ test. After training, CMJ height increased in hypoxia only (+7%, P =.005). No effect was found for the parameters measured during Wingate test. For the incremental treadmill test, a training effect was found for peak oxygen consumption (P =.002), the latter being 10% lower after than before training in normoxia only (P =.002). Conclusions: In black-belt taekwondoists, hypoxic HIIT twice a week for 6 weeks provides tiny additional gains on key performance parameters compared with normoxic HIIT. Whether the trivial effects reported here might be of physiological relevance to improve performance remains debatable and should be tested individually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background To explore the effects of Ving Tsun (VT) sticking-hand training on knee joint proprioception and leg muscular performance among community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults. Methods Thirty-three middle-aged and older adults were randomly assigned to either the VT or control group. The VT group received sticking-hand training twice/week for 3 months. Data were collected before and after the intervention period. The primary outcome was knee joint repositioning error, which was measured using knee joint active repositioning tests. The secondary outcomes included the maximum muscle strength and time to maximum muscle strength of the major leg muscles. Results No significant group, time, or group-by-time interaction effects were found for the knee joint repositioning error (p > 0.05). The maximum muscle strength of the knee flexors increased over time in the VT group only (p = 0.038). In addition, the time to maximum muscle strength in the hip extensors and flexors increased over time in both groups (p

Japan, home of modern combat sports, had a great influence on Hungarian martial arts. The early appearance of judo in 1906 contributed directly and indirectly to the creation of the Hungarian martial arts culture and combat sports systems. Although judo developed very slowly, it reached prominence at the end of 1960s. Thus, Hungarian combat sports culture was able to connect into international martial arts development when the 'great boom' of the Japanese martial arts happened. Judo clubs and dojos emerged and the judo federation as the base for the Hungarian development of Japanese martial arts such as karate, jiu-jitsu and aikido. Most martial arts have similar paths of development; therefore it is important to highlight the history of the oldest martial art, judo. The journey of judo can give direction to emerging modern sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To explore the effects of Ving Tsun (VT) sticking-hand training on knee joint proprioception and leg muscular performance among community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults. Methods: Thirty-three middle-aged and older adults were randomly assigned to either the VT or control group. The VT group received sticking-hand training twice/week for 3 months. Data were collected before and after the intervention period. The primary outcome was knee joint repositioning error, which was measured using knee joint active repositioning tests. The secondary outcomes included the maximum muscle strength and time to maximum muscle strength of the major leg muscles. Results: No significant group, time, or group-by-time interaction effects were found for the knee joint repositioning error (p > 0.05). The maximum muscle strength of the knee flexors increased over time in the VT group only (p = 0.038). In addition, the time to maximum muscle strength in the hip extensors and flexors increased over time in both groups (p < 0.05). For the knee extensors and flexors, the time to maximum muscle strength increased in the control (p = 0.027) and VT (p = 0.019) groups, respectively, over time. Conclusions: VT sticking-hand training could improve the maximum muscle strength of the knee flexors but could not attenuate the age-related deterioration in leg muscle contraction speed nor improve knee joint proprioception among community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03318289. Registered on 23 October 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent monitoring, life entertainment, medical rehabilitation, and other fields are only a few exampleswhere visual image technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated and playing a significant role. Recognizing Wushu, or martial arts, movements through the use of visual image technology helps promote and develop Wushu. In order to segment and extract the signals of Wushu movements, this study analyzes the denoising of the original data using the wavelet transform and provides a sliding window data segmentation technique. Wushu movement The Wushu movement recognition model is built based on the hidden Markov model (HMM). The HMM model is trained and taught with the help of the Baum-Welch algorithm, which is then enhanced using the frequency weighted training approach and the mean training method. To identify the dynamic Wushu movement, the Viterbi algorithm is used to determine the probability of the optimal state sequence for each Wushu movement model. In light of the foregoing, an HMM-based martial arts movements recognition model is developed. The recognition accuracy of the HMM model increases to 99.60% when the number of samples is 4,000, which is greater than the accuracy of the SVM (by 0.94%), the CNN (by 1.12%), and the BP (by 1.14%). From what has been discussed, it appears that the suggested system for detecting martial arts acts is trustworthy and effective, and that it may contribute to the growth of martial arts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The specificity of training as well as the specificity of monitoring the training process are believed to be fundamental principles to efficiently plan and carry out the preparation and performance development of athletes. The Anaerobic Intermittent Kick Test (TAIKT) is a sport-specific field test used to specifically evaluate the anaerobic profile of Taekwondo athletes. The aim of this study was to verify whether TAIKT and the 'gold standard' Wingate Anaerobic test (WAnT) were both efficient means to optimally determine the anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity of Greek Taekwondo athletes at a middle-high technical level. Fifteen athletes, 10 females and 5 males (mean age 23.4 ± 4.14 years), underwent the two anaerobic tests (TAIKT and WAnT). The peak of power, the anaerobic capacity, and the peak of blood lactate (BL) were recorded. The two tests showed a moderate correlation with the r value ranging between 0.353 and 0.428, if applied to a sample of middle-high technical level athletes. Regarding the peak of BL, data indicated 40% concordance between the two tests with a coefficient of variation of 12%. Consequently, the two tests were correlated even if not interchangeable due to the different type of exercise required in these assessments. In conclusion, to assess the anaerobic performances and physiological characteristics of Taekwondo athletes, independently of their technical level, the WAnT resulted suitable, while to better assess the functional performance and specific demands of Taekwondo, the TAIKT is more indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ido Movement for Culture. Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology is the property of Idokan Poland Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study’s objective was to analyze the relationship between mental toughness and martial artists’ performance strategies. Two hundred athletes (male: 105, female: 95) with an age range of 18-36 years (mean:25.12, s=4.96) who competed at university to the national standard of martial arts participated in this study. Participants answered mental toughness questionnaires and performance strategies inventory. The Pearson correlation results showed a positive and significant relationship between mental toughness and automaticity, goal-setting, imagery, self-talk, and emotional control, and a negative and significant relationship between mental toughness and attentional control in practice. Furthermore, there is a positive and significant relationship between mental toughness and activation, relaxation, self-talk, imagery, goal-setting, and emotional control in the competition. The multiple linear regression analysis results showed that goal-setting and imagery in practice and competition, self-talk in practice, and relaxation in the competition could predict mental toughness. In analyzing the subscales of mental toughness, it was concluded that tough emotions could be loaded on eight subscales of performance strategies. In the Independent-Sample T-Test, the significant differences related to gender were that men reported higher levels of self-talk (t=3.24, p

• Healthy sedentary and martial arts athletes have similar retinal and choroidal structures. • Individuals with a long training history in martial arts athletes with a predominant anaerobic system have similar vascular densities to healthy sedentary individuals. • Relatively chronic anaerobic exercise loads did not show significant changes in vascular densities and this was similar to healthy sedentary subjects. The study aims to compare choroidal thickness, deep and superficial retinal capillary plexuses, and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) parameters in elite martial arts athletes and a healthy sedentary control group. The study included martial arts athletes (32 individuals, 64 eyes) and healthy sedentary persons (43 individuals with healthy sedentary lifestyles, 86 eyes) aged 18–35 years. In this single non-repeated observational and cross-sectional study, choroidal thickness, superficial and deep retinal capillary plexuses, and FAZ measurements were measured using Swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) and compared between groups. No statistically significant differences were found (p > 0.05) in age, IOP, AL (axial length), and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) parameters between groups. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in choroidal thickness, superficial and deep retinal capillary plexuses, and FAZ parameters determined by the OCTA method (p > 0.05). In our study, we observed that the retinal and choroidal structures of martial art athletes and healthy sedentary individuals were similar. This observation implies that the putative microvascular effects on the choroid and retina in martial arts, especially those based on the anaerobic energy system, may reflect similar outcomes to those observed in individuals with sedentary lifestyles characterized by healthiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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BACKGROUND: Lumbar radiological abnormalities (LRA) and trunk muscle weakness are major causes of the low back pain (LBP). We reported that the prevalence of LRA was approximately 90% in middle- and heavyweight-judokas, independent to the occurrence of LBP. However, the trunk muscle weakness, especially the rotators, plays a key role in occurrence of LBP in heavyweight judokas. OBJECTIVE: To examine the trunk muscle strength (TMS) and LRA impact on LBP occurrence in lightweight judokas. METHOD: The strength of the trunk extensors, flexors, and rotators was measured in 32 lightweight male judokas. LBP and LRA were identified using a questionnaire, X-ray, and MRI. RESULTS: The occurrence rate of LBP and LRA were 40.6% and 62.5%, respectively, without any significant correlation. Among judokas without LRA, TMS of those with LBP were significantly lower than those without LBP (P < 0.05, the extensor; 60 ∘ /s: ES [d] = 1.38, 90 ∘ /s: ES [d] = 0.78, and 120 ∘ /s: ES [d] = 0.37, flexor; 60 ∘ /s: ES [d] = 1.48, dominant rotator; 60 ∘ /s: ES [d] = 1.66, and 90 ∘ /s: ES [d] = 1.87, non-dominant rotator; 90 ∘ /s: ES [d] = 0.17, and dominant/non-dominant rotator ratio; 90 ∘ /s: ES [d] = 1.55). Moreover, there were significant negative correlations between LBP severity and TMS (P < 0.05, the extensor; 90 ∘ /s: r = - 0.63, dominant rotator; 90 ∘ /s: r = - 0.648, and dominant/non-dominant rotator ratio; 90 ∘ /s: r = - 0.621) in judokas without LRA. RESULTS: The occurrence rate of LBP and LRA were 40.6% and 62.5%, respectively, without any significant correlation. Among judokas without LRA, the extensor (60, 90, and 120 ∘ /s), flexor (60 ∘ /s), dominant rotator (60 and 90 ∘ /s), non-dominant rotator (90 ∘ /s), and dominant/non-dominant rotator ratio (90 ∘ /s) of judokas with LBP were significantly lower than those of the judokas without LBP. Moreover, there were significant negative correlations (P < 0.05) between LBP severity and the extensor (90 ∘ /s; r = - 0.63) and dominant rotator (90 ∘ /s; r = - 0.648) strength, and dominant/non-dominant rotator ratio (90 ∘ /s; r = - 0.621) in judokas without LRA. CONCLUSION: Weak trunk musculature may be a co-factor in the occurrence of LBP in lightweight judokas without LRA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The specificity of training as well as the specificity of monitoring the training process are believed to be fundamental principles to efficiently plan and carry out the preparation and performance development of athletes. The Anaerobic Intermittent Kick Test (TAIKT) is a sport-specific field test used to specifically evaluate the anaerobic profile of Taekwondo athletes. The aim of this study was to verify whether TAIKT and the ‘gold standard’ Wingate Anaerobic test (WAnT) were both efficient means to optimally determine the anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity of Greek Taekwondo athletes at a middle-high technical level. Fifteen athletes, 10 females and 5 males (mean age 23.4 ± 4.14 years), underwent the two anaerobic tests (TAIKT and WAnT). The peak of power, the anaerobic capacity, and the peak of blood lactate (BL) were recorded. The two tests showed a moderate correlation with the r value ranging between 0.353 and 0.428, if applied to a sample of middle-high technical level athletes. Regarding the peak of BL, data indicated 40% concordance between the two tests with a coefficient of variation of 12%. Consequently, the two tests were correlated even if not interchangeable due to the different type of exercise required in these assessments. In conclusion, to assess the anaerobic performances and physiological characteristics of Taekwondo athletes, independently of their technical level, the WAnT resulted suitable, while to better assess the functional performance and specific demands of Taekwondo, the TAIKT is more indicated.

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Background: Exercise training-induced adaptation of central Blood Pressure (BP) depends on exercise mode. Kendo, a traditional Japanese martial art, is a unique exercise mode because its training encompasses anaerobic and resistance training components. However, the effects of habitual kendo training on central BP have not been established. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the central BP of high-level kendo athletes and age-matched controls without exercise habits. Methods: Thirty-six young university kendo athletes (the kendo athlete group) and 29 young sedentary individuals (the control group) participated in this cross-sectional study. Central hemodynamics were estimated from carotid arterial waveforms via a generalized transfer function. Stroke volume was computed from brachial arterial waveforms using the Modelflow method. Results: Central systolic BP and Central Pulse Pressure (cPP) were higher in the kendo athlete group than in the control group (both, p < 0.01). Central diastolic BP did not differ between the two groups. Stroke Volume Index (SVI; stroke volume adjusted for body surface area) and the maximum rate of aortic pressure rise during systole (dP/dTmax), which reflects left ventricle contractility, were significantly higher in the kendo athlete group than in the control group (p < 0.05), and these parameters showed a significant positive correlation with cPP (SVI: r = 0.34, p < 0.01; dP/dTmax: r = 0.79, p < 0.01). Conclusion: These results suggest that habitual kendo training may increase central pulse pressure through increases in left ventricular systolic function. Highlights: Kendo is ideal for investigating of training adaptation since it induces the characteristics of anaerobic exercise training and resistance training; that is, kendo athletes had both high anaerobic capacity and high muscle strength compared with sedentary controls. In the present study, central blood pressure (central systolic blood pressure and central pulse pressure) was significantly higher in the kendo athlete group than in the control group. Stroke Volume Index (SVI; stroke volume adjusted for body surface area) and the maximum rate of aortic pressure rise during systole (dP/dTmax) but not augmented pressure in the kendo athlete group were also significantly higher than those in the control group. In addition, SVI and dP/dTmax showed a significant positive correlation with central pulse pressure. These results suggest that combined anaerobic exercise and muscular strength training may increase central blood pressure through increases in left ventricular systolic function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taekwondo is a predominantly aerobic combat sport modality (58-66%) in which high-intensity actions are performed with the contribution of the anaerobic alactic system (26-30%) followed by the contribution of the anaerobic lactic metabolism (4-5%). High-intensity actions are performed repeatedly with muscular power and short duration. Thus, seeking to understand the relationship between the variables that represent maximum muscle strength, and the aerobic capacity of taekwondo athletes is relevant for a better understanding of the modality. The aim of this study was to determine whether the 10-second Frequency Speed of Kick Test (FSKT 10s) correlates with maximal muscle strength in black belt taekwondo athletes. Nine male athletes (age: 20.3 ± 5.2 years; height: 177 ± 7.2 cm; body mass: 71.8 ± 15.3 kg and practice time: 9.6 ± 7.2 years) who competed at the state level or more prominently (international: 73%; national: 9%; state: 18%) participated in the study. All were free of any lower limb injury and had no neuromuscular disorder. Maximum muscle strength was achieved in the half-squat exercise, as previously described in the literature. FSKT 10s is 10s long, alternating semi-circle kicks between right and left segments on a dummy using a simple torso protector, as often seen in taekwondo matches. Each participant was instructed to read and sign the Informed Consent Form with information about the procedures and risks associated with the study. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to assess data normality. Pearson's correlation was used to determine the relationship between selected variables. Correlations were classified as follows: 0.0 – 0.1 (trivial), >0.1 – 0.3 (minor), >0.3 – 0.5 (moderate), >0.5 – 0.7 (large), >0.7 – 0.9 (very large), and >0.9 – 1.0 (perfect). For all analyzes an α = 5% was adopted. The athletes reached 133±33 kg (95% CI: 108 – 158) during the maximal strength test performed in the half-squat exercise. Values are expressed in relation to the body mass value (1RM/Body mass: 1.9±0.3, 95% CI: 1.6 – 2.1) and allometric scale (1RM/(body mass)0.67 : 7.6±1.4, 95% CI: 6.5 – 8.7). Pearson's correlation showed a statistically significant correlation between the maximum muscle strength test and the FSKT 10s. The correlation between 1RM/body mass was r = 0.72 (p=0.014). The correlation between 1RM/ (body mass)0.67 was r = 0.84 (p=0.004). Both correlations were classified as 'very large'. There is a strong correlation between maximal muscle strength and FSKT 10s. The strong correlation between the variables studied indicates that athletes with muscular strength developed at optimum levels also improve the frequency of blows applied in a short period of time. Thus, coaches and strength and conditioning coaches will be able to help taekwondo athletes to improve their performance by applying means and training methods aimed at developing maximum muscle strength at optimal levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco Art: Bambu dan Spiritualitas Pencak Silat dalam Disain Ruang Terintegrasi. Berita tentang perubahan iklim dalam fenomena Global Warming penting untuk diperhatikan. Meski peristiwa tersebut sulit dibayangkan oleh masyarakat pedesaan, namun faktanya fenomena tersebut telah mengakibatkan para petani mengalami kegagalan panen dan hampir tidak dapat lagi memprediksi waktu tanam. Di luar fenomena tersebut, persoalan lingkungan juga terjadi di kaki Gunung Merapi, Sleman, Yogyakarta. Penambangan pasir liar di pemukiman penduduk, telah mengakibatkan menyusutnya populasi tumbuhan dan rusaknya tata guna lahan, sehingga berdampak pada menurunnya permukaan air tanah dan air permukaan. Kerusakan lingkungan berawal dari terpecahnya cara pandang orang akibat dari munculnya pembedaan antara humanisme dengan ekologis, pengetahuan dengan nilai-nilai, dan tubuh dengan spiritualitas. Pencak silat, sebagai seni bela diri Indonesia yang tunduk pada keselarasan antara manusia dengan lingkungan alam tempat hidupnya, dapat menggugah kesadaran orang setempat untuk mempertimbangkan kembali kebiasaannya yang dapat merugikan lingkungan dan alam. Integrated Space Design sebagai manifestasi estetis Eco Art, merupakan karya seni yang diciptakan untuk menjawab persoalan lingkungan yang terjadi di kawasan kaki Gunung Merapi, yaitu dengan mewujudkan ruang, wadah atau jembatan interaksi antar manusia, manusia dengan lingkungan buatannya dan alam seputar hidupnya, dengan menggunakan tanaman bambu sebagai medium utamanya, dan spiritualitas silat sebagai inspirasinya sehingga dapat melestarikan daya hidup masyarakat setempat, baik secara ekologis maupun spiritual. News about climate change in the phenomenon of Global Warming worth seriuos considerations. Although these events are difficult to imagine by rural communities, in fact the phenomenon has resulted in farmers experiencing crop failure and can hardly predict cropping time. Apart from this phenomenon, environmental problems also occur at the foot of Mount Merapi, Sleman, Yogyakarta. Illegal sand mining in residential areas has resulted in a shrinking of the plant population and impared the land use, resulting in a decrease both in the groundwater and surface water level. Environmental damage starts from the split of people’s perspectives as a result of the emerging separations between humanism and ecology, knowledge and values, and the body and spirituality. Pencak silat, as an indigenous Indonesian martial art that is subject to harmony between humans and the natural environment on which they live, can arise the awareness of local people to reconsider habits that are harmful both to the environment and nature. Integrated Space Design as the aesthetic manifestation of Eco Art, is an artwork created to address environmental problems that occur in the foot area of Mount Merapi namely by creating a space that bridges the interactions between humans, between humans and their artificial environment, and between humans and their surrounding nature, by using bamboo plants as its main media, and silat spirituality as an inspiration in order to sustain the living power of the local community, both ecologically and spiritually.

PURPOSE: This study determined the validity and reliability of a new specific field test that was based on the scientific data from the latest research. METHODS: Seventeen international-level karatekas participated in the study: 14 men (age 24.1 ± 4.6 y, body mass 65.7 ± 10.8 kg) and 3 women (age 19 ± 3.6 y, body mass 54.1 ± 0.9 kg). All performed the new karate-specific test (KST) 2 times (test and retest sessions were carried out on separated occasions 1 wk apart). Thirteen men also performed a laboratory test to assess maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). RESULTS: Test-retest results showed the KST to be reliable. Peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), peak heart rate (HRpeak), blood lactate concentration, rating of perceived exertion, and time to exhaustion (TE) did not display a difference between the test and the retest. The SEM and ICC for relative and absolute VO2peak and TE were <5% and >.90, respectively. Significant correlations were found between VO2peak (mL • kg-1 • min-1) and TE measured from the KST (r = .71, 95%CI 0.35-0.88, P < .0001). There was also no significant difference between VO2peak measured from the KST and VO2max recorded from the cycle-ergometer laboratory test (55.1 ± 4.8 vs 53.2 ± 6.6 mL • kg-1 • min-1, respectively; t = -1.85, df = 12, P = .08, dz = 0.51 [small]). The Bland and Altman analyses reported a mean difference (bias) ± the 95% limits of agreement of 1.9 ± 7.35 mL • kg-1 • min-1. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the new KST test, with effort patterns replicating real karate combat sessions, can be considered a valid and reliable karate-specific field test for assessing karatekas' endurance fitness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]