The acute effect of different massage durations on squat jump, countermovement jump and flexibility performance in muay thai athletes

Background and Study Aim. Muay thai is a combat sport in which the competitors kick, punch, knee, elbow and growl with their opponents. The strength of the leg muscles can increase the intensity of the kick and its flexibility is a well-known issue for this sport. Determining the most appropriate method for these issues provides important gains to the athletes. One of the methods applied to achieve these gains is acute massage applications. The aim of the study is to evaluate the acute effect of different massage times on squat jump, countermovement jump and flexibility performance. Materials and Methods. Twelve healthy male muay thai athletes (age, 19.83± 1.46 years; height, 175.33± 7.91 cm; body mass, 65.16 ±13.36 kg) participated in the study, who exercised three times a week. The study consists of a single group. The study consists of 4 different massage duration protocols. These protocols consist of no massage (NM), five minutes massage (5MMSG), ten minutes massage (10MMSG) and fifteen minutes massage (15MMSG). Counter movement jump, squat jump, sitting and lying flexibility were measured after each massage period, respectively. All protocols were continued on consecutive days. Results. There was a significant main effect for flexibility (F = 10,872 ; p = 0.00), countermovement jump (F = 4.719 p=.008) and squat jump (F = 6.262 p=.002) performance. The best flexibility, countermovement jump and squat jump performance detected immediately after 5MMSG was respectively 35,16 ± 6,33; 37,17 ± 4,18 and next, 36,05 ± 4,68. Conclusion. As a result, it is recommended that different massage durations are effective in improving physical performance, and 5MMSG before competition is recommended for athletes and coaches to get more performance.

Design and Analysis of Electronic Wearables for Taekwondo Sports

<div>Taekwondo is a combat sport that is based on striking and involves full body contact. Initially, it a referee-exclusive sport and that led to increased controversy on referee/judges’ accuracy, bias and fairness. To address these concerns, point scoring systems (PSS) were introduced in 2012 only consisting of a chest protector and in 2016 head protectors were added. Constant improvements have been made on these PSS and new impact classification algorithms and hardware were developed for a system made by 20/20 Armor. The work achieved 90% accuracy for illegal vs legal classification on the head protector and 94.4% accuracy between legal impacts to the chest protector. This work proved to be a great step forward since reliance is increasing on these PSS as they are now the “final decision” for impact detection in Taekwondo. Furthermore, our algorithms use edge computing that allow for real time application and at-home training.</div>

Design and Analysis of Electronic Wearables for Taekwondo Sports

<div>Taekwondo is a combat sport that is based on striking and involves full body contact. Initially, it a referee-exclusive sport and that led to increased controversy on referee/judges’ accuracy, bias and fairness. To address these concerns, point scoring systems (PSS) were introduced in 2012 only consisting of a chest protector and in 2016 head protectors were added. Constant improvements have been made on these PSS and new impact classification algorithms and hardware were developed for a system made by 20/20 Armor. The work achieved 90% accuracy for illegal vs legal classification on the head protector and 94.4% accuracy between legal impacts to the chest protector. This work proved to be a great step forward since reliance is increasing on these PSS as they are now the “final decision” for impact detection in Taekwondo. Furthermore, our algorithms use edge computing that allow for real time application and at-home training.</div>

Greek Combat Sport and the Borders of Athletics, Violence, and Civilization

The Greek combat sports, boxing, wrestling, and pankration include elements of extreme violence. Wrestling and boxing bouts in Greek mythology not infrequently end in death. Contrary to the widely held view that the Greeks kept their boxing free of the dangerous spiked gloves that characterized Roman boxing, the Greek festivals at times did admit this murderous equipment. Why did the archaic culture of single combat described so vividly in Homer’s Iliad not find expression in the type of duelling seen throughout European history? The answer appears to lie in the Greek ability to engage and resolve through competitive athletics issues of honour and status that otherwise easily slide into far more destructive manifestations. This appears to be the reason there is a vibrant legacy of Greek combat sport, while the Hellenic world remained an antitype, not a precedent, for the carnage of sword and pistol duels in latter day Europe.

Weight Loss Strategies in Male Competitors of Combat Sport Disciplines

Background and objective: The use of suboptimal weight loss strategies in order to reach specific weight ranges as observed in combat sport disciplines can give rise to severe health problems. However, particular aspects regarding management of weight category comparing three sport disciplines remain to be investigated. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to obtain information regarding the weight loss strategies that competitors performed before a tournament. Materials and Methods: This article describes the most common dietary-nutritional strategies used by 140 national university male competitors of judo (n = 52), karate (n = 40) and taekwondo (n = 48) in order to achieve a specific weight, according to the rapid weight loss questionnaire (RWLQ) and the EAT-27 questionnaire. Results: Around 50% of participants were not involved in a weight loss process. Among the remaining participants, we considered three periods for weight reduction: less than 1 week (35% in judo, 8% in karate and 19% in taekwondo), less than 1 month (17% in judo, 15% in karate and 26% in taekwondo) and more than 1 month (0% in judo, 5% in karate and 21% in taekwondo). Severe fasting, focused on food/water restriction, was the most commonly used strategy, being more frequent in judo players. Light weight judo practitioners generally lost 2–5 kg before the contest. One third of participants avoided carbohydrate consumption when performing food restriction. Finally, individuals that reduced weight in the last week seemed to develop an unhealthy psychological relationship with food. Conclusion: All these aspects could be particularly relevant, providing information regarding how competitors manage basic nutritional concepts that guide dieting strategies. This information is relevant to prepare future educational interventions in the area of nutrition for competitors, coaches and technical staff.

“Tying your ngemb”: Negotiating identity in Senegalese wrestling

More than merely a combat sport, Senegalese wrestling combines professional athleticism with cultural traditions, political relations, and religious belief. For many young men in Senegal, wrestling also represents a model of success in otherwise challenging circumstances characterized by socio-economic crisis and increasing precarity. Young wrestlers must navigate and perform an elaborate set of identities in order to demonstrate their success—both within the sand-filled arenas in which fights take place, and in the complex social worlds which have emerged around the practice. Referring to a panoply of identity markers including ethnicity, religious affiliation, and village or neighborhood loyalty, wrestlers simultaneously demonstrate their alignment with dominant discourses around masculinity and urban knowledge. The article draws upon lengthy ethnographic research to explore the dynamic, contradictory, and hybrid processes of identity construction through which wrestlers present themselves to the world.

Physiological Responses and Bout Analysis in Elite Kickboxers During International K1 Competitions

Background: Kickboxing is a combat sport with various forms of competition. Kickboxing according to the K1 rules is one of the most interesting and quickly developing forms of kickboxing. According to the K1 rules, it is possible to use a variety of techniques with great force. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological responses during a real sports fight and to perform a technical and tactical analysis of the kickboxing bout according to the K1 rules.Methods: This study was conducted during two cycles of the international kickboxing league according to the K1 rules in a group of 15 elite athletes. The indicators of technical and tactical training were evaluated in real sports bout. Blood lactate (LA) levels and heart rate (HR) were measured during and after the bout.Results: The efficiency of the attack was on average 59.3 ± 2.7, its effectiveness was 50.3 ± 10.01, and its activeness was 112.3 ± 29. The peak LA concentration was 14.6 ± 1.9 mmol/L. LA concentration did not decrease to baseline after 20 min of recovery.Conclusion: A kickboxing bout was found to induce strong physiological stress for the participants. Reported HR and LA concentration show that the intensity of the fight was close to maximal, and anaerobic metabolism played an important role during a fight.