The attenuation of strike acceleration with the use of safety equipment in tae kwon do

Acute injuries in American collegiate taekwondo competitions: a prospective study spanning four competitive seasons

BACKGROUND

Injury patterns are well-documented for taekwondo competitions prior to the use of an electronic chest protector for scoring tabulation. To see if injury rates and types changed following this rule change that transformed the fighting style in taekwondo, we investigated injuries in collegiate taekwondo competitions in the United States.

METHODS

Data were collected at eight collegiate taekwondo tournaments from April 2018 to December 2019. All injured athletes seen at the first-aid station were invited to complete a survey that included injury location, type, and mechanism of injury. Injury rates were calculated per 1,000 athlete-exposures (A-Es) and minute-exposures (M-Es). Risk factors were modeled using logistic regression and chi-squared analysis.

RESULTS

Out of 1,096 athletes, 194 athletes reported 275 acute injuries. We found an injury risk of 17.7/100 athletes (95% CI 15.4, 20.0) and injury rate of 68.9/1,000 A-E (95% CI 60.7, 77.0) which was comparable to previous studies. The most common injuries were contusions to the lower limbs. In contrast to prior reports, men were injured more frequently from delivering a kick and women from receiving a kick. Populations at higher risk for injury included those with low belt rank and middle weight class for women.

CONCLUSIONS

It appears that the new fighting style did not affect injury rates. Injury locations and types remain similar, but the mechanisms of injury have reversed as men are more injured from attacking and women from defending. There remains a strong need for research to improve protective equipment and safety rules in taekwondo.

Inertial Sensors for Performance Analysis in Combat Sports: A Systematic Review

The integration of technology into training and competition sport settings is becoming more commonplace. Inertial sensors are one technology being used for performance monitoring. Within combat sports, there is an emerging trend to use this type of technology; however, the use and selection of this technology for combat sports has not been reviewed. To address this gap, a systematic literature review for combat sport athlete performance analysis was conducted. A total of 36 records were included for review, demonstrating that inertial measurements were predominately used for measuring strike quality. The methodology for both selecting and implementing technology appeared ad-hoc, with no guidelines for appropriately analysing the results. This review summarises a framework of best practice for selecting and implementing inertial sensor technology for evaluating combat sport performance. It is envisaged that this review will act as a guide for future research into applying technology to combat sport.

Development and evaluation of a novel taekwondo chest protector to improve mobility when performing axe kicks

The axe kick, in Olympic style taekwondo, has been identified as the most popular scoring technique aimed to the head during full contact competition. The first purpose of this study was to identify and investigate design issues with the current World Taekwondo Federation approved chest protector. A secondary purpose was to develop a novel chest protector addressing the identified design issues and to conduct a biomechanical analysis. Fifteen male elite Taekwondo players were selected to perform three different styles of the axe kick, i.e., front, in-out, and out-in axe kick five times each for a total of 45 kicks. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA showed significant differences between the novel and existing chest protector conditions for vertical height of the toe, downward kicking foot speed, hip flexion angle and ipsilateral shoulder flexion extension range of motion (ROM) (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences between the control condition (no chest protector) and the novel chest protector condition for these variables (p > 0.05). These results indicate that the novel chest protector interferes less with both the lower and upper limbs during the performance of the axe kick and provides a more natural, free-moving alternative to the current equipment used.