Comparison of maintaining of body balance in combat sports between experts and non-experts

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study is to observe the body balance differences between high and low skilled martial artists during a specific static balance test. As part of a larger investigation that was initiated in 2022, twelve professional martial arts athletes were recruited to participate in a study that was designed to measure static balance performance.Methods: The eleven participants (body height 183.7 6.4 cm; body weight 85.5 3.3 kg; age 21.3 1.2 years) were high skilled athletes (group HSA). Twenty-one participants were low skilled athletes (group LSA). The experimental design required all participants to complete an initial balance assessment.Results: To fully analyze our data, we conducted a one-way ANOVA to compare the means of two independent groups (HSA, LSA) in order to determine whether there is statistical evidence that the means are significantly different. The ANOVA analysis of reveal the values in group LSA were significantly relatively higher for the three parameters FAP (40%), FML (67%) and AAP (53%). Only FML’s scores were significantly higher in group HSA.Conclusions: Longitudinal studies are needed to fully understand the impact of training experience on motor behavior. This study showed that higher levels of athletic performance training increase subjects’ ability to increase people’s ability to reduce sway in posture. This quick test can be easily administered in most settings and may be helpful in guiding training. Our findings suggest that skilled martial arts athletes practitioners would rely more on the somatosensory and vestibular inputs to maintain their standing balance control. The results also have a clinical application value of implementing taekwondo movements for rehabilitation of people with body balance problems.