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Some the scientific research that has been conducted on martial art related subjects

Participation motivation in martial artists in the west midlands region of England

G. Jones, K. Mackay, and D. Peters
Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2006) 5 (CSSI), 28 - 34

This study sought to identify the participation motivations and the perceived importance of certain participation factors in martial artists in the West Midlands, England, UK. A questionnaire was distributed to 30 martial arts clubs in the West Midlands region.

Conclusions. Results indicated that the rank order in terms of participation motives was: affiliation; friendship, fitness, reward/status, competition;, situational, and skill development. Participants who trained for more than 4 hours per week placed greater importance on the underpinning philosophy of the martial art. Findings suggest that while there is a gender discrepancy in participation level, once engaged, females were equally committed to weekly training. The 'style' of the instructor is of paramount importance for enhancing student motivation to participate. High volume practitioners would appear to be fully immersed in the holistic appreciation of the martial art through increased value placed on its underpinning philosophy. 

Development of a sports specific aerobic capacity test for karate - a pilot study

D. Nunan
Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2006) 5 (CSSI), 47 - 53

The purpose of the study was to develop an aerobic fitness assessment test for 5 well-trained competitive karate practitioners and describe the preliminary findings. A protocol simulating common attack strikes used in competition karate sparring was developed from video analysis. The time to perform the strike sequence remained the same, while the time between strike sequence performances was progressively reduced. The aim of the test was to increase intensity of exercise through a decrease in recovery.

Conclusions. There was no significant between test difference in absolute VO2peak, relative VO2peak, HRM, and TE , indicating a potentially high reproducibility with the new test for these variables. However, VEpeak displayed potentially less reproducibility due to a significant difference observed between tests. There was a significant relationship between TE and relative VO2peak.

Mood and performance in young Malaysian karateka

R. Wong, J. Thung, and W. Pieter
Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2006) 5 (CSSI), 54 - 59 

In an attempt to test the conceptual model by Lane and Terry, the purposes of this study were to assess mood states in non-depressed and depressed young karate athletes, and to assess mood states in relation to performance in young karate athletes. The participants (72 males an; 37 females) were recruited from the 2004 Malaysian Games. The athletes were divided into winners (medalists) and losers.

Conclusions. In terms of non-depressed and depressed mood, tension in the females was higher in the depressed group, as was fatigue. Tension in the males was higher in the depressed group, as was anger. The highest associations among mood subscales were between anger and depression, and between depression and fatigue in depressed males. The female winning karateka scored higher on anger. The highest correlations between mood dimensions in depressed females were between depression and anger and between depression and confusion. Contrary to previous research on the influence of depression on anger, only the female winners scored higher on anger. Several negative mood dimensions were higher in both male and female depressed groups, lending some support to the conceptual model advanced by Lane and Terry. 

How boxers decide to punch a target: emergent behavior in nonlinear dynamical movement systems

R. Hristovski , K. Davids, D. Araújo, and C. Button
Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2006) 5 (CSSI), 60 - 73 

Previous research has shown how dynamical systems theory provides a relevant framework for investigating decision-making behavior in sport. The aim of this study was to adopt concepts and tools from nonlinear dynamics in examining effects of boxer-target distance and perceived punching efficiency on emergent decision-making during a typical practice task in boxing.

Conclusions. Results revealed the existence of critical values of scaled distances between boxers and targets for first time appearance and disappearance of a diverse range of boxing actions including jabs, hooks, and uppercuts. Reasons for the diversity of actions were twofold: 1) abrupt (qualitative) changes in the number of the possible punches, i.e. motor solutions to the hitting task; and 2), fine modification of the probabilities of selecting specific striking patterns.

Boxers were able to exploit the emerging perception of strikeability, leading to a changing diversity of selected actions and a cascade of abrupt changes in the perceptual-motor work space of the task. Perceived efficiency of a punching action by the participants also changed as a function of the scaled distance to a target and was correlated with the probability of occurrence of specific boxing actions. Accordingly, scaled distance-dependent perceived efficiency seems an important perceptual constraint in the training task of punching a heavy bag in boxers. 

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