Objective: To investigate the relationship between head impact characteristics and the levels of blood biomarkersassociated with brain injury, neurofilament light (NfL) and glial fibrillary acidic ...protein (GFAP).Methods: Four elite amateur Muay Thai athletes were equipped with impact monitoring mouthguards, collectinglinear and rotational acceleration data during a period of eight weeks. Capillary blood samples were collectedafter each period of sparring sessions to analyse the levels of NfL and GFAP.Results: On a group level, mean GFAP levels were negatively correlated to mean impacts per session (p < 0.05).Two athletes had significant correlations between head impact characteristics and the levels of NfL and/or GFAP.Conclusions: The results indicate that NfL and GFAP might responded differently to linear and rotational accelerationsand/or that the effect of different types of accelerations on brain tissue integrity is individual. Themethods used could be useful to monitor brain health in different impacts sports.
This study aimed to understand the experiences of professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters in the psychological transition between fight and violence, based on their own reports. ...Semi-structured interviews were conducted with an intentional sample of five participants and their analysis was carried out from a phenomenological perspective. The intentional crossing of experiences allowed the identification of five categories: maintaining focus vs. losing your head; maintenance of the technique vs. loss of the technique; feeling good vs. embarrassment; desire to test yourself vs. aggression; desirable retaliation vs. disproportionate retaliation. The results of this study indicate that the intensification of the combative exchange that leads to the transition from the first to the second item of each category is the key element in the subjective transition between fight and violence.
Children from multicultural families face physical, social, mental, and intellectual hurdles; however, relative interventions are lacking in South Korea (hereafter Korea) in this regard. The purpose ...of this study was to investigate the effects of regular Taekwondo (TKD) training on physical fitness, mood, sociability, and cognitive functions in these children.
This study included 30 children from multicultural families in Korea who were randomly assigned to a TKD group (
= 15) and control group (
= 15). The children in TKD group underwent 16 weeks of TKD training once a week for 60 min. Each participant underwent a basic fitness test and sociability questionnaire before and after the intervention. Furthermore, we examined the changes in the mood and cognitive function by determining the profile of mood states (POMS), and Stroop color and word test, respectively.
Results of the Stork test of balance were significantly higher in the TKD group after intervention (
< 0.05). In terms of sub-variables, POMS, tension, and depression scores were significantly lower (
< 0.05) after the intervention, while the vigor score was significantly higher in the intervention group than those in the control group (
< 0.05). Furthermore, sociability and 'being left out' score, a sub-variable of sociability, was significantly lower (
< 0.05) after the intervention, while sociability score was significantly higher (
< 0.05).
Our findings suggest that participation in regular TKD training can be effective for balanced improvements in variables of basic fitness and that it exerts a positive effect on the mood and development of sociability.
Loturco, I, Nakamura, FY, Winckler, C, Bragança, JR, da Fonseca, RA, Filho, JM, Zaccani, WA, Kobal, R, Cal Abad, CC, Kitamura, K, Pereira, LA, and Franchini, E. Strength-power performance of visually ...impaired paralympic and olympic judo athletes from the brazilian national team: a comparative study. J Strength Cond Res 31(3): 743-749, 2017-The aim of this study was to compare the muscle power and maximal isometric strength capacities of Olympic and visually impaired Paralympic judo athletes. Twenty-eight elite judo athletes (7 men and 7 women per group) from the permanent Brazilian National Paralympic and Olympic teams took part in this study. After a specific warm-up, the athletes performed loaded jump squat (JS), bench press (BP), and standing barbell row (SBR) exercises to determine their values of maximum mean propulsive power (MPP) in these respective exercises. The maximal isometric strength (MIS) was also determined for both upper and lower limbs, through the use of BP and half-squat (HS) exercises. Finally, the jumping ability was assessed using unloaded squat jump (SJ). The magnitude-based inference was used to compare the groups. The Olympic judo athletes presented a likely higher SJ height than the Paralympic athletes. The Olympic group presented almost certainly higher MPP in the loaded JS and in the SBR exercises and likely higher MPP in the BP exercise. Importantly, in the MIS assessments the differences between groups in the HS and BP exercises were rated as unclear. In conclusion, our results showed that both Olympic and Paralympic judo athletes present similar levels of maximal isometric strength, but muscle power performance is superior in Olympic athletes.
The training of kickboxing teachers is carried out by federations and confederations with the condition that they acquire a black belt, the highest degree of technical improvement. It has as a ...prerequisite years of practice in the modality and having passed the colored belt exams. Therefore, teachers are limited to repeating the movements and structures that were passed on by their teachers, without a theoretical and critical training of the teaching and learning process. In this sense, teaching sport to children, adolescents, recreational adults, adult competitors and the elderly are pedagogically different. Children must go through playful activities with diversified motor stimuli, from adolescence onwards there begins to be specialization, recreational adults for specialized training without forceful blows (so as not to injure, as most of them work), adults competitors for situations closer to competition and the elderly for light functional training and without bruising techniques. Other variables should be taken into account when planning lessons, such as student goals, age groups, available materials, and injury history. As it is a contact sport, didactic-pedagogical errors can increase the chances of injuries and dropout of students. Thus, it is important that there is a solid and continuous training on the part of these professionals. In the absence of teaching materials to assist these teachers in the teaching process, this article seeks to bring knowledge of sport pedagogy and recommendations to increase excellence in the teaching-learning process of teacher-students in different age groups in the kickboxing modality.
The martial arts can provide children and adolescents with vigorous levels of physical exercise that can improve overall physical fitness. The various types of martial arts encompass noncontact basic ...forms and techniques that may have a lower relative risk of injury. Contact-based sparring with competitive training and bouts have a higher risk of injury. This clinical report describes important techniques and movement patterns in several types of martial arts and reviews frequently reported injuries encountered in each discipline, with focused discussions of higher risk activities. Some of these higher risk activities include blows to the head and choking or submission movements that may cause concussions or significant head injuries. The roles of rule changes, documented benefits of protective equipment, and changes in training recommendations in attempts to reduce injury are critically assessed. This information is intended to help pediatric health care providers counsel patients and families in encouraging safe participation in martial arts.
Incidence of concussions and report of symptoms are greater among women across sports. While structural brain changes and cognitive declines are associated with repetitive head impact (RHI), the role ...of sex is not well-understood. This study aimed to determine if there is a moderating effect of sex on the relationship the number of professional fights has with cognitive functioning and regional brain volumes in a cohort of boxers, mixed martial artists, and martial artists.
A total of 55 women were matched with 55 men based on age, years of education, ethnicity, and fighting style. Cognition was assessed
the CNS Vital Signs computerized cognitive battery and supplemental measures. Structural brain scans, demographic data, and number of professional fights (NoPF) were also considered. The matched pairs were compared
analysis of covariance, accounting for total brain volume. Within-subject moderation models were utilized to assess the moderating effect of sex on the relationship between NoPF and brain volumes and cognitive performance.
Men were observed to have poorer performance on measures of psychomotor speed when compared to women. On a series of analyses assessing the role of sex as a moderator of the relationship between NoPF and regional brain volumes/cognitive performance, a significant moderation effect was observed across multiple measures of cognitive functioning, such that men had poorer performance. Differences in numerous regional brain volumes were also observed, such that the relationship between NoPF and brain volumes was steeper among men.
Sex was observed to be an important moderator in the relationship between NoPF, aspects of cognitive functioning, and volumes of numerous brain regions, suggesting that sex differences in neuroanatomic and cognitive response to RHI deserve further attention.
Brechney, GC, Chia, E, and Moreland, AT. Weight-cutting implications for competition outcomes in mixed martial arts cage fighting. J Strength Cond Res 35(12): 3420-3424, 2021-Weight cutting is common ...among amateur and professional mixed martial arts (MMA) competitors because of the belief that it provides an advantage in combat sports. This study aimed to identify whether fight outcome (win vs. loss vs. type of loss) was influenced by magnitudes of body mass (BM) lost through weight cutting and BM regained before the fight after official weigh-in in amateur and professional MMA athletes with previous weight-cutting experience. Body mass data were collected using self-report from 75 MMA athletes (59 amateur and 16 professional) before commencing weight-cutting practices 7 days before weigh-in, by the regulating body at their official weigh-in 24 hours before the fight and through direct measurement immediately before competition. Data were analyzed according to win; loss by technical knockout or knockout (KO); loss by submission; or loss by the judge's decision. Athletes who lost their fight cut significantly more BM (10.6%) compared with athletes who won (8.6%) (p = 0.04, d = 0.48, 95% confidence interval CI = 0.02-0.93), but there were no differences between types of loss. There were no significant differences in recovered BM between athletes who won (6.8%) vs. lost (7.4%), or type of loss. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between greater magnitudes of BM cut and greater likelihood of losing the fight (B = -0.12, P = 0.048), odd ratio 0.89 (95% CI: 0.79-1.00). This study provides the first line of evidence that excessive weight cutting may be detrimental to fight outcome in MMA.
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