Mythologies of Martial Arts is an introduction to the key myths and ideologies around martial arts in contemporary popular culture internationally. It is the first book to draw together practical ...experience and seminal texts across a multitude of disciplines to offer original insights into the complex, contradictory world of martial arts. It is an accessible but theoretically sophisticated book aimed at student, scholars and anyone interested in martial arts practice.
: Health behaviors are associated with a healthy lifestyle, in which relative possibilities of choice play an important part. Athletes are a group of people who should particularly endeavor to have a ...health-oriented lifestyle. It is believed that combat sports (CS) and martial arts (MA) have an especially significant educational potential, connected with several desirable values which provide positive patterns of health behaviors. The aim of the work was to assess the intensity of health behaviors in athletes who practiced CS and MA in relation to the length of their training history, their age, sex, place of residence, education level, and financial situation.
: The research involved 441 men and women who practiced boxing (B), Brazilian ju-jitsu (BJJ), karate (K), mixed martial arts (MMA) and Muay Thai (MT). The average age of the subjects was 24.68 ± 8.24 years. The standardized Health Behavior Inventory (HBI) questionnaire and another questionnaire for a lifestyle survey were applied. Individual behaviors covered four areas: Correct eating habits (CEH), preventive behaviors (PB), positive mental attitude (PMA), and health practices (HP). The one-way analysis of variance (F-test) for independent groups was used (ANOVA). The effect size was calculated with Hedge's g for Student's t-test, and with Cramér's V for the χ
test. The value of
≤ 0.05 was assumed to be statistically significant.
: CS and MA athletes presented a moderate level of health behaviors. The greater intensity of health behaviors (HBI and its categories) was found among B, K and MMA athletes, and the smaller among those who practiced MT. Correct eating habits (CEH) were characteristic of subjects who practiced every day and whose length of training history was 4-8 years. Greater intensity of preventive behaviors (PB) was observed among individuals aged under-19 years, who still studied. Greater intensity of health practices (HP) was found among those who exercised every day. Influence of financial situation was observed in relations to PMA.
: It seems that the existing educational potential of CS and MA was not fully realized in the studied population. Determining the place of health in the system of values of CS and MA athletes may be the basis for predicting health behaviors and developing health education programs.
The aim of this study was to define the time-motion (i.e., fighting, preparatory and breaking activity), technical (i.e., attack, timed-attack, counterattack, blocking and grasps) and tactical (i.e., ...upper limb, lower-limb, combination and throwing) profiles of the senior top-level karate competition played under the most recent rules of the International Karate Federation in relation to gender, match outcome and weight categories. Time-motion, tactical actions and technical executions were investigated of senior karatekas (n = 60) during the Karate World Championship. The referee's decisions caused an overall activity-to-break ratio of ~1:1.5 with a significant difference (P = 0.025) between karateka's weight categories (light = 1:1.5; middle = 1:2 and heavy = 1:1). High-intensity actions (i.e., attack and defensive actions performed quickly and powerfully) were higher in male compared to female athletes. Top-level karatekas used upper limb techniques more than lower limb ones, with both applied in the head more than in the body. For the high-intensity-actions to pause ratio and the percentage of combined techniques, light weight category was significantly higher than middle weight category. These findings suggest that training programs may need to be specific to the requirements of the gender and weight categories.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the responses of salivary hormones and salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) and anxiety in winners and losers during an international judo ...competition. Twenty-three trained, male, national-level judo athletes provided three saliva samples during a competition day: morning, in anticipation of competition after an overnight fast, mid-competition, and post-competition within 15 min post-fight for determination of salivary cortisol, salivary testosterone, salivary testosterone/cortisol ratio, SIgA absolute concentrations, SIgA secretion rate and saliva flow rate. The competitive state anxiety inventory questionnaire was completed by the athletes (n = 12) after the first saliva collection for determination of somatic anxiety, cognitive anxiety and self-confidence. Winners were considered 1-3 ranking place (n = 12) and losers (n = 11) below third place in each weight category. Winners presented higher anticipatory salivary cortisol concentrations (p = 0.03) and a lower mid-competition salivary testosterone/cortisol ratio (p = 0.003) compared with losers with no differences for salivary testosterone. Winners tended to have higher SIgA secretion rates (p = 0.07) and higher saliva flow rates (p = 0.009) at mid-competition. Higher levels of cognitive anxiety (p = 0.02) were observed in the winners, without differences according to the outcome in somatic anxiety and self-confidence. The results suggest that winners experienced higher levels of physiological arousal and better psychological preparedness in the morning, and as the competition progressed, the winners were able to control their stress response better.
Cancer is a global health concern and affects patient quality of life, anxiety, depression, and sleep. Physical exercise shows promise in alleviating these effects. Karate is a holistic intervention ...that could be used to improve several outcomes related to cancer disease, but to date its effect remains unexplored. This quasi-experimental pre-/poststudy evaluated the effects of a 6-month karate program conducted twice a week for 60 minutes each session on quality of life, anxiety, depression, sleep quality, and psychosomatic symptoms in 22 patients with posttherapy oncology. Significant improvements in quality of life (P = .006), anxiety (P < .001), depression (P < .001), and sleep quality (P = .011) were observed. Multidimensional psychophysical evaluation showed significant reductions in symptoms (P < .05). High participant satisfaction was reported across all dimensions. This pilot study shows the potential benefits in oncology patients, but more research is necessary to confirm these findings.
Ao situar o lugar do MMA no jornalismo esportivo, o artigo traça um paralelo historiográfico entre o desenvolvimento deste esporte e da sua produçao jornalística, ao apontar marcos históricos para a ...modalidade - como sua profissionalizaçâo e popularizaçao no país - e para o jornalismo especializado nesta prática esportiva - com revistas e programas televisivos, além de revista digital, agencia de noticias, sites jornalísticos, canais de YouTube e de TV. By situating the place of MMA in sports journalism, the article presents a historiographical parallel between the development of this sport and its journalistic production, pointing out landmarks for the sport - such as its professionalization and popularization in Brazil - and for journalism specialized in this sports practice - like magazines, television shows, digital magazine, news agency, news sites, YouTube and TV channels. Hoje, dos esportes de combate, o MMA (artes marciais mistas, mixed martial arts, em ingles), um esporte de luta em que os atletas utilizam técnicas e recursos de diversas modalidades marciais, é o que tem ganhado atençao no jornalismo especializado nacional mais recentemente, pois foi apenas em 2000 que se profissionalizou com as Regras Unificadas do MMA. Ao situar o seu lugar entre as modalidades do jornalismo esportivo, este artigo traça um paralelo historiográfico entre o desenvolvimento deste esporte e da sua produçao jornalística, ao apontar marcos históricos para o MMA - como sua profissionalizaçao e popularizaçao no país - e para o jornalismo especializado nesta modalidade esportiva - com revistas e programas televisivos, mas, principalmente, revista digital, agencia de notícias, sites jornalísticos, canais de Youtube e de TV.
Physiological profiles of elite judo athletes Franchini, Emerson; Del Vecchio, Fabrício B; Matsushigue, Karin A ...
Sports medicine (Auckland),
2011-Feb-01, Letnik:
41, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
To be successful in international competitions, judo athletes must achieve an excellent level of physical fitness and physical condition during training. This article reviews the physiological ...profiles of elite judo athletes from different sex, age and weight categories. Body fat is generally low for these athletes, except for the heavyweight competitors. In general, elite judo athletes presented higher upper body anaerobic power and capacity than non-elite athletes. Lower body dynamic strength seems to provide a distinction between elite and recreational judo players, but not high-level judo players competing for a spot on national teams. Even maximal isometric strength is not a discriminant variable among judo players. However, more studies focusing on isometric strength endurance are warranted. Although aerobic power and capacity are considered relevant to judo performance, the available data do not present differences among judo athletes from different competitive levels. Typical maximal oxygen uptake values are around 50-55 mL/kg/min for male and 40-45 mL/kg/min for female judo athletes. As for other variables, heavyweight competitors presented lower aerobic power values. The typical differences commonly observed between males and females in the general population are also seen in judo athletes when analysing anaerobic power and capacity, aerobic power, and maximal strength and power. However, further research is needed concerning the differences among the seven weight categories in which judo athletes compete.
Contemporarily, two martial arts have emerged as highly popular among youth; Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Despite their popularity, we know little of how they affect ...individuals sociopsychologically. The current study sought to explore how the currently underexplored martial art disciplines may contribute to sociopsychological development among young people. In addition, it was investigated whether individuals who are predisposed to different traits may favour one sport over the other. This study was conducted with a longitudinal design; over the course of 5 months, 113 participants completed training in either condition. The results show that both groups displayed increased self-control and pro-social behaviour; however, MMA practitioners also reported increased aggressiveness, whereas BJJ practitioners experienced a decline in aggression. Accordingly, individuals who trained in MMA displayed substantially higher pre-existing aggression levels than the BJJ practitioners. The current results further corroborate research suggesting that modern martial arts and MMA may not be suitable for at-risk youth to practice, whereas traditional martial arts and sports with a healthy philosophical foundation may be effective in reducing antisocial behaviour while enhancing socially desirable behaviour among young people.
Accurate assessment of competitive ability is a critical component of contest behavior in animals, and it could be just as important in human competition, particularly in human ancestral populations. ...Here, we tested the role that facial perception plays in this assessment by investigating the association between both perceived aggressiveness and perceived fighting ability in fighters' faces and their actual fighting success. Perceived aggressiveness was positively associated with the proportion of fights won, after we controlled for the effect of weight, which also independently predicted perceived aggression. In contrast, perception of fighting ability was confounded by weight, and an association between perceived fighting ability and actual fighting success was restricted to heavyweight fighters. Shape regressions revealed that aggressive-looking faces are generally wider and have a broader chin, more prominent eyebrows, and a larger nose than less aggressive-looking faces. Our results indicate that perception of aggressiveness and fighting ability might cue different aspects of success in male-male physical confrontation.
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