Neuromuscular and kinematic parameters of performance in Taekwondo kick

Abstract

Taekwondo (TKD) is an Olympic modality which the round-house-kick (RHK) is the principal movement of attack and counterattack. Although the competitive ranking and the technical speed can be considered as performance measurements in TKD, the scientific actual literature appoint to the importance of coordinative variables (concentration, range of motion and motor consistence) and of explosive strength (muscle power and rate of force development) to the performance. However, for a correct talent identification and the effective orientation of training, the association between these variables and the performance need to be experimentally verified, because the actual literature about this thematic in TKD also is limited. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine what biomechanical parameters have influence on RHK speed in TKD elite (TE) and sub-elite (TS) athletes, and to determine what of these parameters are sensible in the competitive ranking differentiation. For this purpose, in this study, TE and TS will be evaluated in: 1) kinematic analyze 3D (Vicon® System) and electromyography (Noraxon® System) of 8 muscles of inferior members during the RHK; 2) Vertical Jump (Squat and Counter Movement Jump) above a force platform (AMTI®); 3) Isokinetic Power (Biodex®) at two speeds (60º/s e 180ºs) in hip and knee flexion/extension, hip aduction/abduction and ankle plantar flexion. Subsequently, will be verified the statistic association between the variables of coordination and explosive strength, with kick speed; and will be realized the comparative analyze between TE and TS in each analyzed variables, for then to realize the discriminative analyze of the predictive parameters of competitive level. (AU)