The effect of lower limb wearable resistance on kicking kinematics and kinetics during a martial art’s front kick performance

Abstract

Background: Wearable resistance works best with lighter load, but appropriate loading range is debatable. Objective: It is the main purpose of this study to investigate the kinematics and kinetics effect of wearable resistance (WR), when loaded on the lower limb body part during a martial arts front kick performance. Materials and Methods: Fifteen female martial arts athletes aged between 20 and 25 years old with body mass (BM) between 40 kg to 55 kg were recruited. Subjects were required to perform three repetitions for each condition: Unloaded (UL), calf loaded (CL) 3% BM and calf and thigh loaded (CTL) 3% BM in a randomised order that made up total 9 repetitions. Velocity, force and power were collected and used to assess the kinematic and kinetics of kicking executions using Kinovea Two-dimensional Motion Analysis Software. Data were statistically analysed to produce neural and mechanical profiles of the front kick, and comparisons of the outputs were made by using repeated-measure one-way analysis of variance test. Results: Overall, the results showed no significant differences within three WR conditions. Besides, the results also showed no significant difference when comparing between velocity, force and power for all three WR conditions. Conclusion: Evidently, 3% BM loading is still insufficient to observe the improvement. Most important, similar results obtained regardless of WR load placement location on the leg during front kick performance. Recommendation: In summary, researcher suggested that both loaded conditions more than 3% BM and below 30 kg might be sufficient and also effective for improving the front kick performance as well as future study should include the element of impulse–momentum to ensure the result can be more applicable to the competitive combat sports.