Purpose: To measure the time needed to teach a series of martial arts techniques to proficiency. Methods: Fifteen volunteer subjects without any prior martial arts or self-defense experience were recruited. A panel of martial arts experts selected 21 different techniques including defensive stances, arm blocks, elbow strikes, palm strikes, thumbs to eyes, instep kicks and a carotid neck restraint. The critical elements of each technique were identified by the panel and incorporated into a teaching protocol, and then into a scoring system. Two black belt martial arts instructors directed a total of forty-five 45-minute training sessions. Videotaped proficiency testing was performed weekly. The videotapes were reviewed by the investigators to determine the proficiency levels of each subject for each technique.Results: The techniques were rated by the average number of training sessions needed for an individual to develop proficiency in that technique. The mean number of sessions necessary to train individuals to proficiency ranged from 27 to 38.3. Using this system, the most difficult techniques seemed to be elbow strikes to the rear, striking with thumbs to the eyes and arm blocking.Conclusions: In this study 29 hours of training was necessary to train novice students to be proficient in 21 offensive and defensive martial arts techniques. To our knowledge, this is the first study that attempts to measure the learning curves involved when teaching martial arts techniques.

This article was aimed to achieve the factors of progress of martial arts teachers and trainers, and a qualitative method was used in the research method. The statistical population of the research was martial arts professors and university informants. The sampling method in the qualitative section was initially purposeful and judgmental, and then snowball sampling was used to collect information. In this research, theoretical saturation was reached by interviewing 21 people from the target samples. The tools of data collection were interviews and documents, and after coding and identifying the themes, the Dematel method was used to design and validate the model. Data analysis was done using related theme analysis methods, and then the data obtained from twenty-one interviews were coded and analyzed using the theorizing method of theme analysis. The results of theme analysis showed that grouping of codes has fifteen components and has three parts, including capacity building in trainers and previous learning as well as situation analysis, and competitors, etc. This research can be used as a basis for the advancement of martial arts teachers and trainers. In the environment of combat sports, the coach is considered as one of the main figures, thus the identification of the effective factors in the progress of teachers and coaches were extracted and confirmed, and the research framework was drawn and its suitability was confirmed. Sports managers are advised to pay attention to the coach as one of the most important success factors in combat sports.

Purpose: Arterial stiffness increases with age and is related to an increased risk of coronary artery disease. Poor trunk flexibility has been shown to be associated with arterial stiffness in middle-aged subjects. The purpose of our research study was to measure arterial stiffness and flexibility in healthy middle-aged martial artists compared to age and gender matched healthy sedentary controls.Methods: Ten martial artists (54.0±2.0 years), who practice Soo Bahk Do (SBD), a Korean martial art, and ten sedentary subjects (54.7±1.8 years) for a total of twenty subjects took part in this cross-sectional study. Arterial stiffness was assessed in all subjects using pulse wave velocity (PWV), a recognized index of arterial stiffness. Flexibility of the trunk and hamstring were also measured. The independent variables were the martial artists and matched sedentary controls. The dependent variables were PWV and flexibility.Results: There were significant differences, between the SBD practitioners and sedentary controls, in PWV (P=0.004), in trunk flexibility (P=0.002), and in hamstring length (P=0.003).Conclusion: The middle-aged martial artists were more flexible in their trunk and hamstrings and had less arterial stiffness compared to the healthy sedentary controls. The flexibility component of martial art training or flexibility exercises in general may be considered as a possible intervention to reduce the effects of aging on arterial stiffness.

Background: One of the goals for training in combat sports is to mimic real situations. For mixed martial arts (MMA), simulated sparring matches are a frequent component during training, but a there is a lack of knowledge considering the differences in sparring and competitive environments.Objectives: The main objective of this study was to compare biochemical responses to sparring and official MMA matches.Materials and Methods: Twenty five male professional MMA fighters were evaluated during official events (OFF=12) and simulated matches (SIM=13). For both situations, blood samples were taken before (PRE) and immediately after (POST) matches. For statistical analysis, two-way analysis of variance (time x group and time x winner) were used to compare the dependent parametric variables.For non-parametric data, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used and differences were confirmed by Mann-Whitney tests.Results: No significant differences were observed among the groups for demographic variables. The athletes were 26.5±5 years with 80±10 kg, 1.74±0.05 m and had 39.4±25 months of training experience. Primary results indicated higher blood glucose concentration prior to fights for OFF group (OFF=6.1±1.2 mmol/L and SIM=4.4±0.7 mmol/L; P<0.01) and higher ALT values for OFF group at both time points (OFF: PRE=41.2±12 U/L, POST=44.2±14.1 U/L; SIM: PRE=28.1±13.8 U/L, POST=30.5±12.5 U/L; P=0.001). In addition, the blood lactate showed similar responses for both groups (OFF: PRE=4 [3.4 - 4.4] mmol/L, POST=16.9 [13.8 - 23.5] mmol/L; SIM: PRE=3.8 [2.8 - 5.5] mmol/L, POST=16.8 [12.3 - 19.2] mmol/L; P<0.001).Conclusions: In conclusion, MMA official and simulated matches induce similar high intensity glycolytic demands and minimal changes to biochemical markers of muscle damage immediately following the fights. Glycolytic availability prior to the fights was raised exclusively in response to official matches.

Introduction: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between Selfcompassion and precompetitive anxiety among female athlete students. Methods: This was a descriptive correlational study. Two hundred and fifty-three female students (140 taekwondo & 113 karate) were selected among athletes present at the 14th Student Cultural Sports Olympiad. Self-compassion Scale and Competitive State Anxiety–, 2 were used in this study before competing in games to measure the aforementioned theoretical constructs. Results: The obtained results revealed a significant relationship between pre-competitive anxiety and Self-compassion. Moreover, the components of this characteristic positively predicted self-confidence variance,however, this prediction reversed with somatic and cognitive anxiety. Conclusion: Based on the current study results, Self-compassion plays a moderating role in the pre-competitive anxiety of female martial arts athletes. Therefore, improving this characteristic should be considered to promote self-confidence and reduce the precompetitive anxiety in these athletes.

This research study discussed the factors of the progress of martial arts teachers and trainers. The qualitative method was used in the research method and according to the qualitative method in the first stage of data collection. The qualitative section's sampling method was purposeful and judgmental, and then snowball sampling was used to collect information. In this research, theoretical saturation was reached by interviewing 21 people from the target samples. The data collection tools were interviews and documents, and after coding and identifying the themes, the Demitel method was used to design and validate the model. Data analysis has been done using related theme analysis methods. Then, the data obtained from twenty-one interviews were coded and analyzed using the theorizing method of a theme analysis. Findings: The results of the theme analysis showed that the grouping of codes is fifteen components. Success in coaching is one of the critical factors in combat sports and has three parts: capacity building in coaches and previous learning and analysis of the situation. Conclusion: The results of this research can be used as a basis for advancing martial arts teachers and trainers. In combat sports, the coach is considered one of the primary and central figures. Thus, identifying the influential factors in the progress of teachers and coaches was extracted and confirmed, the research framework was drawn, and its suitability was confirmed.