Thoracic injury potential of basic competition taekwondo kicks

Area of Science:

• Sports Biomechanics
• Kinetics and Injury Analysis

Background:

• Competition taekwondo involves powerful kicks, raising concerns about athlete safety and injury potential.
• Understanding the biomechanics of these kicks is crucial for developing effective injury prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the kinetics of four common competition taekwondo kicks.
• To evaluate the injury potential of these kicks using biomechanical models.

Main Methods:

• High-speed video analysis to measure kick velocities.
• Calculation of kinetic energy for different kick types.
• Development of linkage models to simulate kicking leg motion and kinetics.
• Application of thoracic compression and viscous criterion models to assess injury risk.

Main Results:

• Basic swing kicks achieved velocities of 15 m/s and 200 J of energy.
• Basic thrust kicks had 45% lower velocity but 28% higher energy compared to swing kicks.
• Injury models predicted significant risk of serious injury for all analyzed kicks without protective equipment.

Conclusions:

• Taekwondo kicks generate substantial energy, indicating a high potential for injury.
• Thoracic deflections and peak viscous tolerance values suggest a considerable risk of serious harm.
• The use of protective body equipment is strongly recommended to mitigate injury risk in competition taekwondo.