Master of Sports of Russia E.A. Simakova¹
Dr. Hab., Professor V.A. Chistyakov²
N.P. Sharnin²
I.A. Grigoriev^2
1"Dolphin" Sports School, St. Petersburg
²National State University of Physical Culture, Sports and Health, St. Petersburg

Keywords: taekwondo, Russian national team, questionnaire survey, analysis, training system, gender.

Background. Modern competitive taekwondo, one of the popular martial arts, prioritizes not only the technical and tactical aspects, but also a sport-specific philosophy with the relevant ethical pillars every taekwondo competitor is expected to develop and respect [1-6]. Presently modern competitive taekwondo makes a special emphasis on the athletic progress domain in fact although the training systems are traditionally designed on an integral basis. Still the technical and tactical training aspects tend to dominate in the training system – often at sacrifice of the physical, psychological and intellectual progress securing aspects [1, 2, 8].

Objective of the study was to analyze progress and promises of the modern gender-specific training systems in taekwondo.

Methods and structure of the study. We run a questionnaire survey of instructing athletes and coaches (n=20) from the St. Petersburg municipal and national teams, including 13 top-class coaches with 15-plus years long practical coaching experiences and 7 national/ municipal team members actively competing in the regional, national and international tournaments. The respondents were requested to check one of a few response options to profile practical applications of different theoretical materials in the popular training system, with every response scored on the relevant scale [1, 2, 8].

Results and discussion. Presently, the Russian women's and men's national teams’ training systems give a special priority to field camp training cycles, with every specific training elements trained by the team on the whole, although every athlete is free to control the training workload and intensity on an individual progress sensitive basis. Of special interest in our questionnaire survey were the athletes’ attitudes to the gender-specific and unspecific trainings in the St. Petersburg sport clubs: see Table 1 hereunder.

Table 1. Questionnaire survey data on attitudes to the gender-specific training system, %

The survey data showed the sample recommending the men/ and women’ training systems being different, particularly in the tactical training aspects, rules of competitions etc. Modern taekwondo is classified into the following classes: "tul" (formal complexes), "sparring", "self-defense", "power breaking of objects" and "special techniques” [7], with every class training being rather lengthy and multisided. It is important that the tactical training differences are associated with differences in the psychological conditioning, physical and physiological progress aspects. However similar the technical training elements may be, their practical application in the competitive technical toolkits may widely differ in numbers and preferences

The gender differences mentioned in the rules of the competition relate mostly to the "special techniques" scoring standards, with a special priority to a few qualities including strength, explosive strength, speed-strength qualities, and with special relevant ranks within the "special techniques" class. Thus none of the 5 strikes in the “special techniques” class is scored on a gender-unspecific basis, with the gender difference making up at least 10 cm.

Many female athletes opt for one or a few competitive classes, with most of them competing in both the individual and team events. The women’s training system in every class are significantly different from the men's ones, with every training system individualized for the technical actions mastering/ excellence cycles and intensities, with a natural sensitivity to the women’s biorhythms as recommended by multiple theoretical and practical training manuals and research findings.

It should be noted that the modern combat sports have been increasingly popular in the women’s sport communities for the last few years, with a special interest in taekwondo for the physical progress, health and self-confidence building reasons. This interest has urged the sport community giving a special attention to different women’s taekwondo training system improvement aspects, with a special focus on the training system individualization/ customization issues to meet the women’s mental, physical and physiological progress needs. The training system shall be designed customizable in the integral training aspects, with a special focus rather on the tactical and psychological training aspects than the purely technical ones.

We believe that the women’s taekwondo training system may be improved on the following provisions: (1) Due theoretical and practical basis for the women’s taekwondo training system design; (2) Special practical training tools for competitive progress; and (3) Detailed design recommendations for the women’s taekwondo training system for every class of the modern competitive taekwondo.

Conclusion. The survey data and analyses showed the need for special gender-specific training systems. The respondents underlined the need for the special gender-sensitive training service elements, with a special priority, among other things, to the natural differences in the tactical progress securing elements in the men’s and women’s taekwondo training system.

References

1. Bakulev S.E., Pavlenko A.V., Chistyakov V.A. Taekwondo as a complex combat. Uchenye zapiski universiteta im. P.F. Lesgafta. 2007. No. 6 (28). pp. 15-20.
2. Bakulev S.E., Tajmazov V.A., Chistyakov V.A., Simakov A.M. Integral training in youth taekwondo. Study guide. St. Petersburg: PU publ., 2010. 122 p..
3. Pavlenko A.V., Piskun O.E., Simakov A.M. et al. Content of taekwondo trainer's pedagogical activity in secondary school. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury. 2016. No. 6.pp. 100-102.
4. Simakov A.M., Pavlov I.D. Monitoring of functional state of taekwondokas in annual training macrocycle (part II). Uchenye zapiski universiteta im. P.F. Lesgafta. 2014. No. 6 (112). pp. 177-182.
5. Simakov A.M., Pavlov I.D. Monitoring of functional state of taekwondokas in annual training macrocycle. Uchenye zapiski universiteta im. P.F. Lesgafta. 2014. No. 5 (111). pp. 165-170.
6. Simakova E.A.Functional training of women participating in Taekwondo all-around competitions. Uchenye zapiski universiteta im. P.F. Lesgafta. 2016. no. 5 (135). pp.  202-208.
7. Simakova E.A., Simakov A.M. Changes in functional capabilities of female body during training in taekwondo. Uchenye zapiski universiteta im. P.F. Lesgafta. 2018. no.  1 (155). pp. 230-233.
8.  Bakayev V., Bolotin A., Sorokina L. (2019). Effectiveness of normobaric hypoxia course use in combination with cervical muscle exercise as a means to improve statokinetic stability in alpine skiers. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 14(4proc), рр. 761-769.

Corresponding author: piskun@imop.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to analyze progress and promises of the modern gender-specific training systems in taekwondo.

Methods and structure of the study. We run a questionnaire survey of instructing athletes and coaches (n=20) from the St. Petersburg municipal and national teams, including 13 top-class coaches with 15-plus years long practical coaching experiences and 7 national/ municipal team members actively competing in the regional, national and international tournaments. The respondents were requested to check one of a few response options to profile practical applications of different theoretical materials in the popular training system, with every response scored on the relevant scale.

 Results and conclusions. Currently, the Russian women’s and men’s national teams are trained together in the training camps. The survey data and analyses showed the need for special gender-specific training systems. The respondents underlined the need for the special gender-sensitive training service elements, with a special priority, among other things, to the natural differences in the tactical progress securing elements in the men’s and women’s taekwondo training system.