A.G. Sergeeva¹
PhD, Professor A.V. Karavan¹
PhD, Associate Professor M.A. Rogozhnikov^1
1St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, St. Petersburg

Keywords: taekwondo, sport training, relay race, obstacle course, theoretical and practical trainings.

Background. Modern game technologies are appreciated today as the unique training format that spurs up the trainees motivations and interest in the trainings [1]. Games bring positive emotions and cultivate the competitive spirit and this is the reason why they mobilize the mental and physical resources and facilitate the practical skills mastering in actual new situations, with the theoretical knowledge and basic techniques effectively tested by competitive practices to diversify the trainings and inspire the training process. We believe that the sport community should give a higher priority to the relay race application models to effectively complement the basic technical trainings [2-7].

Objective of the study was to rate benefits of new relay obstacle racing model to complement technical basics trainings in the beginner taekwondo.

Methods and structure of the study. The relay obstacle racing model was tested in January through April 2019 by an experiment on a sample of the 7-10 year-old taekwondo beginners (n=30) split up into Experimental and Reference Groups (EG, RG) of 15 people each. The Reference Group trainings were standard and the Experimental Group trainings were dominated by the new relay obstacle racing model, with the both groups trained 3 times a week. The pre- and post-experimental tests included the straight/ hook kick tests scored by an expert with a special priority to the execution techniques and pad kicking accuracy as follows.

Test 1 was designed to rate the kick trajectory and quality, with the trainees kicking 10 times (with no time tag) by each leg above a rubber pad placed at 1/3 of the body height above the ground. Kicks contacting the pad were non-scored. And Test 2 rated the pad kicking accuracy without a time tag, with the trainees kicking 10 times a boxing pad. The expert scored the kick accuracy, body balancing skills and movement sequences including the follow-up (post-kick) ones. The performance was scored on a 10-point scale as follows: 0-3 points for 3-plus serious technical errors; 4-7 points for 1-2 serious or 3-4 minor errors; and 8-10 points for 1-3 minor errors.

The errors were classified as follows: (1) serious errors including postural/ footwork disorders (rated by the angles, lengths and widths); bodily imbalances in kicking/ punching sequences; lost balance; wrong kick trajectories, wrong movement pacing and timing; and other footwork/ balancing/ movement control deficiencies; and (2) minor errors including lost eye control, back/ forward inclination of the head; improper handwork in the kicking/ punching sequences etc. The post-experimental test procedures were the same.

In January 2019 the EG trainings were dominated by the team relay races with the taekwondo technical elements, with the trainees split up into a few teams. A teammate rushed to a specific zone on a coach’s command to make a few technical elements in the specified stance, with the execution scored by a judge; then rushed back to touch the shoulder of the other teammate for the relay race. The individual scores were then summarized to find the team standing.

In February 2019 the EG relay trainings applied eight 50-cm barriers placed 1m one after another. A teammate rushed to the first barrier on a coach’s command to make a few technical elements above the barrier in the specified stance; then rushed to the second barrier and so on. A fall of a barrier was penalized by a point deduction. The individual scores, times and deductions were then summarized to find the team standing.

In March 2019, the EG relay trainings used the same obstacle course, with the only difference that the kicks/ punches were executed on a gymnastic bench, with a fallen barrier penalized as mentioned above and a lost balance on the bench penalized by the restart.

Results and discussion. The study data showed benefits of the new relay obstacle racing model as verified by the significant EG versus RG progress for the 3 training months. Given in Table 1 hereunder are the expert scores of the straight/ hook kicks in the pre- versus post-experimental tests.

Table 1. Pre- versus post-experimental straight/ hook kicking skills test rates of the EG and RG, points

Our analysis of the available theoretical and practical literature on the subject found that the technical progress in the beginner taekwondo groups is most efficiently rated by tests of the following elements: basic kicking skills (straight/ hook kicks, sidekicks, downward kicks, and 180° twist with a straight kick); basic handwork skills (straight punch); basic combat stances (squatted/ straight front stance, open/ closed front stance; open side stance); basic hand punching/ defense skills (low hand block; middle outside-in/ inside-out blocks; and top block).

The new relay obstacle racing model with application of the rubber pads, 50cm barriers and gymnastic benches was tested highly beneficial as verified by the significant progress of the EG versus RG in the following elements:

– In the kick tests (kicks above the rubber pads at 1/3 body height) found no progress in the RG (4.1±0.2 and 5.0±0.4 points in the pre- and post-experimental tests, respectively); and significant progress in the EG (3.9±0.2 and 5.6±0.3 points in the pre- and post-experimental tests, respectively);

– In the hook kick tests the RG and EG made progresses of 0.8 and 1.7 points, respectively;

– In the straight/ hook pad kicks, the EG made a meaningful progress of 1 point versus insignificant progress in the RG ( 0.3 an 0.4 points in the straight and hook kicks, respectively.

Conclusion. The study data showed benefits of the new relay obstacle racing model as verified by the Experimental vs. Reference Group progress in the technical basics and interest in the theoretical and practical trainings under time pressure. The relay obstacle races are recommended applying the standard equipment and systems available in most of the school sport gyms like the rubber belts, 50cm barriers and gymnastic benches.

References

1. Dementiev K.N., Safonova O.A., Karavan A.V. Organization of Physical Education training sessions at SPbSUACE. Educational parallels: Proc. V Intern. res.-practical conf.. May 14–20 2018. St. Petersburg: SPbSASU, 2018. 736 p.
2. Dementiev K.N., Volskiy V.V., Rogozhnikov M.A. Aerial 540° reverse hook kick in taekwondo: timing aspect. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2017, no.  11, pp. 75-76.
3. Kim D.G. Beginner training of motor actions in taekwondo. PhD diss.. SPbSAPE publ.. St. Petersburg, 2000. 134 p.
4. Losev Yu.N., Varzhelenko I.I., Rogozhnikov M.A. Determining optimal parameters of a back-circular kick with 900° rotation. Aktualnye problemy fizicheskoy i spetsialnoy podgotovki silovykh struktur. 2018. no. 1. pp. 12-15.

Corresponding author: anutasergeeva88@mail.ru

Abstract

Modern game technologies are appreciated today as the unique training format that spurs up the trainees motivations and interest in the trainings. Games bring positive emotions and cultivate the competitive spirit and this is the reason why they mobilize the mental and physical resources and facilitate the practical skills mastering in actual new situations, with the theoretical knowledge and basic techniques effectively tested by competitive practices to diversify the trainings and inspire the training process.

Objective of the study was to rate benefits of new relay obstacle races to complement technical basics training in the beginner taekwondo. The relay obstacle racing model was tested by an experiment on a sample of the 7-10 year-old taekwondo beginners (n=30) split up into Experimental and Reference Groups, with the Reference Group trainings being standard and the Experimental Group trainings dominated by the new relay obstacle racing model. The pre- and post-experimental tests included the straight and hook kicking tests scored by the expert who rated the execution techniques and pad kicking accuracy. The study data showed benefits of the new relay obstacle racing model as verified by the Experimental vs. Reference Group progress in the technical basics and interest in the theoretical and practical trainings under time pressure. The relay obstacle races are recommended applying the standard equipment and systems available in most of the school sport gyms like the rubber belts, 50cm barriers and gymnastic benches.