Dr. Hab., Professor G.V. Rudenko¹
D.A. Simakov¹
E.N. Korostelev^1
1Saint Petersburg Mining University, Saint Petersburg

Keywords: taekwondo, highly coordinated kicks, sparring fights.

Background. Taekwondo is ranked among the most dynamically progressing sports. The International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) takes persistent efforts to make the sport more entertaining and safer for athletes. In 2012, the Taekwondo Federation singled out a few highly-coordinated and difficult kicks for ‘scoring’ category. Every competitor is expected to execute at least one 180°-plus turn kick per bout, otherwise two points will be deducted. It should be mentioned that a 1-2-point deduction in the top-ranking event may be enough for win or loss. A timely scoring kick may be decisive for success and, therefore, the sports community gives a special priority in trainings to objective tests to rate the competitive highly coordinated kicks execution on a sound quantitative and qualitative basis [2-4].

Objective of the study was to rate the highly coordinated kicks execution trends based on the sport elite’s competitive performance analysis.

Methods and structure of the study. The experimental study was run at "Dolphin" Secondary School in St. Petersburg. We analyzed video replays of 67 sparring bouts of the leading national team members (World/ European championship competitors) for the period of 2018-2020. We mined and analyzed the highly coordinated kicks execution and success data for analysis.

Results and discussion. The study found the sport elite making 2-4 highly coordinated kicks per round, with only 1-2 landed on target and the others missed due to effective defenses or own technical faults including imbalance, spinning out the court, contacting prohibited bodily parts, etc.

The scoring highly coordinated kicks in practical competitions were estimated to vary within 21.8%-47.9% (under 35% on average) of the total attempts. Generally a highly coordinated kicks success rate depends on the power, speed, accuracy, skill class and physical fitness of the athlete, plus the opponent’s defense. In competitive bouts the athletes make a variety of highly coordinated kicks to score: see Table 1.

Table 1. Scoring highly coordinated kicks attempts per round, %

The competitive sparring performance analyses found the modern taekwondo elite scoring mostly by the Back Kick “Dwit Chagi” (59.2%) followed by the Reverse Side Kick “Bandae Yeop Chagi” (31.5%) and only occasionally by the Roundhouse Kick “Dollyeo Chagi” ( 9.33% of the total). It should be noted that body kicks are made twice more often for scoring than the head kicks: 71.5% to 28.5% of the total, respectively. This may be due to the fact that the head kicks more often go imbalanced and, hence, non-scored under the valid rules of competitions.

The 180° Back Kick “Dwit Chagi” is different from the other two kicks by the limited spinning angle and, hence, higher speed and lower chance for a counter strike from the opponent. This may be the reason for its high success rate averaging 53.1% - versus the Reverse Side Kick “Bandae Yeop Chagi” and Roundhouse Kick “Dollyeo Chagi” rated successful in 27.6% and 13.8% of attempts, respectively: see Table 2.

Table 2. Highly coordinated kicks scored and missed per round, %

Our analysis of the highly coordinated kicks statistics showed that many elite competitors strive to demonstrate the high-difficulty kicks (with larger spinning angles) in the attempts to score, albeit the risks of non-scores in these attempts and, consequently, losses in bouts are notably higher [1].

Conclusion. The study found that most successful (more often rated as scoring kicks) in the modern elite taekwondo sparring bouts are the 180° Back Kick “Dwit Chagi” attempts than the 360° Reverse Side Kick “Bandae Yeop Chagi” and 540° Roundhouse Kick “Dollyeo Chagi” ones; with the kicks executed more often to the body than to the head. Success of the scoring kicks in sparring bouts depends on the kick speed, accuracy and timing. Therefore, we would recommend for the coaches and competitors making a special emphasis in trainings on the 180° Back Kick excellence techniques since these kicks are more likely to score in competitions.

References

1. 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.
2. Savelyev D.S., Sidorenko S.A. Effects of competitive martial arts on first-year students' psychophysiology. Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury. 2017. no. 5. pp. 43-45.
3. Simakov A.M., Sonbol A.A.-G.A. Analysis of performances of Russian athletes at European Taekwondo Championship (ITF) in Liverpool, UK. Uchenye zapiski universiteta im. P.F. Lesgafta. 2017. No. 8 (150). pp. 103-110.
4. Simakov A.M. Analysis of results of performances of Russian taekwondokas at European Championship in Tallinn, Estonia. Uchenye zapiski universiteta im. P.F. Lesgafta. 2018. No. 11 (165). pp. 231-234.

Corresponding author: gena391@mail.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to rate the highly coordinated kicks (HCK) execution trends based on the sport elite’s competitive performance analysis.

Methods and structure of the study. The experimental study was run at "Dolphin" Secondary School in St. Petersburg. We analyzed video replays of 67 sparring bouts of the leading national team members (World/ European championship competitors) for the period of 2018-2020. We mined and analyzed the highly coordinated kicks execution and success data for analysis.

Results and discussion. The study found that most successful (more often rated as scoring kicks) in the modern elite taekwondo sparring bouts are the 180° Back Kick “Dwit Chagi” attempts than the 360° Reverse Side Kick “Bandae Yeop Chagi” and 540° Roundhouse Kick “Dollyeo Chagi” ones; with the kicks executed more often to the body than to the head. Success of the scoring kicks in sparring bouts depends on the kick speed, accuracy and timing. Therefore, we would recommend for the coaches and competitors making a special emphasis in trainings on the 180° Back Kick excellence techniques since these kicks are more likely to score in competitions.