Maintaining postural balance in martial arts athletes depending on coordination abilities

Abstract

In martial arts, all movements from the standing position, as well as circular strikes require maintaining postural balance. A high level of postural control is a necessary condition for improving athletic performance. Motorcoordination abilities play a significant role in maintaining postural balance. The aim of the paper was to establish the conditions for maintaining postural balance in different situations depending on coordination abilities in martial arts athletes. The sample included male and female athletes involved in judo, combat sambo, Greco-Roman wrestling, kickboxing, sports karate, taekwondo with athletic experience of 4 to 15 years (n=221). The results of the experiment were processed with the Student's t-test for independent samples, which determines the level of significance between the variables of two groups of athletes with different coordination abilities. The significance of differences between two groups of martial arts athletes reveals that athletes have differences in the following indicators: general and special coordination abilities, dynamic orientation in space, consistency of movements, accuracy of dynamic and spatial characteristics, response quickness, timeliness of movements, and improvisation. Therefore, maintaining postural balance requires developing the above-mentioned coordination abilities. It can be assumed that symmetrical leg performance is also facilitated by a high level of coordination abilities, which is one of the conditions for maintaining postural balance. The level of athletic performance is significantly higher in the group of athletes with a high level of postural balance. The revealed differences indicate that maintaining postural balance in martial arts athletes depends on coordination abilities, which affect both athletic performance and symmetrical leg performance.