A cinematographical analysis of selected karate arm and leg techniques

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the force of five advanced karate students in each of three arm and leg techniques with respect to certain variables. The karate techniques included the side kick, the back kick, the front thrust kick, the straight punch, the reverse punch, and the vertical punch. The variables examined were height, weight, leg length, leg strength, arm length, arm strength, velocity, linear displacement, and the degree of movement of the trunk, shoulder, humerus, elbow, hip, femur and knee. Procedure: The subjects for this study were five students between the ages of 20 and 28, enrolled at Texas A&M University. Subjects were members of the Texas A&M University Karate Club and had achieved the rank of first degree black belt. Force measurements for the karate techniques were determined by a strain gauge apparatus connected to an oscilloscope with a camera attachment. Subjects were filmed with two 16 millimeter Locam high-speed movie cameras. The film speed was 200 frames per second, which resulted in a shutter speed of 1/600 of a second. In the film analysis, techniques were analyzed on a Vanguard Motion Analyzer to obtain measurements for selected variables. The variables were then analyzed to determine the relationship between the degree of movement of a variable and the maximum force exerted by each technique. Results were grouped into three categories indicating that a definite relationship, minimal relationship, or no relationship existed between variables. ..