The origins of karate and its evolution as a sport are described. Karate injuries tend to occur in three main areas: the head and neck, the viscera, and the limbs. Effective legislation controlling karate, which could help prevent injuries, is lacking at the moment and should be established. Recommendations for the prevention of injury include the introduction of weight classes, mandatory prov...

The aim of this study was to verify the relationship of strength and power with performance on an international level karate team during official kumite simulations. Fourteen male black belt karate athletes were submitted to anthropometric data collection and then performed the following tests on two different days: vertical jump test, bench press and squat maximum dynamic strength (1RM) tests....

OBJECTIVE To evaluate bone mass by quantitative ultrasound of the phalanges in young karate practitioners compared to a control group. METHODS Sample composed of 162 karate practitioners (52 females) and 326 healthy controls (110 females) aged 6 to 16 years old, in Western Paraná (Southern Brazil). Weight, height, BMI, amplitude-dependent speed of sound (AD-SoS) and bone transmission time (BT...

objective: the aim of this study was to evaluate changes of anger scores in female karate athletes during 18 months, and to compare anger scores in adolescents who continue or stop training karate. method: the sample consisted of 18 female elite karate athletes, practicing modern style of karate. to measure anger and its subscales, participants were asked to complete “adolescent anger rating sc...

"Attentional" adaptations are fundamental effects for sport performance. We tested the hypothesis that tiredness and muscular fatigue poorly affect visuo-spatial attentional processes in elite karate athletes. To this aim, 14 elite karate athletes and 11 non-athletes were involved in an isometric contraction exercise protocol up to muscular fatigue. Blood lactate and attention measurements were...

The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of karate fights on Achilles tendon stiffness in karate competitors. Eleven male karate fighters participated in the present study. A handheld MyotonPRO device (MyotonPRO, Myoton Ltd, Estonia) was applied to measure Achilles tendon stiffness in karate fighters. The Achilles tendon was tested 5 cm above the tuber calcanei. Stiffness measureme...

The aim of the study was to identify the morphological structures that determine achievement of top results in karate. The study included a sample of 85 karateka competing as senior category athletes within the Croatian Karate Society, aged 18-29 years. Sixteen morphological parameters were used; technical efficiency was assessed using 8 variables, i.e. evaluation of particular karate technique...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an increasing number of training hours of specific high-intensity karate training on postural sway in preadolescent karate athletes. Seventy-four karatekas were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: Karate Group (KG=37): age 10.29±1.68 yrs; or Control Group (CG= 37): age 10.06±1.77 yrs. The KG performed two sessions per day for 1 week in tota...

OBJECTIVE To document the injury rate in three British Shotokan karate championships in consecutive years. In these tournaments strict rules governed contact, with only "light" or "touch" contact allowed. Protective padding for the head, hands, or feet was prohibited. METHODS Prospective recording of injuries resulting from 1770 bouts in three national competitions of 1996, 1997, and 1998. De...

In this paper we propose a novel algorithm that enables online actions segmentation and classification. The algorithm enables segmentation from an incoming motion capture (MoCap) data stream, sport (or karate) movement sequences that are later processed by classification algorithm. The segmentation is based on Gesture Description Language classifier that is trained with an unsupervised learning...