Preventing Injuries in Tae-kwon-do
Introduction
In 2000 and 2004 Taekwondo (TKD) became recognized as an official sport at the Sydney and Greece Olympics. Taekwondo (TKD) is a full contact free-sparring sport which awards point for head contact. Also, as a full-contact and fighting sport, much concern regarding the etiology of head and neck injures seems warranted and understandable to those dealing with sport safety and injury management (Pieter & Zemper,1999).
Modern Taekwondo (TKD) demands both strong physical conditioning and technical skill. The improvement of aerobic and anaerobic capacity, speed, muscle strength, recovery and neuromuscular coordination are the main targets of sport science training. TKD athletes must adapt to the training requirements at the highest level of physiology and technical skills while accurately striking an opponent to score points. Kob & Watkinson (2002) showed that competitive TKD or Olympic TKD is a free-sparring full contact sport in which high scores or knock-outs (KOs) determine the winner of a match. Points are scored when a kick or a punch made to a legal scoring area (i.e., torso and face) is powerful enough to generate a so-called “trembling shock”. Thus, it is imperative for coaches and athletes to follow thru with there striking technique while at the same time prevent injures throughout training and in competition.
Preventing injures and training
Kazemi, Shearer & Choung (2005) discussed that there has been an increased interest in injury rates in Taekwondo (TKD), especially in relationship to head and neck injures. Most points are scored by kicking techniques (approximately 80 to 90%) rather than punching techniques in competitive TKD (Kob & Watkinson,2002). For these kicks to be scored, they must produce sufficient force to result in an observable movement of the target zone. As a result, kicking techniques pose the greatest potential for injuries to occur to the competing athletes.
Past studies have reported several types of injuries to the head and face: contusion, laceration, facial fracture, dislocation and concussion. Among these injuries, there is a growing concern with respect to concussions due to its potentially detrimental effects. However, the back and side kicks can generate large chest compressions and thus may have more potential for skeletal injury when contact is made with the body of the opponent. In particular, blows to the head region occur commonly in Tae-kwon-do competitions since the face is a major scoring region (Pieter & Zemper,1994; Pieter & Zemper,1998;Pieter & Zemper,1999; Siana, Borum & Kryger ,1986). Thus, it’s necessary for prudent rule changes in competition to be considered and for athletes to train and understand how to prevent possible head injuries due to a direct blow to the head.
Conclusion
Investigation of TKD injures has shown that more and more injuries are occurring in training and competition. Therefore, updated safety education, especially with respect to concussion in competitive Tae-kwon-do, should be required for athletes, coaches, and referees (Kob & Watkinson,2002). Also, to prevent or reduce serious injury, rule changes in competitive Tae-kwon-do could be considered. Modification of the tae-kwon-do rules and preventative injury training will be good news for coaches and athletes in tae-kwon-do competition.
References
Mohsen Kazemi, Heather Shearer,& Y.S. Choung(2005). Pre-competition habits and injures in Tae-kwon-do athletes. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 6-26.
Pieter, W., & Lufting, R. (1994). Injuries at the 1991 Tae-kwon-do World Championships. Journal Sports Trauma Real Research ,16,49-57.
Pieter, W., Zemper ,E.D. (1999). Head and neck injuries in young Tae-kwon-do athletes. J Sports Med Phys Fitness,39,147-53.
Pieter, W., & Zemper ,E.D.(1998) Incidence of reported cerebral concussion in adult Taekwondo athletes. J Roy Soc Health ,118,272-279.
Siana, J.E., & Borum, P., & Kryger, H.(1986). Injuries in Tae-kwon-do. British Journal of Sports Medicine,20,165-6.
Kob, J.O., & Watkinson, E.J.(2002). Video analysis of blows to the head and face at the 1999 World Tae-kwon-do Championships. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness.42(3),348-354.