Kinematics of judo breakfall for osoto-gari: Considerations for head injury prevention

Abstract

Previous studies suggest that increasing the skill level of judokas will decrease the number of head injuries sustained during judo. However, the kinematics are poorly understood, making it difficult to establish an effective breakfall teaching programme. Therefore, we studied the kinematic parameters of breakfall for osoto-gari to identify the risk of judo-related head injuries by comparing experienced and novice judokas. This information will provide insight into developing a better prevention plan for judo-related head injuries. A total of 10 experienced and 12 novice judokas volunteered to participate in this study. The kinematic data of the breakfall motion for osoto-gari were collected using a three-dimensional motion analysis technique (200 Hz). We observed a significantly higher peak neck extension momentum in the novice group than in the experienced group. This suggests that neck extension momentum during breakfall is associated with the risk of head injuries during judo. In addition, the novice judokas demonstrated a significantly greater flexed pattern in the trunk and hip movement than the experienced judokas (P < 0.05). The results suggest that the trunk and lower extremity motion are important kinematic parameters that determine the skill level in performing the breakfall for osoto-gari.

Risk assessment in different Judo techniques for children and adolescent athletes

“…Regarding the comparison between NE-A and E-A, the lack of difference in a p is in line with results of Koshida et al 44 that report no differences in linear acceleration during backward falls between experienced and novice judoka. The absence of differences in u f between experienced and novice judoka while being thrown with o-soto-gari is in line with findings of Koshida et al 11 They found also lower neck extension moment in experienced compared to novice judoka and suggest that neck extension moment reflects judoka skill level; thereby, this parameter should be considered in further analysis when experience level is investigated. 11 Greater u e was found for NE-A compared to E-A in ouchi-gari, indicating that novice should be accurately being taught important components such as controlling the neck in order to prevent head risks.…”

“…The absence of differences in u f between experienced and novice judoka while being thrown with o-soto-gari is in line with findings of Koshida et al 11 They found also lower neck extension moment in experienced compared to novice judoka and suggest that neck extension moment reflects judoka skill level; thereby, this parameter should be considered in further analysis when experience level is investigated. 11 Greater u e was found for NE-A compared to E-A in ouchi-gari, indicating that novice should be accurately being taught important components such as controlling the neck in order to prevent head risks. 44 Finally, greater _ v p , longer t i , and greater GSI for NE-A compared to E-A in o-soto-gari pointed out that being thrown with o-soto-gari may be more challenging that being thrown with other techniques, as suggested by Koshida et al 12 This aspect should be considered when novice judoka are trained.…”

“…Neck angle has been previously investigated to assess Judo falls. 11,12 Only the flexion/extension movements of neck were considered because values of neck rotations and abduction/adduction movements during the projections were negligible and because the flexions and extensions are the most common impact direction that causes severe head traumas. 8 The neck angle was considered positive during neck extension and negative in neck flexion.…”

“…8,10 Head injuries have catastrophic consequences; therefore, backward fall kinematics have been recently investigated both in expert and novice judoka. 11,12 Linear and angular head accelerations 13,14 and neck angle 11,12 were analysed to assess head and neck injury mechanism. In addition, the Head Injury Criterion has been employed with anthropometric dummies to predict the risk of severe head injuries subsequent to Judo throws with high reliability.…”

Development of head protector for judo practice considering neck extension suppression

“…One Takeshi KAMITANI* , ***, Natsuko ONIDANI*, Masaki OMIYA** and Atsuhiro KONOSU**** factor often cited for such injuries is the use of the unskilled falling technique (ukemi) (Nagahiro et al, 2011;Kamitani et al, 2013). In fact, neck extensions and large angular head rotation problems have been noted in experiments designed to analyze the body movements of beginners executing the ukemi technique (Kamitani et al, 2014, Koshida et al, 2017.…”