The effect of military boots on front kick dynamics

Abstract

Front kicks are often used in combat activities that involve the use of kicks and punches, including close combat military training. To mimic real-life combative environments where soldiers execute forceful front kicks while wearing military boots, it is logical to wear these boots during close combat training. However, the effect of military footwear on front kick forces remain unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the effects of military boots on front kick dynamics. Six male soldiers (23.3 ± 1.7 yr, 74.3 ± 6.2 kg, 175.5 ± 4.5 cm) performed eight individual front kicks with no military boots, in bare feet (NB) and with military boots (MB). Peak force (N), impulse (N.s) and time to reach peak force (ms), were measured during each kick. Data were analyzed using paired sample t-tests or nonparametric Wilcoxon pair test and Cohen's d. Results. Neither peak force (3180 ± 647 N) nor impulse (367 ± 40 N.s) of MB were different than NB (3157 ± 291 N and 360 ± 48 N.s, respectively) (p = 0.85; d = 0.04 and p = 0.36; d = 0.12, respectively). Peak force was reached in a significantly shorter time during MB (39 ± 16 ms) compared to NB (56 ± 8 ms; d = −0.88). Conclusion. Peak force was reached in a shorter time using MB compared to barefoot (NB) front kicks. The use of military boots changes the time course of peak force during the front kick.

Isokinetic Strength of Rotators, Flexors and Hip Extensors is Strongly Related to Front Kick Dynamics in Military Professionals

“…These individualized distances were then recorded and used to ensure the same starting position for each kick. All front kicks began with a front posture and were executed so that the foot made contact at a mid-range height, typically the abdomen or solar plexus (Vágner et al, 2018). Participants executed two sets of six front kicks, with instructions to kick as fast and as hard as possible to the target (force plate).…”

“…In the preanalytical phase, the lower limit of the magnitude of the acting force was set at 100 N to reduce noise on the force plate and mark the beginning and end of the interaction between a participant’s foot and the force plate. The plate was adjustable along the vertical axis to ensure that the height of the plate was individualized to each participant’s “mid-range” height (Dworak et al, 2008; Kuragano and Yokokura, 2012; Vágner et al, 2018) for the purposes of the experiment (Figure 1).…”

“…By summing them, the overall net impulse of a front kick was determined (Eq. 4) (Vágner et al, 2018).…”

“…The self-defense of civilians and military personnel includes tactical and technical skills, where the front kick is the most common strike used in close combat (Vágner et al, 2018). Particularly, military personnel use this movement pattern because they often carry equipment in their hands and are wearing backpacks.…”

“…An efficient front kick is related to the technique, movement control, speed, velocity, force, energy and power (Maszczyk et al, 2018; Ramakrishnan et al, 2018; Serina and Lieu, 1991; Vágner et al, 2018), where those components are determined by the quantity of transferred momentum or energy (Dworak et al, 2008). Thus, many researchers have investigated the kinetics and kinematics of front kicks (Mori et al, 2002; Pozo et al, 2011; Wasik et al, 2015).…”