The Effect of Sports Rules Amendments on Exercise Intensity during Taekwondo-Specific Workouts

Abstract

We aimed to compare the change in exercise response to taekwondo-specific circuit workouts before and after competition rule amendments. A total of 240 workouts in 15 elite athletes were analyzed over two years. Physiological and kinematic data were gathered with the wireless Bioharness system along with capillary blood samples for lactate concentration. Progressive exercise tests until exhaustion were periodically performed to obtain reference data. The rule changes resulted in significant increases (mainly medium or large effects) in the physiological (2.9–14.4%) and kinematic (4.8–10.1%) response to taekwondo-specific workouts. The largest increases were for peak breathing rate (12.0%), energy expenditure (6.6%), blood lactate immediately after exercise (10.2%) and at the 30th min of recovery (14.4%), and peak kinematic activity (10.1%). Significant differences between taekwondo-specific workouts and tournament combats persisted after the shift from old to new rules, ranging from 2.4 to 38.5% for physiological and from 2.9 to 15.5% for kinematic variables. The largest workout–combat differences were revealed for post-exercise (15.9%) and recovery (38.5%) blood lactate, peak (−15.8%) and relative (−15.0%) breathing rate, and mechanical (13.5%) and physiological (14.2%) intensity. Our study suggests that the rule amendments significantly modify the exercise response to discipline-specific workouts and that taekwondo-specific training sessions do not fully recreate the tournament demands in terms of physiological and kinematic load.

Effects of 4 Weeks of a Technique-Specific Protocol with High-Intensity Intervals on General and Specific Physical Fitness in Taekwondo Athletes: An Inter-Individual Analysis

“…Olympic taekwondo is described as a modern and constantly evolving combat sport whose performance requires athletes to develop and maintain a high level of physical fitness as part of their preparation [ 1 ]. Therefore, it is important to understand the characteristics of the components involved in physical performance in this sport in order to apply appropriate training stimuli in the preparation of athletes.…”

Reliability and Validity of a New Taekwondo-Specific Change-of-Direction Speed Test With Striking Techniques in Elite Taekwondo Athletes: A Pilot Study

“…The height of the dummy was adjusted at the same height of the participant. The use of electronic scoring equipment (electronic body protector and headgear) during the TST was intended to rationally and objectively count the valid strikes ( Moenig, 2017 ; Sevinç and Çolak, 2019 ; Tayech et al, 2019 , 2020 ; Cho et al, 2020 ; Janowski et al, 2020 ; World Taekwondo, 2020 ). This generation-2 of the PSS (PSS-G2) only detects strikes to valid scoring areas of the body protector and headgear, and eliminates the “questionable” techniques, providing more valid scores ( Moenig, 2017 ; Sevinç and Çolak, 2019 ; Cho et al, 2020 ; Janowski et al, 2020 ; World Taekwondo, 2020 ).…”

“…This sport has undergone many regulatory changes over the preceding decades, and, as a consequence of this dynamism, the inclusion of new electronic scoring systems (electronic body protector and headgear) is now ubiquitous. During taekwondo matches, over an area of 16 m 2 , fighters use quick displacement chained by various types of dodges with change-of-direction (COD), powerful movements for attacking and counterattacking the opponent’s his/her torso and head, including punching, complex unipedal standing and jumping kicks, and defensive actions with hands and feet (cuts, blocks) ( Singh et al, 2017 ; Menescardi et al, 2019 ; da Silva Santos et al, 2020 ; Janowski et al, 2020 ).…”

“…It is generally accepted that taekwondo became, and is, famous for the great variety in striking techniques ( Kwok and Cheung, 2021 ). Although the use of wearable protection devices for the head, body, hands and feet, which reliably measure the power of striking by means of sensors and electronic chips, has changed the paradigm of taekwondo from a game to an objective, qualitative, and scientific sport ( Sevinç, 2017 ; Sevinç and Çolak, 2019 ; Cho et al, 2020 ; Janowski et al, 2020 ; Park et al, 2021 ), Chaabene et al (2018a) did not use this electronic scoring system to reliably count kicks scored during Taekwondo-specific agility test performance. During the Taekwondo-specific agility test, the roundhouse kicks were only projected on kick-targets held by partners, at the torso height of the tested athlete.…”

“…As shown in various sport disciplines, rule changes affect exercise response to competition tasks, and, consequently, the discipline-specific tests ( Janowski et al, 2020 ). Thereby, the choice of an appropriate field-based test for a sport or other physical activity must be centered on the specificity principle and the requirements of the sport or activity to be assessed ( Pauole et al, 2000 ; Chaabene et al, 2018b ).…”