Gaze and performance of an elite karate exponent: a case study

The choice of attacks by Karate exponents is not well understood but is of importance to coaching practices. This case study explores gaze tracking sequences prior to attacking and seeks possible associative actions performed by the karateka. One Malaysian Karate exponent with over 8 years experience in the National team volunteered to participate in a simulation match of 2 minutes while wearing the Mobile Eye glasses (ASL, USA). Gaze was recorded at 25 Hz and was synchronised with an additional camera (25 Hz) recording the performance from just outside the mat. Gaze fixations were manually coded along 6 different areas (head, above the head, chest, abdominal, arm and leg) of the opponent. Also performance tactics (attack or counter) and actions (lunges, kick, punch and blocks) by the participant were manually notated. Gaze fixation sequences were selected from the start of an action back to when fixation had stabilized after the last action. The sequences were then clustered using the longest common sequence method in the TraMineR package of R-project statistical software. The clusters, similar in fixations sequence and length, were then associated with the tactics and actions performed. In total 23 fixation sequences and a same number of actions were identified. The most frequent and longest fixations were concentrated around the body and head of the opponent. The dendrogram showed three major types of clusters. Type 1 was mostly associated with counter attacks (79%) that included punches (57%). The second and third clusters contained the same number of attacks as counters and were mostly associated with lunges (50%) and kicks (38%). Furthermore looking at the lengths of the sequences within each cluster, type 2 and 3 had longer lengths than type 1. Therefore, these two clusters could essentially be considered as one despite differences in eye fixation sequence. The counter chudan (punch to the body) technique was used the most (7 times) and is associated with cluster type 1. Attacking kicks (5 times) and backward lunges (5 times) on the other hand are associated with the combination of type 2 and 3. However, it is rather the length of the fixation sequence in between the attacks than the area of fixations themselves that was found to be associated with the actions by this karateka. Short fixation sequences evoke a fast punching response. This is likely due to pressured situations where the distance to the opponent was reduced quickly by an attacking opponent. While longer fixation sequences are followed by (evading) lunges and kicks to disrupt the opponent and keep distance from the opponent without a direct attempt to score

Successful tactics in taekwondo during Sukan Malaysia 2012

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to analyse the tactics performed by winner and non-winner during Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA) 2012. At present, scientific information and notational analysis on tactical aspects by Malaysia’s taekwondo youth is non-existent. Methods: Sixty two male taekwondo athletes were included in this study. Video recording was taken of 55 matches from quarter final to final involving four weight categories (80kg). Notational analysis for all matches was done using SportsCode Pro 8.5.2. The variables coded were tactics (attack and defence), techniques, target area and point result. The total number of attempts and successful attempts were counted per category for winner and non-winner. Chi-square statistical method was used to compare the total number of successful attempts between winner and non-winner for each tactic. Results: The Chi-square result shows no significant difference between winners and non-winners for tactics used across all weight categories and matches for total successful attempts (x2=4.00, df=3, p<0.05), for successful attacks (x2=5.50, df=3, p<0.05) and for successful defence (x2=1.97, df=3, p<0.05). Winners have 343 total (attack and defence) successful attempts, out of that 192 for attacking and 151 for defending. Non-winner received 172 total (attack and defence) successful attempts with 116 for attacking and 56 for defending. Winners however, have higher percentage of successfulness in attack and defence compared to non-winners. From 2187 total attempts, winners’ successfulness is 9% for attack and 7% for defence. Non-winners have 2352 total attempts, achieving 5% successfulness for attack and 2% for defence. Discussion & Conclusion: The result shows no differences in tactics for both winner and non-winner. Even though non-winners attempt more than winners (total: 2352 vs 2187, attacking attempt: 1749 vs 1391 and defensive attempt: 603 vs 796), winners have higher successfulness in attacking and defensive tactics. Possibly, winners have a qualitative difference that could explain the higher percentage of successfulness in attacking and defensive tactics compared to non-winners. Further investigation should be done in the sequence and quality of attempts to understand more about successfulness of attempts in Malaysian taekwondo youth