Vol. 11 No. 2 (2023)

Kickboxing is a relatively young sport with growing popularity across the World. There is a rapidly growing need for clear and valid detailed specific information about the effects of kickboxing as an activity. Therefore, this research aimed to collect all legitimate evidence about the acute and chronic physiological response, as well as monitoring and utilization of specific biomarkers in kickboxing. For this systematic review, the authors conducted research in the three relevant scientific bases and one search engine for this specific topic, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. After title and abstract screening, and review of full-text manuscripts regarding inclusion criteria, 16 studies were included in the review. Studies were sorted according to the type of research methods used. Results revealed a positive chronic impact of kickboxing on the overall athletes' health, speaking of hormonal, blood, and immune parameters. Although, the acute reaction of athletes' organisms includes the increase in levels of cortisol, growth hormone, testosterone, glucose, indicators of lipid peroxidation activity, H+, BEecf, lactic acid, and pyruvic acid, while the levels of myostatin and irisin tend to decrease. Such results confirm kickboxing as a high-demand anaerobic glycolytic activity. Secondly, the currently available analyses of the greatest value for monitoring in competitive kickboxing are hormonal, especially for testosterone & cortisol, immunoassays & saliva assays for immunity tracking, and genetic analyses as auxiliary tools. Further investigations should include females, kickboxing discipline differentiation, weight and age stratification, and differentiation.

Pre-competition training emphasizes the development of total physical fitness components and maintains aerobic and anaerobic capacity with improved techno-tactical skills. The primary objective of this investigation was to establish the efficacy of a pre-competition training program. There were a total of 24 (12 rugby and 12 Soccer) elite players randomly selected from the Ba and Lautoka regions (Fiji). The players had a mean age of 21.45±2.34 years, body mass of 84.62±6.62 kg, stature 183.35±3.24, and body mass index of 22.62±4.31 kg/m2. This study was conducted nine weeks before the main competition. The study involved a pre-and post-test design, wherein all participants underwent two rounds of testing. The pretest was conducted before the commencement of an eight-week pre-competition training program, while the post-test was administered after the program was completed. This pre-competition training program was scheduled five times per week for 45 minutes per day. The participant's performance was measured using the Beep test, Wingate anaerobic test, star excursion balance test, and visual motor coordination test. After eight weeks of the pre-competition training program, significant improvement has occurred for maximal aerobic capacity (t=-14.79, p=<0.001), anaerobic power (t=-12.22, p=<0.001), dynamic balance (t=-7.41, p=<0.001), and visual motor coordination (t=8.38, p=<0.001) in all the players. The study confirmed that the eight weeks of pre-competition training programs containing aerobic and anaerobic workouts enhanced the performance of the Beep test, Wingate anaerobic test, star excursion, and visual motor coordination test.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a program with Greek Traditional Dance (GTD) as an alternative form of physical activity (PA) in the context of the school physical education (PE) course, on aerobic capacity, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility, of high school students. In the research participated voluntarily 36 high school students, aged 15-17 years, who were randomly divided into a GTD group (n=18) and a control group (n=18). Cooper's 12-minute walk test was used to assess aerobic capacity. For the evaluation of the other variables of physical fitness (PF), field tests from Eurofit Fitness Tests were used. All students performed the tests before and after the end of GTD program and regular PE school program. The statistical package SPSS/PC version 23.0 for windows was used for statistical analysis. The data analysis showed that after the GTD program aerobic capacity increased significantly from 1253.06±194.09 to 1426.00±201.48 meters (t=-6.156; p<0.001), muscular strength from 163.06±38.29 to 170.11±36.34 cm (t=-2.928; p<0.01), muscular endurance from 19.06±5.94 to 22.39±6.34 repetitions (t=-3.424; p<0.001), while flexibility remained unaltered. After the regular PE course program, the measured PF variables remained stable, except for muscular endurance which increased significantly from 17.72±4.01 to 18.67±3.90 repetitions (t=-2.799; p<0.01). The results of the present study demonstrate very positive effects of the GTD program, as an alternative form of PA during PE course at school, on PF parameters. As for the regular PE school program, although it may have some positive effects, it does not inspire student participation. Therefore, GTDs are an alternative form of PA that can inspire the participation of high school students, but also can form the basis of a lifelong exercise, with many positive effects on physical well-being parameters for students nowadays and adult citizens in the future.

Physical condition is an important factor affecting dribbling skills in field hockeys. In this regard, agility, hand-eye coordination, and waist flexibility have not been investigated simultaneously in field hockey players. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of agility, hand-eye coordination, and waist flexibility on dribbling skills in senior high school female field hockey players. Thirty female senior high school students in Indonesia were recruited as the research sample. The participants were female students involved in coaching field hockey extracurricular activities at school, average age 17.90 ± 0.80 yrs, height 159.17 ± 1.82 cm, body weight 53.60 ± 3.51 kg, and BMI 21.16 ± 2.89. Data were collected using the agility t-test, throw catch test tennis ball, sit and reach test, and Schmithals-French hockey test. They were then analyzed using correlation and regression. The results showed that agility, hand-eye coordination, and waist flexibility had a significant effect on dribbling skills (p < 0.05). Partially, the effects of agility, hand-eye coordination is 37.40%, and waist flexibility were 76.30 %, 37.40 %, 46.20%, and 84.00%, respectively. Of these three components, agility is the most influential component of dribbling skills, without neglecting hand-eye coordination or waist flexibility. In conclusion, the level of agility, hand-eye coordination, and waist flexibility have a significant impact on dribbling skills in senior high school female field hockey players. Coaches should prepare and develop appropriate training programs for these three components to improve hockey dribbling skills. Future studies are needed to incorporate the physical component and other factors related to field hockey dribbling skills, as well as diversity, and a wider sample size.

As far as we know, genetics in sports is a rapidly growing science field, due to new technologies and the cost decrease of such investigations. Onwards, genetic predispositions, besides the relations between the biological and chronological age play one of the main roles in talent identification processes. Utilization of such analyses in practice is unfortunately insignificant, perhaps because of the complexity of the genome and genotype-phenotype interrelations. Therefore, the aim of this investigation is to collect all relevant data about gene research in taekwondo. The authors tracked appropriate articles through three databases: Web of Science, PubMed and Google Scholar. A number of n=11 appropriate articles were found. Results suggest there is evidence that several genes may highly impact taekwondo performance, including ACE I/D, ACTN3, IGF-1, while the GABPb1, HSP90AA1 & HSP90AB1 and mtDNA haplogroups M, N9 and J have the moderate overall impact. Still, there are challenges in genetic testing of young athletes, of methodological and ethical nature, which should be avoided with a professional staff and correct approach towards such testings. Significant scores of listed genes shed a light towards the clarification of possible genetic impact on taekwondo success. Accordingly, the authors have established precise guidelines for future examination of genetics in taekwondo. This work presents the current knowledge about genetic examinations regarding taekwondo.