A kinematic analysis and comparison of a martial arts standing spin kicks and jumping spin kicks

The study examined the martial arts spin kick when performed with a vertical jump and without a vertical jump. Seven black belt martial artists each participated in one 2-hour testing session that included performing six kicking trials consisting of three standing spin kicks and three jump spin kicks. Each participant's standing spin kick trial and jump spin kick trial which had the greatest heel marker linear velocity at target impact was used for statistical analysis. Standing spin kick and jump spin trials were digitally recorded using 8 MX3+ Vicon motion capture cameras. The height and linear velocity of the kicking leg heel marker, and the joint angular velocity of the kicking leg hip, knee, and ankle markers were measured at target impact and compared using a repeated measures MANOVA (α = .05) in order to determine what differences, if any, exist between the two variations of the kick. The MANOVA statistical analysis reported no significant difference in heel marker height or linear velocity between standing and jumping spin kicks at target impact. There was no significant difference in joint angular velocity for the hip, knee, and ankle markers at target impact between the standing and jumping kicks.