The martial arts Muay Thai, Karate and Taekwondo show different characteristics as regards body stance, kicks, hand strikes, defences and throws. Nevertheless, despite their different technical characteristics the basic principles of kinesiology remain common to these types of martial art.
One kicking technique that is common to all three of the above types is the roundhouse kick (dollyo chagi or mawashi geri). This compound kick is the most common in competition and so represents a very good technique to analyse in order to compare different types of martial art. The roundhouse kick is highly adaptable and allows athletes to make small changes to the technique as regards height (thigh, trunk or head) and as regards the distance from the opponent.
A recent study set out to determine whether there are fundamental differences in the technique of the roundhouse kick between the martial arts of Muay Thai, Karate and Taekwondo. The kinematic factors of an effective roundhouse kick were also analysed. The three-dimensional kinematics of the lower limb were recorded using an infrared camera during roundhouse kicks by different athletes. The impact forces of the kick were also recorded.
The results showed that the linear velocity of the foot at impact was moderately correlated with the relative impact power. The specific analysis showed that the Muay Thai group had a shorter execution time than Taekwondo. The analysis of the kinematics of the lower limb showed that in both Karate and Taekwondo the athletes had a greater knee extension velocity than the Muay Thai group. Conversely, the Muay Thai group had faster movement of the body's centre of mass than the Karate and Taekwondo groups.
The researchers concluded that several fundamental movement patterns were common to the technique of the roundhouse kick in Muay Thai, Karate and Taekwondo. An effective execution of the roundhouse kick is characterised by rapid axial rotation of the pelvis, hip abduction, hip flexion and knee extension, combined with rapid movement of the body's centre of gravity towards the target.
Source: “PLoS”, August 2017