William Trial

Date

5-14-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Muay Thai, also known as Thai Boxing, is Thailand's national sport, and it involves athletes using different stand-up striking and clinching techniques. There are a limited number of research studies that have examined Thai Boxing skills and specifically none have examined the kinematics of the dominant and non-dominant legs while in a double collar or double underhook clinching position. The purpose of the study was to investigate the kinematics of the dominant (right) and non-dominant leg (left) between the double collar and double underhook Thai Boxing clinching positions. Participants executed six continuous knee strikes with the dominant leg and non-dominant leg in each of the two clinching positions for twelve knee strikes. A standard two-dimensional video motion analysis was conducted. The results revealed statistical significant difference at the hip joint angle between both clinching positions (p = .013) but not at the knee and ankle joints. There were no statistical significant differences in the joint angular velocity and acceleration for the hip, knee, and ankle joint between both clinching positions. However, there was a statistical significant difference found in the joint angular velocity for the knee joint (p = 0.00) between the dominant and non-dominant leg. Lastly, there was a significant correlation of the joint angle (r = 0.65 and 0.63; double collar and double underhook) and the angular velocity (r = 0.76 and 0.67; double collar and double underhook) for the left and right knee between both clinching positions. In addition, there was a significant correlation of the joint angle between the left and right hip (r = 0.66) for the double collar position but not for the double underhook position. This study demonstrates the importance of hip joint flexibility and the angular velocity of the knee between the dominant and non-dominant leg. Future research studies investigating the impact of the knee at the point of contact in the Thai Boxing clinch positions among group of elite mixed martial arts athletes are warranted.

Department

Movement Arts, Health Promotion and Leisure Studies Department

Thesis Comittee

Tong-Ching Tom Wu (Thesis Director)

Edward A. Braun

Pamela J. Russell

Copyright and Permissions

Original document was submitted as an Honors Program requirement. Copyright is held by the author.

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