AN ANALYSIS OF WORK AND POWER PRODUCED BY DIFFERENT KARATE STYLES IN THE KARATE REVERSE PUNCH IN FRONT STANCE

Abstract

Introduction The purpose ofthis study was to obtain baseline kinematic data on the work and power produced by different karate styles in the karate reverse punch in front stance. It is the second part of a two part study on the kinematics of the reverse punch in front stance. The first part, which dealt with an analysis of movement patterns is presented elsewhere in these proceedings. (Stull and Barham, 1988) Four black belt performers were selected as subjects for these two studies. One subject was selected to represent each ofthe four karate styles studied, which were Shotokan, Tae Kwon Do, Kung-fu, and Kempo. Each of these styles placed emphasis on the reverse punch in front stance, and each subject was highly skilled in the execution of this technique. The subjects were allowed to use their dominant punching hand and were filmed at 100 frames per second with the camera located perpendicular to the sagittal plane of the movement. It was hypothesized that the work and power involved in the execution of the karate reverse punch in front stance would be approximately the same for all styles.