title: The role of effective mass and hand speed in the performance of kung fu athletes compared with nonpractitioners.
abstract: The main goal of this article is to quantify the contribution of effective mass (me) and handspeed (shi) on the palm strike performance of kung fu athletes (kung fu group) compared with nonpractitioners (control group). All subjects were asked to strike a basketball. Hand and ball speed (sbf) were determined by high-speed video analysis. The value for me was determined by an equation that does not depend upon postimpact measurement of the hand speed. The results show that kung fu athletes had greater shi (6.67 [SD 1.42] m/s), p = 0.042), higher me (2.62 [SD 0.33] kg, p = 0.004), and greater sbf (9.00 [SD 1.89] m/s), p = 0.004) than the nonpractitioners (5.04 [SD 0.57] m/s, 1.33 [SD 0.19] kg, and 5.72 [SD 0.44] m/s, respectively). Comparing the average values obtained for me and hand and forearm mass (m), it was found that for the control group me is statistically equal to m (p = 0.917), whereas for the kung fu group me is significant greater than m (p = 0.003). It is suggested that for impacts against heavier objects, the effective mass would be the main factor to distinguish a martial arts-trained from an untrained subject.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento, Universidade do Vale do Paraiba, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil.
authors.forename: Osmar Pinto
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Neto
authors.forename: Marcio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Magini
authors.forename: Marcelo M F
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Saba
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016139:Martial Arts / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis