Conditions Before and During the Knockout in Taekwondo Athletes Konstantinos Beis*1, Willy Pieter2 and George Abatzides1

1 Department of Physical Education and Sports Science, Aristotles University of Thessaloniki, Greece 2 Department of Physical Education, University of Asia and the Pacific, Pasig City, MM, Philippines and School of Health Sciences, Science University of Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia

Introduction Research on knockout (KO) injuries in Taekwondo athletes is scarce. Schwartz et al. (1986) found that the roundhouse kick develops the greatest acceleration compared to other kicks. At the same time, it accounts for the most head injuries (Beis et al., 2001; Pieter et al., 1995). The helmet does not cover and protect totally the head of the athletes from the kicks (Beis et al., 2001; Byung 1992; Pieter 1991). The purpose of this study was to define the effect of the conditions before and during the KO sustained during sparring competition in taekwondo athletes. Methods The sample consisted of 22 high-performance athletes (men = 16, Junior boys = 6). The basic presupposition was to have been knocked out at least one time in an official game accompanied by cerebral concussion (after medical diagnosis). Athletes belonged to all weight categories. The average age of the athletes on the day they had the brain injury was 24 6 years. Procedure: ) receipt of detailed biography (protocol of brain injuries), b) clinical tests, c) MRI, CT, EEG findings. Frequencies, Cross-tabulation and Chi squared test were used for statistical analysis (SPSS, Version 10 for Windows). The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results Most of the athletes were influenced by the cold (27%), suffocating atmosphere (18%), and by the environmental noise (9%) (p = 0.032). 18% admitted that the KO was caused by underestimating the opponents power and because they were very anxious before the game (p = 0.009). Problems contributing to KO's was equally shared by fatigue, anxiety, psychologically not prepared and lack of warming up (9.1% each, p = 0.033). The KO was caused by the roundhouse kick (46%) and by the spinning hook kick (46%) (p = 0.002). In 63.7% of all KO cases, the athlete was hit in the uncovered area of the helmet (face, p < 0.001). All KO's were accompanied by a cerebral concussion. Thirty-six percent of KO's were accompanied by bone fractures of the unprotected area (p = 0.001). In 54% of cases the protective equipment was found to be unsuitable (p < 0.000). Discussion The results seem to indicate that adequate psychological preparation may help prevent serious injuries, such as cerebral concussions. However, a proper warming up and fatigue are avoidable risk factors and both coaches and athletes should take responsibility for this preventive measure. The roundhouse kick was most implicated in the KO. The area not protected by the helmet, i.e., the face, was especially susceptible to injury. Both national and international
Beis, K., Pieter, W. and Abatzides, G. (2003), Conditions before and during the knockout in taekwondo athletes, VIIth IOC World Congress on Sport Sciences, Athens, Greece, October 7-11.

governing bodies should consider ways to help prevent these injuries. The current study confirms previous research (e.g., Beis et al., 2001) in its conclusion that the helmet currently in use does not protect taekwondo athletes from head injuries. It is vital to take better protective measures to help avoid head injuries in taekwondo. References Beis, K., Tsaklis, P., Pieter, W., G. Abatzides 2001. Taekwondo competition injuries in Greek young and adult athletes. Eur J Sports Traumatol Rel Res 23, 130-136. Pieter, W. 1991. Performance characteristics of elite taekwondo athletes. Kor J of Sports Sc 3. 94-117. Pieter, W., Van Rijssegem, G., Lufting, R., J. Heijmans 1995. Injury situation and injury mechanism at the 1993 European Taekwondo Cup. J of Hum Mov Stud, 28. 1-24. Levin, H.S. 1993. Head trauma. Curr Opin Neurology 6, 841-846. Schwartz, M.L., Hudson, A.R., Fernie, G.R., Hayashi, K., A.A. Coleclough 1986. Biomechanical study of full-contact karate contrasted with boxing, J Neurosurg, 64, 248252

Beis, K., Pieter, W. and Abatzides, G. (2003), Conditions before and during the knockout in taekwondo athletes, VIIth IOC World Congress on Sport Sciences, Athens, Greece, October 7-11.