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Anthropometric and Somatotype Differentation between elite Kyorugi and Poomsae competitors

Taekwondo, according to World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) has two official competitive disciplines, poomsae and kyorugi (technique and sport combat). Still, there is an insufficient number of studies which considered differences, or similarities between poomsae and kyorugi athletes. Aim of this investigation is to determine the possible difference between samples of taekwondo competitors in terms of somatotype and anthropometric measures. Sample of this research is composed of n=39 taekwondo competitors of cadet, junior and senior age, divided into two subsamples, kyorugi (n=27) and poomsae (n=12). Ten competitors are the current national champions, while one participant is the European champion. After statistical analysis was conducted between subsamples, somatotype values were turned out to be significantly different. Somatotype of observed kyorugi competitors is composed of endo- 2.55 ± 1.17, meso- 3.66 ± 0.81 and ecto-4.09 ± 1.22, while mean values of poomsae sample are endo- 4.21 ± 0.70, meso- 4.25 ± 0.61 and ecto- 2.69 ± 0.74. According to success at national championship, female kyorugi national champions tend to be balanced ectomorfs, males to be ectomesomorphs, while poomsae champions tend to be endomesomorphs with tendency toward centre. Authors suggest that such results were expected due to their different training programs and competition requirements. Future research should include especially male competitors, greater samples and should be conducted on the international level competitors.

heath, carter, taekwondo, wtf, morphology

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