• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.183-189
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• 2010

The balanced performance of dominant and non-dominant leg is very important to Taekwondo sparring. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether elite Taekwondo athletes would have balanced biomechanical performance and intra-limb coordination in executing different types of Taekwondo kicks. Twelve athletes(more than 10 year practice experience) participated in this study and performed six basic kicks(i.e., the front, roundhouse, side, back, thrashing, and turning-back kick). Results indicated no statistical difference on response time, peak kicking velocity, single limb vertical jump height, and angle-angle plot between dominant leg and non-dominant leg(p>.05). In conclusion, elite Taekwondo athletes had equivalent ability between dominant leg and non-dominant leg in performing Taekwondo kicks. This might be an advantage to elite athletes for Taekwondo sparring because they could use both leg without any restriction.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.17-35
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to explain developmental process of gait via angle-angle diagram to understand how coordinated relationships and control change with age. Twenty four female children, from one to five years of age were the test subjects for this study, and their results were compared to a control group consisting of twenty one adult females. The Vicon 370 CCD camera, VCR, video timer, monitor, and audio visual mixer was utilized to graph the gait cycle for all test subjects. Both coordinated Intra-limb relationships, and range of motion and timing according to quadrant were explained through the angle angle diagram. Movement in the sagittal plane showed both coordinated relationships and control earlier than movement in the coronal or transverse plane. In the sagittal plane, hip and Knee coordinated relationships developed first (from one year of age.) Coordinated relationships in the Knee and ankle and hip and ankle developed next, respectively. Both hip and ankle and knee and ankle development were inhibited by the inability of children to completely perform plantar flexion during the swing and initial double limb support phases. Children appeared to compensate for this by extending at their hip joint more than adults during the third phase, final double limb support. In many cases the angle angle diagram for children had a similar shape as adult's angle angle diagram. This shows that children can coordinate their movements at an early age. However, the magnitudes and timing of children's angle angle diagrams still varied greatly from adults, even at five years of age. This indicates that even at this age, children still do not possess full control of their movements.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.207-214
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• 2016

The aim of this study was to evaluate Influence on intra-limb coordination in individuals wearing knee brace during walking. Seven healthy male adults ($32.3{\pm}2.7$ years old, $175.2{\pm}3.8cm$, $76.2{\pm}8.7kg$) participated. They wore knee brace or didn't wear any knee brace and were asked to walk along a 10 m long walkway. Spatiotemporal parameters, angles of the lower limbs, and intra-limb continuous relative phase (CRP) were measured and calculated. No differences of spatiotemporal parameters were shown (all p > 0.05). There were no changes in the angle and its range of motion (ROM) in the hip for the subjects as wearing knee brace, while ROM ($65.5{\pm}3.7^{\circ}$ vs. $60.5{\pm}3.5^{\circ}$, p < 0.05) of the angle and maximum flexion angles (stance: $31.9{\pm}4.6$ vs. $25.6{\pm}5.5$, swing: $76.7{\pm}3.1$ vs. $68.9{\pm}3.4$, all p < 0.05) in the knee significantly decreased. No changes in ROM of angle in the ankle were shown, whereas maximum dorsiflexion decreased ($22.4{\pm}2.6$ vs. $19.2{\pm}2.1$, p < 0.05) and maximum plantarflexion increased ($9.5{\pm}3.0$ vs. $15.7{\pm}2.2$, p<0.05). There were no changes in most of CRP between joints. CRP between the hip and knee joints decreased ($93.0{\pm}7.8$ vs, $84.7{\pm}4.9$, p < 0.05). Most of CRP standard deviation increased (between the hip and ankle joint during swing: $25.1{\pm}6.7$ vs. $32.4{\pm}1.9$, between the knee and ankle joint during stance: $46.0{\pm}12.9$ vs. $80.1{\pm}31.1$, between the knee and ankle joint during swing: $34.5{\pm}4.1$ vs. $37.6{\pm}3.1$, all p < 0.05). These results indicated that wearing knee brace affected joint angle and intra-limb coordination, but less affected gait features.