Associations between Body Segment Mass and Punch, Front Kick, or Countermovement Jump Performance in Military Cadets

Abstract

Despite the recognized influence of body mass on combat techniques, the relationship between body segment mass (BSM) and combat moves remains unexplored. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the striking arm mass (SAM), kicking leg mass (KLM), and body mass (BM) and the dynamic forces of direct punch (DP), palm strike (PS), elbow strike (ES), front kick (FK), and countermovement jump (CMJ) performance. Sixteen male military cadets (22.3 ± 1.8 years, 181.4 ± 7.0 cm, 82.1 ± 8.5 kg) performed combat techniques, with their performance measured by using a force plate and their body segment mass assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Spearman’s correlation analysis, the Wilcoxon test, and Cohen’s d were applied. The results indicated the relationship between the KLM or BM and the FK impulse (r = 0.64, p = 0.01; r = 0.52, p = 0.04, respectively) and CMJ impact force (r = 0.80, p ≤ 0.01; r = 0.70, p ≤ 0.01, respectively). The FK peak and impact forces were moderately correlated with the CMJ jump height (r = 0.74, p ≤ 0.01; r = 0.77, p ≤ 0.01). Moreover, the FK peak force was significantly higher than that for DP, PS, and ES (p ≤ 0.01, d = 3.32; p ≤ 0.01, d = 1.6; and p = 0.013, d = 1.3, respectively). The highest relationship was found between the KLM and the FK impulse; however, the difference in variability explained by the KLM versus the body mass was only 12%. This suggests that knowledge of the BSM did not provide a significantly better estimate of the dynamic forces of the punches and FKs than the knowledge of the BM.