, martial arts and combat sports (MACS) are arguably one of the most prominent contexts in which the male body is generally seen as having a natural advantage over the female ( Kavoura et al., 2018 ; Matthews, 2016 ). Largely owing to discourses about the safety of and fairness shown toward cisgender women
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“Just Existing Is Activism”: Transgender Experiences in Martial Arts
Anna Kavoura, Alex Channon, and Marja Kokkonen
Rapid Weight Loss Elicits Harmful Biochemical and Hormonal Responses in Mixed Martial Arts Athletes
Victor Silveira Coswig, David Hideyoshi Fukuda, and Fabrício Boscolo Del Vecchio
The purpose of this study was to compare biochemical and hormonal responses between mixed martial arts (MMA) competitors with minimal prefight weight loss and those undergoing rapid weight loss (RWL). Blood samples were taken from 17 MMA athletes (Mean± SD; age: 27.4 ±5.3yr; body mass: 76.2 ± 12.4kg; height: 1.71 ± 0.05m and training experience: 39.4 ± 25 months) before and after each match, according to the official events rules. The no rapid weight loss (NWL, n = 12) group weighed in on the day of the event (~30 min prior fight) and athletes declared not having used RWL strategies, while the RWL group (n = 5) weighed in 24 hr before the event and the athletes claimed to have lost 7.4 ± 1.1kg, approximately 10% of their body mass in the week preceding the event. Results showed significant (p < .05) increases following fights, regardless of group, in lactate, glucose, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatinine, and cortisol for all athletes. With regard to group differences, NWL had significantly (p < .05) greater creatinine levels (Mean± SD; pre to post) (NWL= 101.6 ± 15–142.3 ± 22.9μmol/L and RWL= 68.9 ± 10.6–79.5 ± 15.9μmol/L), while RWL had higher LDH (median [interquartile range]; pre to post) (NWL= 211.5[183–236] to 231[203–258]U/L and RWL= 390[370.5–443.5] to 488[463.5–540.5]U/L) and AST (NWL= 30[22–37] to 32[22–41]U/L and 39[32.5–76.5] to 72[38.5–112.5] U/L) values (NWL versus RWL, p < .05). Post hoc analysis showed that AST significantly increased in only the RWL group, while creatinine increased in only the NWL group. The practice of rapid weight loss showed a negative impact on energy availability and increased both muscle damage markers and catabolic expression in MMA fighters.
Martial Arts Training for Boys With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Maarten K.N. Stessel, Imelda J.M. de Groot, and Mariska M.H.P. Janssen
martial arts on physical as well as psychosocial well-being: improvements in self-esteem ( 8 , 22 ), a more positive response to physical challenge ( 21 , 23 ), greater autonomy ( 7 ), emotional stability and assertiveness ( 16 ), and reductions in anxiety and depression ( 6 ). In addition, Gleser et
A 12-Year Cohort Study of Doc-Stoppage in Professional Mixed Martial Arts
Bianca Miarka, Fábio Dal Bello, Ciro J. Brito, Fabrício B. Del Vecchio, John Amtmann, and Karim Chamari
Performance analyses have been applied to investigate movements during mixed martial arts (MMA) competition and have created an accurate picture of the activity patterns that occur in the sport of MMA. 1 , 2 MMA bouts are typically decided by tactical methods with the intentional goal to
10 Years on Time–Motion and Motor Actions of Paired Mixed Martial Arts Athletes
Diego Alves dos Santos, Bianca Miarka, Fabio dal Bello, Andreia Cristiane Carrenho Queiroz, Pedro Henrique Berbert de Carvalho, Ciro José Brito, and Ralph Beneke
Performance in mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions is questionably the highest assessment of physiological integration, where cardiovascular, respiratory, neuromuscular, and cognitive systems must all be articulated. 1 , 2 Indeed, preceding authors noted that much could be learned about human
Peripheral Vision in Martial Arts Experts: The Cost-Dependent Anchoring of Gaze
Thomas Hausegger, Christian Vater, and Ernst-Joachim Hossner
sports, this strategy would imply that a gaze-anchoring location around the opponent’s chest should be preferred. This expectation is, in fact, well supported by existing empirical evidence on gaze behavior in martial arts. Ripoll, Kerlirzin, Stein, and Reine ( 1995 ) compared athletes with three
High Prevalence and Magnitude of Rapid Weight Loss in Mixed Martial Arts Athletes
Mathew Hillier, Louise Sutton, Lewis James, Dara Mojtahedi, Nicola Keay, and Karen Hind
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a combat sport, with bouts defined by weight divisions ( Reale et al., 2017 ) with the aim of endorsing balanced and stimulating matches while reducing potential injuries that may result from substitutional differences in weight ( Mendes et al., 2013 ). For the athlete
Weight Loss Strategies in Combat Sports and Concerning Habits in Mixed Martial Arts
Oliver R. Barley, Dale W. Chapman, and Chris R. Abbiss
been observed in many combat sports, such as mixed martial arts (MMA), boxing, taekwondo (TKD), karate, wrestling, judo, and kickboxing. 3 – 7 There is a large range of methods employed by combat sports athletes to lose weight, though the most common methods are body fluid manipulation and food
Weight Regain, but not Weight Loss, Is Related to Competitive Success in Real-Life Mixed Martial Arts Competition
Victor Silveira Coswig, Bianca Miarka, Daniel Alvarez Pires, Levy Mendes da Silva, Charles Bartel, and Fabrício Boscolo Del Vecchio
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a combat sport in which athletes aim to knockout or submit opponents through striking and grappling techniques, respectively, in both standing and ground positions ( Coswig et al., 2016a ; Kirk et al., 2015 ; Miarka et al., 2016 ). As with almost all combat sports, MMA
Effects of 9 Months of Martial Arts Training on Cardiac Autonomic Modulation in Healthy Children and Adolescents
Vinícius Y.B. Suetake, Emerson Franchini, Bruna T.C. Saraiva, Anne K.F. da Silva, Aline F.B. Bernardo, Rayane L. Gomes, Luiz Carlos M. Vanderlei, and Diego G.D. Christofaro
cardiac modulation need to be better explored ( 38 ). One group of sports widely practiced today is the martial arts, which are characterized by intermittent activities in which well-developed aerobic fitness is required to support the volume of training and subsequent fighting, as well as anaerobic
