The practice of taekwondo as a predictor of motor abilities

Abstract

The research was conducted on a sample of 50 male and female students attending the first grade ofprimary school (the approximate age was 7 years). The children were divided into two subgroups according tothe criterion of their participation in taekwondo as an extracurricular kinesiology-related activity. Onesubsample consisted of children who were not involved in any extracurricular kinesiology-related activity andhad never practiced any sports, their only kinesiology-related activity being physical and health educationlessons. The second subsample consisted of children who were training taekwondo for one hour twice a weekin addition to regularly attending physical and health education lessons. The aim of the research was todetermine the differences in motor variables and their system between the subsamples defined on the basis ofparticipation in the above mentioned extracurricular activity. Descriptive statistics for 5 motor variables,confirmed by univariate and multivariate confirmative method of data processing (t-test and linear discriminantanalysis) showed significant differences in the results obtained for motor tests, hand and foot tapping, longjump, sit-ups, sit-and-reach. Based on the results, acknowledging all the possible limitations pertaining to theirinterpretation, we can point out the need for the inclusion of pupils at primary education level into differentorganizational forms of exercise, since physical and health education lessons, which cannot be fullycompensated in any way, are simply not sufficient for achieving the set objectives and cannot adequately meetthe requirements of the modern living conditions. Dealing with this issue has become particularly important inthe context of the modern trend characterized by a decrease in any form of physical activity and insufficienttime spent in organized exercise. Creating a habit of daily exercise is the primary educational objective, theprerequisite for which is the basic organizational form of exercise, i.e. physical education lessons, but also theinvolvement of students and young people in other organizational forms of exercise as a special contribution tothe individualization, but also the realization of the objectives set within the field of physical and healtheducation.