Abstract des Autors

Jiu Jitsu is a form of martial arts that is similar to judo. It involves gripping, throwing, ground grappling, chokeholds, and jointlocks, as well as the basic kicking, punching, and blocking skills characteristic of karate. The art of jiu jitsu has gained popularity recently with the success of several of its well-known practitioners (e.g., Royce Gracie, Marco Ruas) during submission fighting tournaments. During these tournaments, fighters from various styles compete against one another until a winner is determined. Several matches of various durations may occur in a short period of time. This places great demands on the body, regardless of whether the athlete is in competition or sparring as part of training. Overall conditioning is mandatory for optimal performance. Therefore, participating in a training program designed to enhance both health and skill related components of physical fitness is most advantageous for jiu jitsu practitioners. Research on martial arts has focused primarily on karate, judo, and tai chi. Most of the research has addressed topics such as injuries, psychological factors (e.g., self-esteem, aggression), and biomechanics. Very few articles were devoted to physiological responses or training effects. Since jiu jitsu includes techniques that are characteristic of both the grappling arts (e.g., judo, wrestling) and striking arts (e.g., karate), a look at the physical attributes of both karate and judo may lend some insight as to the demands of jiu jitsu. Highly skilled karate practitioners have been found to have mean heart rates of 102.5+/-14.8 to 127.4+/-12.4 bpm and and mean blood lactate values of 0.8+/-0.2 to 1.3+/-0.4 mmol/L-1 during performance of 1,000 punches and 1,000 kicks. Heart rate has been found to exceed 191 bpm during 20 consecutive 2-minute sparring matches, thus demonstrating the high aerobic and anaerobic metabolic demands of training. Elite judo practitioners have shown greater VO2max, flexibility, upper body power, isometric and isokinetic strength, bone mineral density, ventilatory threshold, and lower % body fat compared to less skilled practitioners. These differences are relative to body weight. Therefore, success in martial arts is highly dependent on conditioning. Verf.-Referat