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Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology

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Abstract - "Sensing the opponent" and its conditions among Tae-Kwon-Do competitors from Arab countries

The level of motor co-ordination abilities is a crucial importance in sport, and especially in martial sport arts. Its particular and very specyfic manifestation is the "opponent's feeling" which exerts a considerable impact on the effectiveness of the fight. Despite the considerable importance of the "opponent's feeling" this problem has been treated very marginally so far. The proof of the fact is the lack of many publications and attempts to define the notion. Therefore, the aim of the work was to: 1. Define the components of the "opponent's feeling". 2. Attempt to establish the conditions affecting the "opponent's feeling" among Tae-Kwon-Do competitors.
Material and methods. Fifty six competitors from 5 Arab countries were involved in the researches: from Kuwait (n=12), Oman (n=10), Saudi Arabia (n=12), Emirates (n=11), Katar (n=11). A questionnaire prepared by W.Starosta and containing 21 questions dealing with "opponent's feeling" was the research method. The questions concerned the "opponent's feeling: among representatives of martial art sports. The answers of the competitors were translated from Arab into Polish.
Conclusions: 1. The majority of the questioned (63.8%) observed in the themselves a higher level of "opponent's feeling" during the starting period, rather than during the preparatory period. 2. According to the surveyed (44.8%), the highest level of the "opponent's feeling" occured in the main/core part of the traning session, and the lowest in its further part (31.1%). 3. The symptoms of the proper "feeling" include: a) the correct predicting of the opponent's intentions (34.1%), b) a proper psychic attitude (28.8%), c) the certainty of the fight (21.2%), and the improper "feeling" is the lack of these symptoms.