Biomechanical Analysis of the Static Balance in Taekwondo Training Methodologies

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is one of the most common motor disorder with a prevalence of approximately 6% in typical children of primary school age. This disorder is characterized by marked impairments in motor functions, however it is the poor capacity for balance and coordination that makes it a serious problem. This can not only affect the attainment of academic achievements and daily activities, but requires extra attention for the high risk of falls, limits physical activity and affects the development of other motor skills. Due to the importance of solving this disorder or at least reducing some of its consequences, there have been numerous studies with children affected by DCD in which participants follow a training protocol based on Taekwondo. The results are optimal, and it has been demonstrated that Taekwondo could be an effective tool with which to improve the balance and coordination skills of children with DCD. The problem arises from the fact that these studies have not identified the causes of this improvement directly related to Taekwondo, which makes the solution to the problem still imprecise. The aim of this work is precisely to determine which are the characteristics of Taekwondo that improve balance abilities, and then to be able to reproduce them in a robotic system so that they have the same effect as a complete Taekwondo training. To do this, it has made use of a free software developed by Stanford University called OpenSim, which have simulated characteristic movements of Taekwondo in a static way by a musculoskeletal model with standard man measurements. In addition, the model has been subjected to various external forces of imbalance in order to study the static balance and obtain the muscles that are activated. After analyzing the results obtained, it was concluded with a list of muscles in charge of maintaining balance in a static way and that have a close relationship with the improvement of coordination and balance. Finally, a possible integration of these results in a robotic solution has been proposed. In this way, by means of electrical stimuli, the activation patterns of each muscle observed in the simulations are faithfully reproduced as if they were Taekwondo training. The possibility of providing a solution that reproduces the conditions of Taekwondo training and thereby improves the ability to balance in people not only affected by DCD, would greatly improve the quality of life of people and eliminate the enormous risks that such disorders entail.