Lower Extremity Injury Prevention in Taekwondo Poomsae Athletes: An Educational Intervention

Abstract

Poomsae is a non-contact form of taekwondo that involves physical exertion, technique, skills, and art. It combines kicks, blocks, stances, strikes, and punches demonstrated with an imaginary opponent. It is practice for self-defense, belt promotion, and action preparation for contact sparring. Chronic Overuse injuries are common in taekwondo Poomsae athletes as they participate in repetitive stress to attain mastery of forms used in competitions. The goal is to provide deep understanding and knowledge essential for training and optimal performance in sports to athletes and coaches. Educational intervention is deployed as a free webinar session consisting of 221 participants attended. The data are collected through a qualitative reflective feedback form consisting of questions targeting knowledge acquired and application of the information towards their practice as a coach and athlete. The result showed common reflective feedback towards the injury prevention strategy in Poomsae from the webinar: 1) Discovering strength and weakness, 2) Reason for strength and conditioning, 3) Prevention and management of injury.