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. 2025 Jul 22;25(1):562.
doi: 10.1186/s12887-025-05814-2.

Effects of different modalities of combat sports on the motor skills of children and adolescents

Bruna Thamyres Ciccotti Saraiva  1 , William Rodrigues Tebar  2 , Amanda Barbosa Dos Santos  3 , Ewerton Pegorelli Antunes  3 , Stefany Carolaine Bezerra Silva  3 , Débora Toshimi Furuta  3 , Gerson Ferrari  4 , Leandro Dragueta Delfino  3 , Diego Giulliano Destro Christofaro  5
Affiliations

Effects of different modalities of combat sports on the motor skills of children and adolescents

Bruna Thamyres Ciccotti Saraiva et al. BMC Pediatr. .

Abstract

Purpose: Motor skills are essential for carrying out daily tasks and the practice of physical activities can help to increase these skills. Being combat sports, it can be an alternative practice with this objective. However, it is not known which is the ideal modality. Therefore, the aim was to analyze the effects of nine months of practicing Muay Thai (MT) and Judo on the motor skills of children and adolescents.

Methods: A sample of 109 young people from a Philanthropic Institution was distributed into: control (n = 36), Judo (n = 29) and MT (n = 44). The following motor skills tests were carried out: balance on the beam, side jumps, single-leg jump and transfer onto the platform. The intervention lasted nine months, twice a week for one hour.

Results: After nine months, the Judo and Muay Thai groups showed increased values ​​in lateral jumps (Judo p-value < 0.001; Muay Thai p-value < 0.001), and transfer platform (Judo p-value = 0.007; Muay Thai p-value < 0.001) from the pre-moment compared to the post-moment. In the single-leg jump, the Judo (p-value = 0.011) and MT (p-value < 0.001) groups were different compared to the control group.

Conclusion: The practice of combat sports was effective in causing improvements in the motor skills of young.

Keywords: Adolescents; Children; Judo; Motor skills; Muay Thai.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the city of Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, Brazil and was approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of the São Paulo State University-FCT/UNESP (CAAE: 26702414.0.0000.5402, Opinion number: 549.549, approved on March 7, 2014). The parents/legal guardians provided written consent. Lastly, the participants were recruited by convenience, and those who refused to participate were not included in this study. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Balance beam (a), lateral jumps (e), single-leg jump (i), and transfer platform (m); Individual values for balance beam of control (b), Judo (c), and Muay Thai group (d); Individual values for lateral jumps of control (f), Judo (g), and Muay Thai group (h); Individual values for single-leg jump of control (j), Judo (k), and Muay Thai group (l); Individual values for transfer platform of control (n), Judo (o), and Muay Thai group (p). Note: Mean and standard deviation of balance beam, lateral jumps, single-leg jump, and transfer platform. Individual values are presented as the difference between the post-test in relation to the pre-test; * indicates the difference between groups and # indicates the difference between times
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