(Vol. 8, SI) Effects of Taekwondo Reverse Poomsae Training on Basic Physical Fitness, Working Memory, and Switching Ability of S

Effects of Taekwondo Reverse Poomsae Training on Basic Physical Fitness, Working Memory, and Switching Ability of Schoolchildren

An, Hyo-SeokㆍSong, Young-EunㆍKim, Chang-HwanㆍKim, Byeong-Wan

ㆍKang, Eun-Bum* (Daejeon University) 

Abstract

A purpose of the study is to providebasis for the development of a Poom belt teaching program by teaching reverse Poomsae movement for 12 weeks to Poom belt students belt trainees who have trained for over 12 months and to scientifically prove its effect on physical fitness, working memory, and switching ability. Subjects of the study were boys(n=40) who is 4th and 5th grade in elementary schools and practice Taekwondo more than one year. The participants were divided into two group of 20 people who trained in regular Taekwondo Poomsae and an experiment group of 20 who trained in reverse Poomsae. In order to measure working memory, the study used the VMI sub-scale from the K-WISC-Ⅲ. To test switching ability, the study conducted the children’s color trail test(CCTT). A disparity between the two groups only appeared in agility and flexibility of basic physical fitness, whereas disparities did not appear in the other items. Working memory significantly increased in the experimental group compared to the comparison group. For the switching ability, the completion time item of CCTT-2 test appeared to be significantly decrease. The results of the study show that reverse Poomsae training does not gravely affect the basic physical fitness of grade school students but affects on working memory. A Taekwondo reverse Poomsae training appeared to be effective in improving the cognitive abilities(working memory and switching ability) of the students. Therefore, reverse Poomsae training can be useful to improve the cognitive abilities of the brain for black belt grades.

Keywords : reverse Poomsae, switching ability, working memory, basic physical fitness