The metabolic responses of 42 form taijiquan
Por Liu Su (Autor), Li Zhaoxu (Autor), Wang Xiang (Autor), Lu Jian (Autor), Zeng Qian (Autor), Zhang Huiquan (Autor), Song Qilai (Autor).
Integra
Introduction
The 42 Form Taijiquan (TJQ) has been newly authorized as an official sport event in China Wushu Competition, Asian Game and World Wushu Championship. However, TJQ metabolic cost and efficiency is unknown . The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of TJQ on metabolic responses.
Methods
Twenty-three subjects (9 males, 14 females, with mean age of 53.5 years and mean Taijiquan experience of 12.33 years) were tested at GuangZhou Tianhe Sports Complex in China. Each subject performed TJQ twice with approximately 5.5 minutes for each round. Metabolic response data were collected and analyzed by a Cortex Meta3 Wireless System (made in Germany, 2003).
Results
The results showed that male and female subjects had the same cardiovascular and respiratory response patterns on heart rate, ventilation efficiency and similar energy expenditure (5.05 + 0.682 METs vs 4.91+ 0.366 METs, p >0.05). However, when we regrouped the subjects by their skill rankings, there was a significant difference between professional Wushu athletes (PA*) and nonprofessional athletes (NPA) (5.69 + 0.375 METs vs 4.64 + 0.308 METs, p < 0.001).
Discussion / Conclusions
PA consumed more energy than NPA, possibly due to a lower posture during TJQ performance. PA and NPA were enrolled in same gender group, and a relative small size of PA (n=5) may result in a higher internal error. We suggest that a larger sample size, and more age groups cross skill variable be used in further studies on TJQ.
*PA represents 5 professional athletes ranking from Wushu first level to 7 Dan including the Chinese National College men’s TJQ champion of 2003.
References
[1]. Zhou, D., Shephard, R.J., Plyley, M.J., & Davies, G.M. (1984). Cardiorespiratory and metabolic responses during T’ai Chi Chuan exercise. Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Science, 9, 7-10.
[2]. Liu, Su. (1995). The effects of Taijiquan training on cardiorespiratory fitness, blood cholesterol, glucose and stress control in college men and women. Ann Arbor, UMI Dissertation Services.
