Karate or Kung Fu?

Karate or Kung Fu? A Comparison of Japanese and Chinese Martial Arts Training for Enhancing Psychophysical Development in Asian Children

Sedentary lifestyle in Asian children together with aversive parenting style may compromise their physical and psychological health. The aim of the proposed stratified, randomized controlled study are to explore the beneficial effects of Japanese martial art (karate) and Chinese martial art (Ving Tsun kung fu) training on improving the psychophysical health in this population. Over fifty-two Asian children (age = 6-12 years) will be recruited from schools in Hong Kong and then randomly assigned to either a karate group or a Ving Tsun group. Children in both groups will receive the respective physical and spiritual martial art training for 3 months (3 times/week, one hour each). Outcomes will be evaluated at baseline and after the intervention by a blinded assessor. Primary outcomes include muscle power of the arms and legs as measured by a medicine ball throw test and a standing long jump test, respectively. Secondary outcomes include flexibility as quantified by a sit-and-reach test, aggression as measured by the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire, and attention as measured by the Child Behavioral Checklist-Youth Self-Report. Both karate and Ving Tsun kung fu training programs are predicted to improve physical health of Asian children. It is expected that these training programs can be incorporated into the physical education classes or extracurricular activities in schools or in the community to improve project sustainability.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Childhood ALL
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Karate group; Behavioral: Kung fu group

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 52
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Hong Kong
  • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
    • University of Hong Kong

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 6 years to 12 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 6-12 years old
• Asian ethnicity and reside in Hong Kong

Exclusion Criteria:

• any physical or psychological disorders that may affect test results
• previous experience in martial arts
• participate in regular sports training

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Karate group	Behavioral: Karate group; Children in the karate group will receive the basic Goju Ryu Karate training that includes basic stances (dachi), punching (zuki), blocking (barai) and kicking techniques (keri), form training (kata), supervised sparring (kumite), and conditioning exercises (for warm up and cool down).
Active Comparator: Kung Fu group	Behavioral: Kung fu group; Children in the Ving Tsun kung fu group will receive the basic Wong Shun Leung style Ving Tsun training that includes basic stances (ma), footwork (bu), punching (quan), kicking (jie) techniques and conditioning exercises (for warm up and cool down).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in muscle power of the upper limbs	A medicine ball throw test	0 and 3 months
Change in muscle power of the lower limbs	A standing long jump test	0 and 3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in flexibility of the low back and hamstring	A sit-and-reach test	0 and 3 months
Change in aggression	Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire	0 and 3 months
Change in attention	Child Behavioral Checklist-Youth Self-Report	0 and 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Anticipated): April 1, 2020
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): March 31, 2022
• Study Completion (Anticipated): March 31, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 8, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 8, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): October 9, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 9, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 8, 2019
• Last Verified: October 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Immune System Diseases; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms; Lymphoproliferative Disorders; Lymphatic Diseases; Immunoproliferative Disorders; Leukemia, Lymphoid; Leukemia; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma
• Other Study ID Numbers: 0002

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No