Temporary judo combat structure of women with visual impairment

ABSTRACT

The study of the temporary judo combat structure presents various problems. The judokas (B1-B2-B3) do not compete with equal fighting conditions. The objectives of the study are to determine the temporary structure of judo combat in women with visual impairment, test if the changes in rules have modified the temporality of combat, and establish if there are differences between the visual categories. Of the judokas with visual impairment that competed in the 2018 IBSA Judo World Championship (94 women), all of them participated. By means of observational methodology, we analysed all of the combats (n = 133). In order to obtain the results, we used different analysis techniques: descriptive, one-way ANOVA, t-test to show independents, effect size and detection of t-patterns. The level of significance established for the study was ρ ≤ 0.05. The results determined a temporary structure for each weight category. With these, the judo professionals will be able to develop precise and suitable trainings for these athletes. We conclude that the combat temporality has changed. There are differences among visual categories, the B1 judokas win only a few combats and their combats are shorter. We consider it necessary to equalise the competition conditions.

KEYWORDS:

• Judo
• time-motion
• disabled Persons
• visual Impairment
• woman

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all the judokas who took part in this study, and would also like to thank the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA), the Portuguese Judo Federation and the Portuguese Federation for Disability Sport for allowing them to record the matches. The authors thank José Cancela and Carlos Ayán for their useful consultation and discussions and Helena Vila for her help filming the combats.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.