MEASUREMENT OF REACTION TIME IN QWAN KI DO

The aim of this study is to identify the simple and choice reaction time to visual stimuli, for the upper limbs, in beginner and advanced practitioners of the Qwan Ki Do martial art, and also to identify differences between the various populations of the study. We used a total of 73 male subjects, aged between 18 and 33, taken from three groups. The first group (control) was composed of 47 students in physical education and sport (group 1), the second group was composed of 18 beginner (less than 1 year) athletes practising Qwan Ki Do (group 2), and the third group was composed of 8 athletes practising Qwan Ki Do with great experience (group 3). As a result of the measurements, we concluded that the simple reaction time has, in general, similar values in all the research groups (239.6 +/- 7.4 in group 1,221.9 +/- 5.5 in group 2 and 207 +/- 6.6 in group 3 - data are expressed as mean +/- standard error mean). Also, the choice reaction time in group 3 (376 +/- 4.7 ms for the dominant hand and 376 +/- 5.4 ms for the non-dominant hand) is significantly lower (p <0.05) as compared to group 1 (424.5 +/- 11.4 ms and 430.9 +/- 12.2 ms) and to group 2 (429.5 +/- 7.3 ms and 438.8 +/- 6.9 ms), due to more efficient activity of the central nervous system. Low values of the choice reaction time in group 3, for both the dominant and non-dominant hands, where there have not been found significant differences between them (p> 0.05), are probably due to the specific training in Qwan Ki Do, based on equal involvement in effort of both body halves.