Karate or Kung Fu?

Childhood ALL Clinical Trial

Official title:

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

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04120896
• Other study ID #: 0002
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: April 1, 2020
• Est. completion date: March 31, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: October 2019
• Source: The University of Hong Kong
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 52
• Est. completion date: March 31, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: March 31, 2022
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 6 Years to 12 Years

Eligibility

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

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Childhood ALL
• Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma

Intervention

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).
• 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).

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Hong Kong	University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
The University of Hong Kong

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Hong Kong, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change in muscle power of the upper limbs	A medicine ball throw test	0 and 3 months
Primary	Change in muscle power of the lower limbs	A standing long jump test	0 and 3 months
Secondary	Change in flexibility of the low back and hamstring	A sit-and-reach test	0 and 3 months
Secondary	Change in aggression	Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire	0 and 3 months
Secondary	Change in attention	Child Behavioral Checklist-Youth Self-Report	0 and 3 months