The martial arts and the caucasian knee: "a tiger by the tail".

Abstract

nese source,2 with references and comparisons of structure from Foreign writers,3, 4> 5, s~ ’ and in view of the tact that the Martial Arts’ have been developed in both Japan and China, the use of the term Asiatic will refer to both of these populations. Table II, taken from the Amako2 studies, illustrates the differences in incidence of knee injuries between the Asiatic and Caucasian groups. These differences may well be due to the structural differences noted in Table I. The &dquo;squatting&dquo; populations of India are not to be considered a part of the populations in this paper because their knees are different in terms of anatomical structure, apparently produced from early and long squatting action.8 Over the last few years, in discussion with Americans involved in the activities of Kung Fu, Karate, Judo and Aikido, it has been noted that there has been a general concern related to stress factors and injuryof the knee. Among skilled practitioners of Judo9 in this country there is a high incidence of knee injury while it is reported to be a minor problem in Asiatic competitors.&dquo; American instructors of Kung Fu have reported a high incidence of knee stress in those participating in the activity. Similar problems have been expressed by an instructor of Aikido 11 ie, that Caucasian participants of 2-3 years, experience knee difficulty in flexion positions and must eliminate or reduce such action due to the stress.