The effect of aikido exercises on shaping spinal curvatures in the sagittal plane

Conventional corrective-compensatory gymnastics often includes sets of exercises affecting the vertebral column in children, however, exercises activating the muscles responsible for a correct alignment of the pelvis are rarely applied [1]. The pelvis and the vertebral column are links of the biokinematic chain where changes in one link entail changes in the neighbouring links. Incorrect alignment of the pelvis can be the reason of lateral curvature of the spine a [2,3]. Similar changes in pelvic anteversion angle entail changes in the size of lumbar lordosis and affect the remaining spinal curvatures in the sagittal plane [4]. During the experiment, selected aikido exercises, actively affecting the muscles responsible for pelvic alignment, were applied. Exercises applied in martial arts competitors may be interesting in the aspect of self-defence and can be applied to compensate and correct postural deformities. Since they are not considered to be a form of treatment, they can be easily accepted by children [5]. The aim of the study presented in this paper was to determine the effect of the applied aikido exercises on alpha, beta and gamma angles of the spinal curvature in the sagittal plane and on the anteversion angle of the pelvis in children.