Professional activities of a coach of martial arts and combat sports

Abstract

Combat sports are classified in one category of sports characterised by a direct fight involving physical contact with an opponent. They form a wide range of sports that differ in fighting methods, tactics as well as rules and regulations. Therefore, they require a different approach to a training pro cess and a different intensity of basic professional activities of a coach. Consequently, participants of instructor or coach courses ought to undergo diverse training depending on the type of a sport. Olympic combat sports are obviously more attractive to scientists and researchers in terms of different aspects of preparation and competition. The other ones, particularly those which are not severed from their historical roots but do not focus on training oriented at sports competition, are in a more difficult situation. Modern training and optimal pre paration of future coaches require combining knowledge that comes from practical experience and scientific achievements. Activities of a coach in combat sports were studied by Am broży, Bujak, Bujak et al., Cynarski, and Sterkowicz et al. [1-8]. Getting to know the opinions of representatives of different combat sports and martial arts regarding the significance of basic professional activities of a coach was crucial in identifying the differences between martial arts and combat sports in terms of activities of a coach during a training process. The aim of the study was to define the structure of 20 basic professional activities of a coach in karate, taekwon-do and Olympic taekwondo as well as identifying groups of activities and checking if fighting methods determine professional activities of a coach.