Healthy Effects of Adapted Aikido in People With Grip Disfunction

Study on the Health Effects of Adapted Physical Activity From Japanese Martial Arts-Aikido.

This study investigates the effects of an adapted aikido exercise program on

the health of adults with unilateral wrist and/or hand dysfunction. The un- derlying assumption is that regular practice of adapted aikido may improve

physical, psychological, and quality-of-life parameters in this population com- pared with a non-exercising control group.

The primary objective is to assess the physical health benefits derived from an adapted aikido training program in people with unilateral reduction of wrist and hand functionality. Secondary objectives are to examine poten- tial benefits on mental health and to evaluate the influence of aikido practice on quality of life. Accordingly, the working hypothesis is that participation in the program will lead to significant improvements in physical, functional, and psychological variables compared with the control group.

A longitudinal, controlled, single-center study with repeated measures is proposed, including 20 adult participants, 10 in the intervention group and 10 in the control group, all without prior aikido experience and not practicing other martial arts during the study. The intervention consists of an adapted aikido program with two one-hour sessions per week over approximately four months, delivered by an experienced instructor, with systematic attendance recording to monitor adherence.

Primary outcomes include arm muscle mass, muscle strength (analytical dynamometry and handgrip test), active range of motion of the wrist, el- bow, and shoulder, body mass index, and cardiac function assessed via heart rate during exercise. Secondary outcomes are upper limb function (DASH), pain (VAS), sleep quality (PSQI and accelerometry), body awareness (BAQ), mindfulness (MAAS), anxiety (Hamilton Anxiety Scale), and positive and negative affect (PANAS).

Assessments will be conducted at three time points (baseline, mid-intervention, and post-intervention), combining clinical history, physical measurements, heart rate recordings, and psychological and quality-of-life questionnaires. Statistical analysis will include descriptive statistics, tests for normality and homoscedasticity, and repeated-measures ANCOVA with a significance level of 0.05 using R software, to determine the effect of adapted aikido on the different health indicators.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Be of legal age.
• Have no prior knowledge of aikido.
• Not be practicing other martial arts at the time of inclusion in the study or during the adapted training program.
• Unilateral dysfunction of the hand and/or wrist that prevents or hinders tasks related to gripping (only for case group).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of anatomical or functional alterations that could affect the performance of aikido techniques (other than those allowed for the study group).
• Intellectual disability and/or inability to understand the informed con- sent.