Basic Anatomy for Martial Artists and Coaches

Anatomy is “a branch of science dealing with the form and arrangement of body parts” (Kent, 2006, p. 37) and tissues. The adult human body consists of 206 bones (Haywood, 2008, p. 5), 150-350 joints (depending on definition) and about 600 muscles, which are mounted and placed with about 900 ligaments and 4000 tendons. To gain a basic understanding of the human body for coaches and athletes, our user-centred content in the following chapters is perfectly tailored for coaches and athletes using a number of simplifications and reductions. 

Understanding body movement.

The simplification for general understanding of human motion is, that the bones are the (mostly) rigid framework of our body, which is moved by the skeletal muscles. These muscles only (active) purpose is to contract, which means to reduce the distance between their origins and onsets. Therefore, for Kickboxing applications and particularly for targeted improvements, it is necessary to know, which muscles are used to perform a movement.

Illustration of important front and rear leg & torso performance muscles for Kickboxing:

Illustration of important arm & shoulder performance muscles for Kickboxing:

Illustration of important back performance muscles for Kickboxing:

Illustration of important pelvis and leg performance muscles for Kickboxing:

The 3 important body movements in performance Kickboxing. Specifically excellence in kicking technique:

• Flexion- the action of bending or the condition of being bent, especially the bending of a limb or joint.
• Abduction- Moving the limb or hand laterally away from the body, or movement away from the midline of the body.
• External Rotation- rotating a joint away from the midline.

Illustration of adductors and ischiocrural performance muscles for Kickboxing:

The muscles only (active) purpose is to contract, which means to reduce the distance between their origins and onsets. 

Kickboxing applications and particularly for targeted improvements of technique and their effect - it is necessary to know which muscles are used to perform a movement.