The Comparison of Center of Pressure to Center of Mass during Sideward Cutting Manoeuvre among the Male Elites of Karatecas with and without Genu Varum

Since impairment in body alignment affects dynamic stability during sport movements and skills, the purpose of this study was to compare center of pressure to center of mass changes during sideward cutting in the elite karatecas with and without genu varum.
Twenty elite male karate athlete (ten genu varum and 10 healthy control individuals) participated in this semi-experimental study. Center of pressure changes to center of mass was calculated during sideward cutting.
The results showed that center of pressure to center of mass changes in medial- lateral direction in dominant (p=0.024) and non-dominant (p=0.004) limb in genu varum group was significantly higher than normal group. However, there was not a significant difference in anterior- posterior direction between groups (p≥0.05). The difference between dominant and non-dominant limbs (cutting manoeuvre direction) was not significant in neither anterior- posterior and medial- lateral components (p≥0.05).
According to results of present study, an increase in genuvarum could be considered as an effective factor on center of pressure to center of mass changes during sideward cutting.