The aim of the present work is to examine the differences between two groups of fencers with different levéis of competition, élite and médium level. The timing parameters of the response reaction have been compared together with the kinetic variables which determine the sequence of segmented participation used during the lunge with a change in target during movement. A total of 30 male sword fencers participated, 13 élite and 17 médium level. Two forcé platforms recorded the horizontal component of the forcé and the start of the movement. One system filmed the movement in 3D, recording the spatial positions of 11 markers, while another system projected a mobile target over a screen. For synchronisation, an electronic signal enabled all the systems to be started simultaneously. Among the timing parameters of the reaction response, the choice reaction time (CRT) to the target change during the lunge was measured. The results revealed differences between the groups regarding the flight time, horizontal velocity at the end of the acceleration phase, and the length of the lunge, these being higher for the élite group, as well as other variables related to the temporal sequence of movement. No significant differences have been found in the simple reaction time or in CRT. According to the literature, the CRTappears to improve with sports practice, although this factor did not differentiate the élite from medium-level fencers. The coordination of fencing movements, that is, the right technique, constitutes a factor that differentiates élite fencers from medium-level ones.

Information on the nature of deficits and adaptive mechanisms occurring after spinal cord injury is essential to the design of strategies for promoting functional recovery. Motor impairments and compensations were quantified by three-dimensional kinematic analysis in freely walking rats, 6 months after mild cervical (C7) or moderate lumbar (L2) spinal cord contusion. After C7 contusion, the animals showed reduced elbow extension and wrist movement, whereas reduced knee extension was the main impairment after L2 contusion. In both cases, the duration of the walking cycle increased and forward velocity was reduced due to a longer stance phase. Histology revealed reproducible lesions extending approximately to one spinal cord segment. In the transverse plane, the lesion involved the central gray matter and adjacent axons, including the dorsal corticospinal tract, but partially spared the ventrolateral tracts. Retrograde motoneuron tracing by nerve exposure to HRP or intramuscular injection of aminostilbamidine demonstrated that C7 contusion caused the loss of approximately 40% of triceps brachii motoneurons, whereas approximately 30% of quadriceps femoris motoneurons were lost after L2 contusion. These results demonstrate permanent deficits after incomplete lesions at the spinal cord enlargements and suggest that motoneuron loss contributes to their production.

The aim of this study was to test the effect that changing targets during a simple long lunge attack in fencing exerts on the temporal parameters of the reaction response, the execution speed, and the precision and the coordination of the movement pattern. Thirty fencers with more than 10 years of experience participated in this study. Two force platforms were used to record the horizontal components of the reaction forces and thereby to determine the beginning of the movement. A threedimensional (3D) system recorded the spatial positions of the 9 markers situated on the fencer plus the epee, while a moving target was projected on a screen, enabling the control of the target change. The results indicated that when a target change is provoked the reaction time (RT), movement time (MT), and the time used in the acceleration phase of the centre of mass (CM) increases significantly with respect to the attack executed with a straight thrust. The speed and horizontal distance reached by the CM at the end of the acceleration phase (V X(CM) and S X(CM) , respectively) significantly decreased, while the errors increased. However, the temporal sequence of the movement pattern did not appreciably change.

Purpose: The objective was to determine the way in which the level of uncertainty produced during the execution of al unge attack with target change (two or four possible responses) affects reaction-response time parameters and kinematic factors involved in the technical coordination of the attack. Method: Seventeen fencers from the Spanish National Men's Fencing Team participated in the study, which involved performing alunge attack against a moving circle as fast as possible, while attempting to place the tip of the sword inside the circle that appeared in the plastron's center of symmetry. Two force platforms were used to record the anteroposterior component of force and the initiation of movement. Kinematics were measured with at hree-dimensional motion-capture system that recorded the spatial positions of 11 markers. An electronic signal was used to time-synchronize all of the systems.Results: The results demonstrate asignificant increase in reaction time, p , .01, and choice reaction time, p , .001, when uncertainty increases, while movement time, precision, and segmental participation sequence during movement are not affected when uncertainty increases. Conclusion: It is worth stressing the importance of uncertainty-reduction strategies for fencers' performance to reduce the reaction-response time. Although increased uncertainty has little influence over precision and segmental participation sequence of the movement pattern used in attacks executed by elite fencers, caution should be used when generalizing these results for fencers of alower technical level than that of the participants in this study.

Pre-tensed and conventional starts that exert, respectively, large and small forces against the starting blocks in the “set” position (0.186 vs. 0.113 N per newton of body weight) were analyzed. The starts were videotaped, and the horizontal forces exerted on feet and hands were obtained from separate force plates. In the pre-tensed start, the legs received larger forward impulses early in the acceleration (0.18 vs. 0.15 N·s per kilogram of mass in the first 0.05 s), but the hands received larger backward impulses (–0.08 vs. –0.04 N·s·kg–1). At the end of the acceleration phase, there was no significant difference in horizontal velocity between the two types of start and only trivial differences in the center of mass positions. The results did not show a clear performance change when the feet were pressed hard against the blocks while waiting for the gun.