1. Introduction
Taekwondo is an ancient Korean martial art without weapons and sport combat [
1], its goal is strengthening the body, mind, and spirit, through self-defense practice. Besides, it helps to integrate development, and even to obtain better inclusion and quality of life [
2,
3]. Equally, it is recognized as an international sport modality, and it is practiced all over the world by kids, young people, and adults [
4]. A Taekwondo competition is characterized by three two-minute rounds, and one minute rest between rounds [
5]. The athlete performs fantastic and spectacular kick techniques. Likewise, there are a panoply of kick varieties (Chagi), in the Taekwondo system, such as: An-chagi, Ap-chagi, Bakat-chagi, Bandal-chagi, Dollyo-chagi, Furyo-chagi, Miro-chagi, Nako-chagi, Neryo-chagi, Dwit-chagi, Yop-chagi, Mondollyo Furyo-chagi y Mondollyo Nako-chagi, Mondollyo Yop-chagi, Mondollyo Dwit-chagi, etc. [
6,
7,
8]. That’s why complex technical processes are used, and the kick technique can be performed dynamically, with powerful acrobatic, jumping and explosive movements [
9]. Therefore, in Taekwondo, where the athlete fights against an opponent, the technical and tactical control is required, as well as recognizing the opponent’s qualities to win the fight [
9].
In scientific literature, there is a wide variety of studies related to Taekwondo. For instance: body mass characterization [
10,
11,
12], physical capabilities [
13], main physiological adjustments during competition [
14], and effects of Taekwondo practice on the health and well-being of practitioners [
15,
16]. There are also investigations related to the level of motivation during training periods [
17,
18], and comparison studies between boxing and Taekwondo [
19]. Also, papers related to the benefits of using video in Taekwondo learning processes [
20,
21,
22], and sensors for sportswear [
23]. There are studies related to the most common sports injuries in Taekwondo practitioners [
24,
25,
26]. Thus, a wide variety of investigations into Taekwondo.
Theoretical studies on Taekwondo are focused on specific themes, and papers related to sports performance indicators in Taekwondo are scarce [
7,
27] and emerging. Thus, in a short time it has gained popularity as a concept among sports professional researchers [
28]. Understanding sports performance indicators as a method of recording data and analyzing the sports context [
29], with the purpose of giving optimal quantitative and qualitative feedback, as well as providing relevant data on the sport analyzed [
30]. Also, the main objective is to identify strengths that can be developed in training, and weaknesses that can be improved before the competition [
31,
32].
In this way, and due to the importance of evaluating and identifying performance in different sports modalities, to implement improvements in skills, and specific techniques to each discipline, the objective of this work is to analyze the evolution of the documents related to the study of performance in Taekwondo, from its origins to the present (2022).
4. Discussion
The main objective of the present theoretical study was to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the manuscripts related to sports performance in Taekwondo through the development of a bibliometric review. The results show the existence of 460 WOS-indexed manuscripts included in this bibliometric review and related to the topic under study between 1992 and 2022. Almost 50% of the documents are related to the WOS category: “Sports Science” (n = 229). Furthermore, the largest number of manuscripts are published in the journal “Archives of Budo” (n = 31). Likewise, publications related to sports performance in Taekwondo from 2013 to nowadays present an increase of 90.7%. Therefore, bibliometric reviews allow us to obtain a global and effective perspective in relation to the object of study [
58,
59]. Furthermore, the present work is postulated as the first English-speaking bibliometric review related to sports performance in Taekwondo.
The results related to the evolution in the number of publications show that the first published document related to Taekwondo sports performance occurred in the year of 1992 and analyzed the influence of competitive anxiety on sports performance [
46]. Currently, sports performance indicators related to psychology are focused on behaviors and psychological processes in the sports context [
60]. Besides, the first line of research in psychology and sports performance in Taekwondo is still valid today. Regarding the second published article, which analyzes Taekwondo athlete injuries before competition [
47], it is an emerging field of research, since any type of injury that occurs before, during or after training or competition can influence the sports performance of athletes. On the other hand, research related to sports performance in Taekwondo from 2013 to the present (n = 375), presenting an increase of 90.7% in the number of publications because of the boom in the field of Sports Sciences, and the need to innovate in studies. Likewise, the authors of this manuscript are expanding the knowledge related to the object of study, and it is a variant of systematic literature reviews [
61]. It can also serve as a starting point and complement for research. In relation to the WOS categories, the main categories are: “Sports Science” (n = 229), “Hospitality Leisure Sport Tourism” (n = 48), and “Physiology” (n = 32). The first three categories add up to 67.16% of published documents. In the scientific literature, there are no manuscripts that corroborate the results obtained. Regarding the publication magazine, “Archives of Budo”, is presented with the highest number (n = 61; FI=2.1). However, the journals with an impact index greater than 3 are: “Plos One” (n = 11; FI=3.7), International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance (n = 9; FI=3.3), and “Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research” (n = 23; FI=3.2). Therefore, researchers focus their interests on areas related to Sports Sciences, with the aim of analyzing sports performance in Taekwondo, allowing to create a performance profile, which must be present in the sporting activity to achieve performance and can be used to predict the future of sporting activities [
62]. The bibliometric review related to Taekwondo sports performance allows us to determine which are the main categories where researchers publish. The results related to the most cited documents show how the study prepared by Kazemi et al. [
48], it is the manuscript that has received the highest number of citations since its publication (2006). The study carried out by Paillar [
50], is the document that has received a total of 14.86 citations per year since its publication (2014). In addition, they are recent and interesting studies for Taekwondo coaches and athletes, since they allow the profiles of the Olympic Champions and other competitors who participated in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games to be identified, as well as knowing the effects of caffeine on reaction time during a specific Taekwondo task and Sports Performance during a simulated competition. The others TOP 10 documents allow us to determine the time structure and physiological response during competitions between winners and losers [
49]. The study by Markovic et al. [
51], allows us to know the physical condition profile of elite Taekwondo Croatian athletes, determines what physical, and physiological [
52], and motor performance characteristics differences between the winners and losers. On the other hand, there is a study that compares different martial arts such as Judo, Wrestling, Karate and Taekwondo with the purpose of quantifying the effort-pause relationship and identifying the number of actions performed per round in each sport modality analyzed [
53]. Besides, there is a great diversity of studies related to Taekwondo as sports and Olympic discipline. That’s why it is recommended to carry out multidisciplinary research to increase the quality of the work.
In relation to the H-Index, there is a minimum of 40 documents that present a minimum of 40 citations. Only a total of 4 documents presents a number equal to or greater than 100 citations [
48,
49,
50,
51]. The year 2011 is the year with the highest number of citations, 719 with a total of 20 published documents. However, in the years after 2020, a greater number of documents related to Taekwondo sports performance have been published, but they present a considerably lower number of citations. Taekwondo research has increased considerably in recent years. Therefore, the present bibliometric study reveals the increase in publications related to Taekwondo sports performance, and shows the main journals where researchers publish. It is important that bibliometric research goes beyond reporting the results of the performance analysis and scientific mapping generated by scientific databases (e.g., Web of Science), and software (e.g., CiteSpace, Gephi, Leximancer, and VOSviewer) [
42]. It is insufficient to describe the main contributors, (e.g., main authors, institutions, and countries), and the topics (for example, most cited articles and top keywords) in each field. Therefore, bibliometric reviews should be complementary to systematic reviews or meta-analyses. Furthermore, researchers should focus on underexplored topics to increase knowledge.
Results related to Publications considering countries: 35 countries present a minimum of 3 documents and 20 countries show a minimum of 7 documents produced. The countries with the highest number of publications made are Brazil (n = 83), South Korea (n = 57), and Spain (n = 52). On the opposite, the countries with the highest number of citations received are Brazil (n = 1264), Italy (n = 622), and England (n = 604). Currently, the countries with the highest number of publications depending on the temporal perspective are Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Lithuania, Peru, and Cuba. The countries density map shows a bigger spread on the implicate countries. Once again, we found that in scientific literature, there are no studies that corroborate the results obtained. So, the present bibliometric review allows providing relevant information on the topic under investigation, and helps researchers establish new relationships, as well as find more relevant authors and articles [
37].
The results related to the Publications regarding the Organizations shows how the Universidade de São Paulo is one of the most active in carrying out research related to the analysis of performance in Taekwondo (n = 46). The Universidad de Santiago de Chile (n = 21), and the Centre National de la Medecine Sciences des Sports de Cité Khadra (n = 16), stand out in the production of scientific documents. There is a diversity of Institutions and countries dedicated to research into Taekwondo sport performance. That it is essential for researchers to establish new contacts to design and develop quality research.
In relation to the network between authors, the most relevant researchers based on the number of published documents are Franchini, E. (H-Index=50), Falco, C. (H-Index=14), and Herrera-Valenzuela, T. (H-Index=11). The Top-3 articles on Taekwondo sports performance finding, in accordance with [
63], are Kazemi et al. (2006), Matsushigue et al. (2009), and Falco et al. (2009). The authors Franchini, E., (n = 42), and Falco, C., (n = 20) should be highlighted. However, the authors Franchini, E., and Chaouai, A., present a H-Index much higher than the all research with a value of 50 and 49 respectively, and have fewer published manuscripts. It is assumed that it is due to the quality of the papers. Therefore, it is essential to establish relationships with authors from other institutions to improve research [
58,
59]. These networks of different authors may be interesting for the rest of the researchers to establish future lines of research related to Taekwondo sports performance. Therefore, bibliometric studies offer unique opportunities to contribute to theory and practice [
42], as well as meet the main authors on a specific topic. Bibliometric review studies are essential to know who the main researchers are on specific topics. Alike, this document provides a general and exclusive description of Taekwondo sport performance.
Regarding the results related to the Keywords used by the authors, it is shown that the authors most frequently use the follow terms: “taekwondo” (n = 110), “martial arts” (n = 94), “combat sport” (n = 58), “performance” (n = 33), and “athletes” (n = 18). However, depending on the temporal issue, a clear trend is observed in the use of terms focused on the analysis of factors that influence the athlete performance such as “stress”, “fatigue”, or “reaction time”. Keywords results show that related subject to Taekwondo sports performance is directed. “Stress” and “fatigue” is a psychobiological state that impairs sports performance in healthy athletes [
64]. The bubble map results reflect that the combat sports information system is an emerging theme on the topic of this paper related to the temporal keywords co-occurrence analysis. And the most recent topics in the WOS database are the cluster “sports” and “elite athletes”. This bibliometric review may provide the future readers with a state-of-the-art understanding of the topics, help identify gaps and recognize signal future research [
65].
Coaches must work on the psychological aspects of athletes to improve their sports performance. Finally, the results of this bibliometric review allow us to analyze the documents in the WOS-indexed manuscripts database in a general way on research on Taekwondo sports performance. In future papers, this findings results can be used to analyze the temporal dimension and evolution of the academia environment.
6. Conclusions
To the best of our knowledge, this bibliometric analysis of Taekwondo related to sport and performance is the first paper contribution to understanding the main goal of this study. Using science mapping, exploring, and analyzing by VOSviewer tool the literature provides novel insights and crucial information into Taekwondo sports performance theme.
The results, of this bibliometric review, show the existence of 460 WOS-indexed manuscripts published between 1992 and 2022. The mainly manuscripts found in the WOS categories are: “Sports Science” (n = 229), “Hospitality Leisure Sport Tourism” (n = 48), and “Physiology” (n = 32). The most notable documents related to Taekwondo sports performance, from the authors are: Kazemi et al. (2006), Matsushigue et al. (2009), and Paillard (2017). The authors Franchini, E., (n = 42), and Falco, C., (n = 20) should be highlighted. The countries with the highest number of publications made in line with the main study are Brazil (n = 83), South Korea (n = 57), and Spain (n = 52). There are five collaboration networks between different authors and academia dimension, with an absence of the most relevant researchers about this bibliometric study. It is recommended to carry out multidisciplinary research on Taekwondo Olympic discipline with the purpose of establishing collaborations between groups, institutions, and countries. In this way, the productivity, effectiveness, and quality of research will increase, as well as collaboration networks will be international relationships.
The bibliometric review is relevant and reliable source of knowledge, since it allows to know the main advances in research related to Taekwondo sports performance, and to know the relationships between the authors and main institutions.