Gaze Behavior of Attacking Karate Athletes In-situ

Abstract

Previous studies have analyzed the gaze behavior of defending karate athletes using video-based attacks. The results show that karate athletes use a gaze anchor around the opponent’s head and chest. An analysis of gaze behavior of a karate athlete performing an attack in-situ has not been realized, yet. The aim of this study is, therefore, to analyze the gaze behavior of 11 karate athletes immediately before they perform an attack in-situ. The number of fixations, fixation duration, and fixation location were analyzed over the last 2000 ms before the athletes executed one of four instructed attacks. The results show no significant differ-ences in gaze parameters with respect to the type of attack. The main finding revealed a gaze anchor around the opponent’s head, chest, and leading arm, confirming previous studies of defending karate athletes whileviewing video-based attacks.