Effectiveness of the Judo Mat in teaching Tai Otoshi during judo initiation

Abstract

This study examines the effectiveness of the Judo Mat as a didactic tool in the teaching of the tai otoshi throwing technique during the initial stages of judo instruction. A total of 108 university students without prior experience in judo participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups: a control group receiving traditional instruction, an experimental group exposed to the Judo Mat in other techniques but not in tai otoshi, and a second experimental group that used the Judo Mat specifically to learn tai otoshi. An observational and experimental methodology was used, assessing the presence of technical errors through the SOBJUDO-TAI v.2 instrument. Statistical analyses included Pearson's chi-square test and Fisher's exact test, along with multiple comparison corrections using Holm-Bonferroni and Benjamini-Hochberg procedures. Among the errors analyzed, only the incorrect positioning of the right foot (IRFP) showed statistically significant differences between groups after correction (adjusted p < 0.001), with a large effect size (Cramér's V = 0.403). The group using the Judo Mat specifically for tai otoshi demonstrated a lower frequency of this error. No significant differences were observed in the remaining categories. These findings suggest that the Judo Mat may be effective in addressing specific technical errors when applied directly to the target skill, but its overall impact on performance improvement remains limited.