Conclusions
fatigue
The findings presented here can be useful for coaches, trainers, and practitioners while planning and performing karate training sessions. In general, martial arts training is composed of highly physically demanding warm-ups and technique repetitions. However, our results suggest that, when punches and kicks RT are relevant elements of the training session, some combinations should be avoided.Thus, considering that kick performance may be impaired by previous lower body fatigue, coaches should avoid extenuating and high-volume stimuli or guarantee enough recovery before the training main activity, or evaluations. Regarding punch performance, it seems more sensitive to non-specific fatiguing actions, such as those performed mainly by the lower body segment, and for this reason, coaches should dedicate attention to avoiding excessive demanding efforts with lower and upper body actions. However, if the preceding actions are performed predominantly by the upper body, adequate recovery time may be sufficient to reestablish punches RT.In summary, after taking the limitations of heterogeneity of our sample into account, our findings are relevant for the striking combat sports environment. With this, coaches and trainers can adjust the training to improve the technical and tactical performance, avoiding excessive and exhausting use of the lower body in karate training to obtain a better performance of the RT of kicks and punches.Finally, it was concluded that the specificity of fatigue protocols should be considered while performing RT demanding techniques in karate practice. Therefore, lower body fatigue negatively affects the RT performance of kicks when performed in the same order. Furthermore, it is worth highlighting that regarding upper body RT, the incremental test for the lower body alters the RT independently of the evaluation order, that is, whether punches or kicks RT comes first. Nonetheless, the incremental test of the upper body has just affected the RT of punches when it comes first than kicks.