Fencers must perceive the distance between themselves and the opponent precisely in order to successfully contact the opponent or avoid being touched to gain points. Based on previous findings on perceivers’ ability for estimating the arm reaching range (e.g., Carello et al., 1989) and haptic perception to distinguish the length of hand-held objects (Solomon & Turvey, 1988), we investigated fencers’ distance perception for themselves (in Experiment1 ) and for the opponents (in Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, 8 fencers verbally estimated their lunge length with holding an implement (180-cm stick or 110-cm blade) in a standing, hands-free position. The results showed that the opponent’s posture had no effect on the relative accuracy (RA) of their estimated distance, p=.51; fencers demonstrated smaller RA while pretending to hold a blade, p<.05, and when the opponent was moving away, p<.05. In Experiment 2, another 8 fencers estimated the opponent’s lunge length by actual movement of stepping back. The results showed that the opponent’s approaching velocity and the height of the opponents both influenced the RA, ps <.05. Examining the ratio between the distance and the instantaneous velocity at the point when the subject initiated the escape (time to contact), it was found that the approaching pace made no statistical difference, p=.67, suggesting that the fencers’ distance estimations were influenced by the timing information. We concluded that the opponent’s velocity played an important role on fencers’ distance judgments for themselves or for the opponents. Perception and action were influenced by affordance arising from organism constraints such as body characteristics (short in height resulted in short lunge length) or the acquired experience (more familiarity with blade resulted in higher accuracy of estimates) (Gibson, 1979; Michaels and Carello, 1981; Newell, 1986). These findings could be applied to practical training program or competition, and future study should look into the interactive situation between the fencers’ behavior.
Distance perception for self and others in fencing
CHEN, Yin Hua;
2009-01-01
Abstract
Fencers must perceive the distance between themselves and the opponent precisely in order to successfully contact the opponent or avoid being touched to gain points. Based on previous findings on perceivers’ ability for estimating the arm reaching range (e.g., Carello et al., 1989) and haptic perception to distinguish the length of hand-held objects (Solomon & Turvey, 1988), we investigated fencers’ distance perception for themselves (in Experiment1 ) and for the opponents (in Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, 8 fencers verbally estimated their lunge length with holding an implement (180-cm stick or 110-cm blade) in a standing, hands-free position. The results showed that the opponent’s posture had no effect on the relative accuracy (RA) of their estimated distance, p=.51; fencers demonstrated smaller RA while pretending to hold a blade, p<.05, and when the opponent was moving away, p<.05. In Experiment 2, another 8 fencers estimated the opponent’s lunge length by actual movement of stepping back. The results showed that the opponent’s approaching velocity and the height of the opponents both influenced the RA, ps <.05. Examining the ratio between the distance and the instantaneous velocity at the point when the subject initiated the escape (time to contact), it was found that the approaching pace made no statistical difference, p=.67, suggesting that the fencers’ distance estimations were influenced by the timing information. We concluded that the opponent’s velocity played an important role on fencers’ distance judgments for themselves or for the opponents. Perception and action were influenced by affordance arising from organism constraints such as body characteristics (short in height resulted in short lunge length) or the acquired experience (more familiarity with blade resulted in higher accuracy of estimates) (Gibson, 1979; Michaels and Carello, 1981; Newell, 1986). These findings could be applied to practical training program or competition, and future study should look into the interactive situation between the fencers’ behavior.
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
