The purpose of this study is to develop the gymnastics for the elderly with simple and interesting movements that incorporates traditional Korean dance, which can increase their physical strength and be used as a leisure activity.
The Five Elements th...
The purpose of this study is to develop the gymnastics for the elderly with simple and interesting movements that incorporates traditional Korean dance, which can increase their physical strength and be used as a leisure activity.
The Five Elements theory, the dance movements based on Sam-Jae theory, the aesthetic characteristic of traditional Korean dance, and the Korean folk dance movements that emphasize Shin-Myeong—exhilaration or enthusiasm found in dance movements— were studied in order to construct the theory of the elderly gymnastics. Another goal of the study is to develop a systematic and scientific gymnastics that incorporates physical factors according to the principles of freehand gymnastics. In order to verify the effects of the elderly gymnastics, the subjects were asked to participate in a program that measured their body composition, physical strength and physical self-efficacy.
To verify the effects of the elderly gymnastics that uses traditional Korean dance, a total of 18 subjects were tested for 12 weeks; 10 subjects belonged to the experimental group and 8 subjects belonged to the control group. The difference in the body composition and physical strength between the control group and the experimental group was measured before and after the experiment. Also, the physical self-efficacy of the subjects in the experimental group was measured. SPSS Version 12.0 was used to analyze the 243 of data that was collected by self-administration method. Depending on the purpose of the analysis, paired t-test, independent t-test, frequency analysis, One-way ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis were used. The statistical significance in this study was set to p <.05. The result is as follows:
1. The aesthetics in the theory of "Movement in Stillness", the philosophical ideas based on the cosmic dual force theory—Ying and Yang—and Sam-Jae theory, and the principle of Shin-Myeong were used in incorporating the traditional Korean dance movements into the gymnastics; The movements were designed based on the muscular strength, muscular endurance, balance, flexibility, agility, and equilibrium of the body.
2. After 12 weeks of implementing the elderly gymnastics, the BMI of the experimental group showed significant difference; the lean body mass and muscle mass increased while the body fat percentage and abdominal fat decreased. Based on the physical test, there was an improvement in grip strength and back scratch flexibility, but there were no statistically significant changes. However, there was a statistically significant improvement in the back muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, balance, agility, and whole-body reaction. Also the lean body mass and muscle mass of the control group and experimental group showed significant difference. In the skin fold measurement, there was no significant difference between the groups. The comparison between the two groups’ pre and post-experiment physical strength revealed a statistically significant difference in the left grip strength, sit and reach flexibility, and light reaction.
3. There was no significant difference in the level of satisfaction between genders, but there was a statistically significant difference in the level of the satisfaction among the age groups. The physical efficacy was higher with the younger and healthier groups. The group with higher level of satisfaction with the elderly gymnastics was healthier and had higher physical self-efficacy, which demonstrates that the subordinate factors are correlated.