Abstract - Anthropometry, physical fitness, and motor tests discriminate between Taolu, Sanda, and Shuai Jiao practitioners among university student-athletes
Background. Collegiate Wushu programs may benefit from field-feasible profiling tools to distinguish athletes across related disciplines. However, evidence for a minimally discriminative indicator set remains limited.
Problem and Aim. This study aimed to identify a parsimonious set of anthropometric, field-based physical-fitness, and motor measures that discriminates between Taolu, Sanda, and Shuai Jiao practitioners among university student-athletes
Methods. In this cross-sectional study, 165 students from Shandong Sport University completed testing. After exclusion of 3 students from the Tai Chi major, the final sample comprised 162 student-athletes: Taolu (n = 62), Sanda (n = 61), and Shuai Jiao (n = 39). Fifteen anthropometric variables, six field-based physical-fitness tests, and three motor measures were collected in one standardized session. Group differences were examined using one-way ANOVA and covariate-adjusted general linear models, and exploratory linear discriminant analysis with internal cross-validation was used to evaluate multivariable discrimination.
Results. After covariate adjustment, Sanda showed greater upper-body robustness, including shoulder breadth and flexed upper-arm girth, and higher front-kicking frequency than Taolu, whereas Taolu showed higher countermovement jump and flexibility-related performance. Shuai Jiao occupied an intermediate but distinct profile, particularly on the second canonical function. The final discriminant model retained four markers: flexed upper-arm girth, shoulder breadth, thigh length, and countermovement jump. The two-function solution was significant (Wilks’ Λ = 0.617; F = 10.657; p < 0.001), and internal cross-validation showed moderate performance (overall accuracy = 56.8%; balanced accuracy = 0.548; macro-F1 = 0.549).
Conclusions. These findings indicate that a concise four-marker battery can summarize discipline-sensitive profiles across Taolu, Sanda, and Shuai Jiao in collegiate Wushu. In comparable university settings, this profile may assist discipline-related monitoring and training orientation, although it should not yet be used as a deterministic selection tool without external validation.