THE EFFECTS OF EXERCISE INCORPORATING MUAY THAI FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENT SKILLS ON THE PHYSICAL FITNESS OF THE THIRD-YEAR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

This research aimed to study and to compare the physical fitness before and after exercise activities with basic movement skills and Muay Thai movement skills on the physical fitness and to compare the physical fitness after exercising of control group and experiment group students. The samples in this research were 60 third year Early Childhood students of Mae Pra Fatima School, Bangkok, selected by multi-stage method, divided into a control group and an experimental group with 30 students in each group. The research instruments were: 1) Exercise activities Programs of Sport Science Bureau Department of Physical Education Ministry of tourism and Sports 2) Physical fitness test for Thai children with the age of 4-6 years. The statistics used for data analysis were mean, and t-test. The research results showed that: 1. The physical fitness before and after exercising were 1) The flexibility before exercising was 7.47 cm., the flexibility after exercising was 12.93 cm. 2) Arm muscle strength before exercising was 6.97 times, Arm muscle strength after exercising was 11.37 times. 3) The speed before exercising was 10.68 sec., after exercising was 6.09 sec. 4) Leg muscle strength before exercising was 65.00 cm., after exercising was 90.47 cm. 5) Abdominal muscle endurance before exercising was 7.67 times., after exercising 11.70 times. 6) The Agility before exercising was 18.15 sec., after exercising was 13.33 sec. 7) The appropriateness of body proportion (BMI) before exercising was 16.15, after exercising was 16.89. The physical fitness of the experiment group students in every way after exercising had higher average than before with a statistically significant difference at the .05 level. 2. The physical fitness of the experiment group students had higher average than control group with a statistically significant difference at the .05 level.