Strike Research

Strike Research have through pioneering research over come the many obstacles associated with accurately and safely measuring striking power in the combat sports and martial arts.

The ability to measure human impacts has always been fraught with challenges both in accuracy and safety. Our objective was to create a standardised measurement device that would allow combat sports athletes, coaches and scientists to measure, analyse, enhance and monitor all aspects of striking performance.

We have achieved this with our invention, the PowerKube®.

The PowerKube® measurement system combines a tactile striking pad, multiple user coaching software, a touch screen user interface and a fully adjustable wall and floor mounted column to create a fully interactive coaching and training solution.

What does the PowerKube® measure?

Ultra-high-speed transducers allow us to slice the data generated by a strike in millionths of a second, in real time, inside the PowerKube®. Our investigations over many years led us to the discovery that there are two key measurable components within any combat strike, they are power and kinetic energy.

We capture the peak power generated at the point of impact measuring in watts (W) this is the speed related initial impact which, is a short-lived power spike (like a shock) that lasts just a few millionths of a second. As the amplitude of power is speed dependant, the faster the strike greater the power generated.

We also capture the kinetic energy component generated during a strike measuring in joules (J) Long after the power has been captured the kinetic energy continues. It is the kinetic energy that gives a strike its penetrative characteristic.Unlike inanimate objects, athletes move their centre of gravity during the impact, to harness their kinetic energy. This goes some way to explain superhuman breaking capabilities in some martial arts.

So all combat strikes contain both power and kinetic energy, but in widely differing amounts. That gives every technique its digital signature. Based on a mass of data and working alongside professional athletes, we built our algorithm to generate a compound unit of measurement of power and energy to reflect a strikes combined destructive force, we call this the franklin, named after the inventor Kevin Franklin, a quantification of Impact Power® (f). Our commercial objective is for the franklin (f) to become the de facto standard for all human impacts in sport and academia.

Along side the power measurements we also measure an athletes performance in speed and endurance.

Speed

Endurance

Reaction time from an audible and visual trigger to the peak point of impact is displayed in seconds.

Endurance is measured over a series of 25 repetitions with results being displayed in a visual bar graph.

Objective data. Subjectivity around training practices in the martial arts and combat sports has always been a huge point of discussion and argument. We provide athletes and coaches with objective data allowing them to answer the many long standing and to date unprovable theories surrounding power generation in the combat sports and martial arts.

Health monitoring. Research in to performance, maintaining long term health and rehabilitation for athletes within all sports is an increasingly important focus for all sports governing bodies and organisations. Regularly measuring and monitoring performance provides invaluable data to further evolve and develop protocols to achieve these outcomes.

Validation. The PowerKube® has been continually validated by world leading research facilities and universities and endorsed by athletes and coaches at the UFC, the worlds leading commercial combat sports organisation.

Now available in a range of commercial packages!

The PowerKube Combat Performance Centre combines the PowerKube®, a fully adjustable floor and wall mounted column and multiple user software to provide a comprehensive solution for those looking to measure and monitor all aspects of a combat athletes striking performance.

The Power Station® provides a stable striking platform, lockable to any height to 2m and allows for; simple quick adjustment to any attack angle, over a 270 degrees radius. Using state of the art laser cutting and CNC technology to our stainless-steel support structure, the PowerKube® is now perfectly mounted for scientific and/or training purposes.

The custom built Combat Athlete Profiling software enables you to accurately measure, analyse and monitor an athlete’s performance in the 3 key performance indicators of power speed and endurance across all upper and lower body striking techniques.

At Strike Research our goal is simply to help combat sports continue to accelerate as the fasted evolving sport in the world.