Abstract
This study aimed to examine the impact of icing the forearm muscle groups of judo athletes on their grip time if holding onto their opponent’s judogi during kumite (grappling). The participants were seven female university judo athletes (age: 20.0 ± 1.2 years, competitive experience: 12.3 ± 2.5 years). They performed an exercise to induce forearm muscle fatigue, followed by a simulated judo match with rules for visually impaired athletes and a 5-min rest period in between. The study compared the gripping time from “hajime” (start) to “mate” (halt) if a hikite (sleeve grip) was broken and the number of times a hikite was broken between two conditions: immersing the forearm muscles in an ice bath during the rest period and resting exclusively in a seated position. The results showed that judogi gripping time was significantly longer in the icing condition than in the resting condition (icing: 18.8 ± 6.2 sec, resting: 13.9 ± 3.9 sec), with fewer grip breaks (icing: 11.0 ± 2.6 times, resting: 16.0 ± 5.4 times). These findings suggest that icing the forearm muscles during rest may improve recovery from fatigue and prevent decreased grip endurance during matches.
https://ror.org/05e8ahe21 
