Olympic Battle Plans: The Story Behind the AIS Combat Centre

Synopsis

Australia did not win any Gold Medals at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal. As a country, Australia is geographically isolated, has a small population of 25.7 million and celebrates many non-Olympic sports such as netball and AFL that attract talent away from Olympic sport. Thus, the odds that Australian Olympians will be successful are low. However, for a nation that takes their sport seriously, science and innovation have come to the rescue to give coaches and athletes an edge. Today, many of Australia’s elite athletes enjoy state-of-the-art facilities, experienced coaches, and well-trained Sport Medicine and Sport Science expertise. Australian ingenuity and commitment maybe responsible for recent success in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo where 17 Gold medals were awarded to Australia (6th on the medal table). It appears that innovative thinking is allowing Australia to “punch above its weight” in international sport.

The story of the Combat Centre begins with informal discussions between AIS sport scientists committed to “making a difference”. More specifically, scientists were asking the question “What can the AIS do to increase Australian Olympic Success?” A preliminary review of Olympic Combat sports revealed many relevant findings such as 1) 53 Olympic Gold medals were awarded to Combat athletes (judo, wrestling, boxing and taekwondo), 2) in 2012, Australia was the only country ranked in the top 10 that didn’t win any Olympic Combat medals, 3) the diversity of nations winning combat medals is high, 4) many “favorites” did not win gold in combat sports due to injury and upsets, 5) costs required to support Olympic combat athletes is relatively low, 6) both men and women compete in combat sports and 7) many sport science and sports medicine themes are shared across combat sports (e.g., intermittent high-intensity exercise, injuries, concussion, making weight, skill development, competition analysis). The rationale for why Australia should commit to Combat Sports was strong, the AIS had the facilities and expertise available to help, but progressing this idea relied upon funding opportunities and timing.

The arrival of a new AIS Director in 2012 created a receptive environment for bold initiatives. A Combat Centre proposal was developed that was compatible with Winning Edge and Sports Draft initiatives. Once the project met approval by AIS leadership, individual combat sports were contacted to secure their support and AIS sport science talent was recruited from other programs to work within the Centre. The final step was to secure a location on site and recruit PhD students to connect with coaches and drive many of the special projects. In a few short years the Australian Combat Centre began to partner with other organizations (2nd Commando Regiment, Universities) and make contributions to the international Combat Sport Research Community (published papers, ACSM Symposium). International collaborations were made possible through IOC Solidarity Grants (Japan). The Combat Centre generated positive publicity and importantly, international results began to improve. Over the past 10 years, The AIS Combat Centre has grown into the Combat Institute of Australia (Combat AUS) who remain focused on international results. Upon reflection, the AIS Combat Centre is a unique example of how AIS sport scientists can “think big” and make a substantial impact on Australian Olympic success

Biography

Dr David T Martin has more than 30 years of experience working with Olympic and Professional coaches and athletes as an applied sport scientist and high performance director. During this time, Dr Martin has published 120 peer-reviewed scientific publications investigating topics such as talent identification, training load, fatigue management, competition analysis, altitude training, and thermoregulation. At the Australian Institute of Sport, Dr Martin was a Senior Physiologist, a National Sport Science Coordinator for Cycling, and the inaugural Director of Performance for the AIS Combat Centre.

More recently, Dr Martin worked in the NBA as the Director for Performance for the Philadelphia 76ers (2015-2019) and currently is Chief Scientist/Director of Performance for Performance Health Science a Bay Area start-up company focusing on health and fitness throughout decades of life. Dr. Martin continues to consult with high performance sport organizations including the Queensland Academy of Sport.