Abstract

Purpose: Motor skills are essential for carrying out daily tasks and the practice of physical activities can help to increase these skills. Being combat sports, it can be an alternative practice with this objective. However, it is not known which is the ideal modality. Therefore, the aim was to analyze the effects of nine months of practicing Muay Thai (MT) and Judo on the motor skills of children and adolescents. Methods: A sample of 109 young people from a Philanthropic Institution was distributed into: control (n = 36), Judo (n = 29) and MT (n = 44). The following motor skills tests were carried out: balance on the beam, side jumps, single-leg jump and transfer onto the platform. The intervention lasted nine months, twice a week for one hour. Results: After nine months, the Judo and Muay Thai groups showed increased values ??in lateral jumps (Judo p-value < 0.001; Muay Thai p-value < 0.001), and transfer platform (Judo p-value = 0.007; Muay Thai p-value < 0.001) from the pre-moment compared to the post-moment. In the single-leg jump, the Judo (p-value = 0.011) and MT (p-value < 0.001) groups were different compared to the control group. Conclusion: The practice of combat sports was effective in causing improvements in the motor skills of young. © The Author(s) 2025.