How Fanplay IoT’s Smart Jersey and Combat Kinetics are Revolutionizing Performance Management Systems in Mixed Martial Arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a niche sport where athletes have to perform at peak intensity levels throughout the event. They strive to maintain, recover and regain their optimum levels constantly, to deliver peak performance during fights. So far, one could only hope for “optimum” training routines, to be on the top of this sport.

But hope has given way to reality – through data-driven approaches! Combat Kinetics is doing just that with the help of Fanplay IoT’s Smart Jersey. It is a first of its kind Wearable Tech platform with a data-driven ecosystem,that brings together the world of sports and the power of IoT in an unprecedented way. The platform is designed to capture training loads of athletes and provide actionable insights to maintain high-performance levels.

“MMA is one of the fastest going Sports in the world and we are thrilled to announce our partnership with Combat Kinetics – a leader in this sports in India. This collaboration will enable us to combine our strengths and resources to deliver innovative solutions and groundbreaking experiences for MMA athletes. This is a first of a kind in India and will help us create many champions in this space. ” – Dr. Mohan Kumar, Founder, Fanplay IoT.

In the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), every advantage counts. Analyzing and improving performance is crucial for fighters looking to gain an edge over their opponents.

MMA Fighter Shabarish training with Fanplay IoT’s Smart Jersey at the Combat Kinetics gym in Chennai.

This revolutionary technology is changing the game for Combat Kinetics fighters, providing them with real-time data and insights during training sessions.

By tracking vital data in real-time, Combat Kinetics’ coaches and athletes are able to monitor the effectiveness of their training session and take necessary changes to it, on the go.

“At Combat kinetics we are constantly nurturing a culture of excellence. Fanplay IoT and their technology give us data that fills an essential gap and allows us to analyse performance metrics of our elite athletes and their coaches.” – Mr. Ajit Sigamani, Founder, Combat Kinetics.

Fanplay IoT’s Smart Jersey and its features

Fanplay IoT’s Smart Jersey is a cutting-edge smart garment designed with conductive cables and ultra-thin metal fiber electrodes that capture ECG signals from the body. An electronic dongle (sturdy to withstand combat scenarios) is placed to transmit data to the platform in real-time. The Jersey is washable after detaching the electronic dongle.

Real-time data tracking for performance analysis

Real-time data tracking is extremely essential, especially for a sport like MMA. Combat Kinetics athletes and coaches use the real-time dashboard (in app and in a web portal) to monitor and analyze their performance both individually as well as in groups.

This system allows the continuous assessment of athletes on their own, besides which coaches can monitor the progress remotely and jump in when course correction is required. This data-driven approach ultimately leads to more efficient training, preventing injuries, faster skill development, and improved overall performance in the ring.

Moreover, the platform learns from historic data and records personalized maximum heartrates, resting heartrates and the anaerobic threshold levels for each user. This enables athletes to tweak their training sessions to the T.

MMA, HR and the sweet “Threshold” spot

Maximum heartrate of any individual is derived using standard formulas. While this approach is good on theory and for recreational trainers, it is important for an elite MMA athlete to know what his/her personal maximum heartrate is. This can be accurately derived only from testing the physical ability (a 12-minute-high-intensity run or 5 rounds of sparring) and monitoring the heartrate during that time.

It is important to understand that the following statement is 100% NOT true “athletes with higher maximum heartrate will perform at higher levels”. What data point is important to look at is the anaerobic threshold of the athlete. This again is personal to each and every one. The threshold HR value can be arrived at by calculating the average of HR while testing the physical ability for maximum heartrate, it usually ranges at 90-93% of the maximum heartrate. An athlete training or fighting at this threshold will be giving the best and the most optimal performance. On the other side of things, resting heart rate of an athlete determines how prone or not to injury an athlete is and how can the intensity of that day’s training be tailored accordingly.

Accuracy, comfort and what not? – Smart Jersey vs. the rest!

To know the various data points, capturing the data accurately is important. This is where Fanplay IoT’s Smart Jersey scores over any other device or smart watch. The Jersey is as good as any other apparel an MMA athlete would normally wear (not an additional belt or a strap) during training or fights and it captures ECG signals (not optical sensing as prevalent in smart watches). Besides knowing these data points the Fanplay IoT platform using AI/ML constantly learns about an athlete’s physiology and formulates an individual long-term player profile.

What’s in Store?

With all the exciting data-driven approach the platform has accomplished, it could just be the beginning of the new age of MMA training. The platform combined with wearable tech can change the game forever. Besides vital data monitoring, the advanced version of the Jersey has more sensors that capture respiration, hydration, and temperature. Given the Wearable-tech expertise that Fanplay IoT brings in and the MMA training experience that Combat Kinetics has, this will be a formidable partnership in MMA