Jennifer Byrne

Females currently have to wear a chest guard and a body protector. These two products do not fit well together. This makes it very uncomfortable for the athlete and safety is often reduced. As a result of primary and secondary research a revised brief was determined To design a body protection which; is not bulky or restrictive, has good flexibility, incorporates the chest protection in a comfortable way for females, lets the body breath, allows the user to put the body protection on and take it off by themselves, allows the user to adjust it to their own preference, offers full protection to the athlete

Brainstorming and sketching were used to generate as many concepts as possible.

The concept chosen uses a plastic layer combined with impact protection foam The idea came from noticing that females had no problems with the current plastic chest protection. Ways to ensure that the product was flexible and offered full protection were developed next.

Next, the way the protection fit on the users body was developed. It was decided to use a t-shirt as this would be slim, non-bulky and would not cause irritation to the skin. The plastic components could sit into pockets in the t-shirt.

Chest Protector

Stomach Protector. Both the chest and stomach protector work using two layers of plastic held apart by an air gap. As impact is made from a punch or kick the force is taken by the layer furthest from the body and the athlete feels a reduced force.

Each layer is 1.5mm thick. There is a gap of 1.5mm between the layers. This means that when a punch or kick makes contact, the force is exerted on the layer furthest from the body. Most of the force will be taken by this layer as it displaces and fills the gap between the layers. By the time the layer closest to the body is reached most of the force has been dispersed. The athlete will now only feel the reduced force and displacement. The layers are held apart by small plastic cylinder extrudes.

The t-shirt component is made of a stretch material to help with the flexibility of the design. It can be easily put on the athlete. It will hold the plastic securely in place and tight against the body. A pocket will be created on the inside of the t-shirt to allow the plastic part to sit into it. The impact protection foam will be stitched into the t-shirt. This then fits neatly and comfortably underneath the martial arts suit.