Differences in Motion Accuracy of Baduanjin between Novice and Senior Students on Inertial Sensor Measurement Systems

This study aimed to evaluate the motion accuracy of novice and senior students in Baduanjin (a traditional Chinese sport) using an inertial sensor measurement system (IMU). Study participants were nine novice students, 11 senior students, and a teacher. The motion data of all participants were measured three times with the IMU. Using the motions of the teacher as the standard motions, we used dynamic time warping to calculate the distances between the motion data of the students and the teacher to evaluate the motion accuracy of the students. The distances between the motion data of the novice students and the teacher were higher than that between senior students and the teacher (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). These initial results showed that the IMU and the corresponding mathematical methods could effectively distinguish the differences in motion accuracy between novice and senior students of Baduanjin.