Pose-derived kinematic features and embodied psychological functioning in Wushu Taolu: a cross-sectional study of body awareness, movement mindfulness, and psychological well-being

Background Wushu taolu, a structured movement practice requiring postural control, coordination, rhythm, body awareness, and continuous self-monitoring, provides a suitable context for examining these associations. This cross-sectional study examined associations between pose-derived wushu kinematic features and embodied psychological variables, and tested statistical indirect associations consistent with the proposed mediation model linking the pose-derived kinematic index to cognitive reappraisal through body awareness and movement mindfulness, and linking body awareness and movement mindfulness to psychological well-being through cognitive reappraisal. Methods Participants were 298 Chinese undergraduates who each performed a standardized Changquan routine recorded on video. Six pose-derived kinematic features were computed from MediaPipe Pose landmarks. Self-report measures covered body awareness (α = 0.79), movement mindfulness (α = 0.80), physical self-efficacy (α = 0.73), cognitive reappraisal (α = 0.80), expressive suppression (2-item; Spearman–Brown = 0.51), psychological well-being (α = 0.80), perceived stress (α = 0.86), and generalized anxiety (α = 0.81). Pearson correlations, multiple regression, and bootstrapped indirect-effect analyses with 5,000 resamples were applied. Results The Composite Pose-Derived Kinematic Index (M = 51.79, SD = 13.91) correlated with all psychological variables in the expected directions (rs = 0.42–0.54 positive; rs = −0.38 and −0.39 for stress and anxiety, respectively; all ps < 0.001). Regression predicting cognitive reappraisal (R 2 = 0.351) showed body awareness (β = 0.28) and movement mindfulness (β = 0.32) as independent predictors alongside the pose-derived kinematic index (β = 0.13). Bootstrapped analyses suggested indirect statistical associations from the pose-derived kinematic index to cognitive reappraisal through body awareness and movement mindfulness, and from body awareness/movement mindfulness to psychological well-being through cognitive reappraisal. Expressive suppression showed weaker and non-significant associations in supplementary analyses. Conclusion These findings suggest that pose-based kinematic analysis may provide a useful sports-analytics approach for examining movement-related psychological functioning in structured exercise settings. Although the cross-sectional design precludes causal or clinical conclusions, future prospective studies should determine whether these movement indices are associated with injury-related outcomes, and future longitudinal and intervention studies may examine movement retraining and psychologically supportive exercise programs.