How often do you get banged up?

I was just wondering ? Have you ever limped in to work or school the day after class? I think 90%

of MA people have....the rest lied

Have there been any studies on the long term effects of MA on the body? I know of a few with hip replacements ect...

Maybe we could take a poll.

What do you think?

Well I haven't been banged up, but I certainly have banged people up. They always think that just because I am a kid, I can't hurt them.

Oh how wrong they are!

Actually this topic came up in another club site I am in a few months ago. There have been studies done in this area. As it turns out martial arts - karate - are among the safest sports in terms of injuries.

I think it was either Cyberdojo or Bob McMahans Shotokan club on yahoo that this came up in.

I do karate and I have horses. Most weeks I'll come home from class with a few bruises and sore fingers and we've had quite a few broken toes and a couple of cracked ribs amongst people in the class in the past year. However amongst my friends with horses over the years it's been a much different story. Most of my friends have had some serious injury on at least one occasion and there's been more than one death. Last summer a close friend was off work for 6 months and was in a full body cast for ages with a crushed pelvis and another had a broken shoulder. I've been pretty lucky really a broken ankle is about the worst thing that has happened to me.

Despite this whenI talk about my hobbies people say "Oh you've got a horse, isn't he cute" then say "Ooh karate, isn't that dangerous"

Honestly I think it depends on the type of martial arts you train in, the level at which you train and how often. Also take into consideration age and physical fitness of the individual. I think the benefit of MA training far exceed the negative physical effects.... that being bruises, broken bones, bloody noses, muscle pulls, etc. etc. Sparring, board breaking, tournament/competitions increase the level of injuries one receives. I have yet to acquire an injury simply from class instruction or from personal training. Mainly bruises, bruised ribs and black & blues from sparring and board breaks. Oh....I once broke my toe when I rolled a wavemaster onto it and also when I jump sidekicked over some open folding chairs...(I won't tell you where that injury was but YEEOUCH!)

I havent had any serious injuries. A couple of broken toes and a broken finger along with the usual black and blues. I train 4 classes a week. Ive been hurt more outside the dojo than in it actually.

Go figure???

When the odd few injuries do happen in your dojo are they treated as object lessons of what not to do or as badges of honor?

yeah. I'm just gonna watch the direction that this conversation goes.

We consider it a learning experience, we try to correct mistakes if that is the root cause of the problem. As for me Ive gotten hurt with

either a poorly chambered kick or a mental lapse or two.

well I havent limped to school after a day of class but I have had close to but after a while sometimes it goes away so i am fine

well it is true ive seen people have gone to Martial Arts and broke parts of there body and sometimes even ended there life or are now in a wheelchair or disabelled. there are risks to martial Arts but you know them so if you can't complain that you didn't know.