Martial Arts Injury Statistics

[p00rusan]

Does anyone know where i can find some good statistics on martial arts injuries, i need it for some school work?

[Marrt]

Does anyone know where i can find some good statistics on martial arts injuries, i need it for some school work?

Well, what'd really help is if you could be a little more vague. What you're asking for is a little too specific currently.


go here -
http://www.cpsc.gov/library/neiss.html

hit the button at the bottom of the page - the code you want for martial arts is 3257, then start putting in some criteria like age, date ranges, gender, whatever you need to get your samples.

[Judah Maccabee]

www.pubmed.com

Type in martial arts injury and go nuts.

Here's some cites to get started:

Zetaruk (2005) Br. J. Sports Med. 2005 vol 39, p. 29-33

Results: The rate of injuries, expressed as percentage of participants sustaining an injury that required time
off training a year, varied according to style: 59% tae kwon do, 51% aikido, 38% kung fu, 30% karate,
and 14% tai chi. There was a threefold increased risk of injury and multiple injury in tae kwon do than
karate (p,0.001). Subjects >18 years of age were at greater risk of injury than younger ones (p,0.05;
OR 3.95; CI 1.48 to 9.52). Martial artists with at least three years experience were twice as likely to
sustain injury than less experienced students (p,0.005; OR 2.46; CI 1.51 to 4.02). Training .3 h/week
was also a significant predictor of injury (p,0.05; OR 1.85; CI 1.13 to 3.05). Compared with karate, the
risks of head/neck injury, upper extremity injury, and soft tissue injury were all higher in aikido
(p,0.005), and the risks of head/neck, groin, and upper and lower extremity injuries were higher in tae
kwon do (p,0.001). No sex differences were found for any of the outcomes studied.
Conclusions: There is a higher rate of injury in tae kwon do than Shotokan karate. Different martial arts
have significantly different types and distribution of injuries. Martial arts appear to be safe for young
athletes, particularly those at beginner or intermediate levels.

Brudnak (2002) Medical Hypotheses vol 59, p. 485-491

Summary Falls are a leading cause of death in the elderly. Associated with aging is a loss of muscular strength,
flexibility, and coordination. Regular exercise is widely believed to be of benefit for the elderly. To this end, various
exercise regimes have been employed to battle the associated problems of aging. One such has been the
Chinese martial art, Tai Chi Chuan (TC). TC as an exercise system uses slow smooth movements to train the
body in balance, endurance, and strength. For this reason, it is known as a ‘soft’ martial art, in that it is very
non-impact oriented. There have been a variety of studies in the West examining the beneficial effects of TC.
However, to date, there have been no studies with senior citizens using other martial arts, of which, TC is but one.
The present study was designed to examine the appropriateness and effects of a Korean martial art known as
TaeKwon-Do (TKD), a ‘hard’ martial art, on an elderly population measuring similar parameters reported for TC.
Of those participants that attended >85% of classes, an increase was observed in the average number of
push-ups, trunk flexion, and balance time on each foot. TKD proved effective at increasing one-leg balance in the
population examined. Additionally, the overall dropout rate was extremely low suggesting both that the elderly are
capable of participating in a hard martial art and that they have an interest in it as a viable alternative to other forms
of exercise. The present study suggests that TKD as a form of exercise for an elderly population is both viable and
potentially popular and warrants further study. ª 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gartland (2005) Clin J Sports Med vol 15, p. 34-36

Objective: To investigate prospectively the type and rate of injuries
sustained during amateur Muay Thai competition.
Design: Prospective cohort study collection of data following clinical
examination.
Setting: Amateur Muay Thai competitions in the United Kingdom
organized by the International Amateur Muay Thai Federation.
Participants: Amateur Muay Thai boxers. Both sexes. Lightweight
to super heavyweight.
Results: There were 92 participants, 12 females and 82 males. The
average age was 17.3 years, and the average previous number of bouts
was 3.9. A total of 588.5 minutes of competition time was assessed
during a total of 10 events. Injury rates were 1.3 injuries per 100 minutes
of competition in the lightweight category, 2.25 per 100 minutes
of competition in the middleweight category, 30 per 100 minutes of
competition in the heavyweight category, and 2.54 per 100 minutes of
competition in the super heavyweight category.
Conclusions: Compared with other reported martial arts, the injury
rates are higher in Muay Thai. The head was shown to be the most
common site of injury in amateur fighters, but there was an almost
complete absence of lower limb injuries, which again is at variance
with reported figures for other martial arts.

[ironlurker]

That part about akido is interesting Judah. What do they mean by training .3 h/week?

[Judah Maccabee]

It copied badly. It should be training >3hrs/wk.

From the abstract, it basically says if you're over 18, train more than 3 hrs/wk, and have 3 years of experience or more, each of these increases your risk of injury.

[EmetShamash]

Yes, it is common knowledge that once you get to be over 18 you should enter your safety bubble and not participate in all these dangerous activities like walking right?

[Judah Maccabee]

Yes, it is common knowledge that once you get to be over 18 you should enter your safety bubble and not participate in all these dangerous activities like walking right?

Except, that's not what the study says. It only says your injury risk increases compared to before 18. Which, if you factor in having more time to train (another risk factor), training more intensely, having more skilled opponents, and having more powerful strikes, makes more sense than your "safety bubble."

[Teh El Macho]

The OP would be better served if he not only search for "martial arts", but for specific arts - aikido, tai chi, judo, wrestling, boxing (the last two most likely are not listed as martial arts), kickboxing, etc... if he wants do to a good job in writing a good homework :tongue3: