Why despite statistically regular spectator sports like Basketball Having far Higher Injury Rates, Are Most People Afraid to Play In Fighting Sports?

[SlamDunkerista]

Years ago there as a case study claiming that despite the perception of being more brutal, MMA actually has far lower rates of injury and made a case of it as the safest direct contact sport out there. Now admittedly it as on a website for MMA and the article was titled "Top 5 Myths of MMA" so it had an obvious agenda.

That said as someone who follows Soccer and obviously as my username shows Basketball, I can confirm at least for those two sports there's now way you're gonna go through them per season without getting an multiple injured members esp at the highest professional leagues like NBA and the Premiere League. And by injuries I mean crippling hospitalization requiring a month in the hospital is a common occurence.

However the article does bring me a question of why if we assume its claim of injuries being much higher for every other sports, do people including hardcore ultra athlete types like Football Firms in England fear practising Boxing and Wrestling and esp MMA due to risk of injuries?

Despite getting some nasty blows playing every season of their preferred favorite sport lke Hockey (and not even at a competitive league but amateur one lke Middle School Hockey or just playing in a local neighborhood weekend baseball teams who don't even have official licenses)?

The article main contention does have a legit point. Why fear Kickboxing and other sports despite the fact the fact you are far more likely to get ouchy injuries playing Soccer n your Backyard daily with you friends?

I mean in training I got a handsprain yesterday practising offense and defense with the basketball by accidental grappling. So I have to wonder why MMA is so stigmatized in particular?

 

[skribs]

I think there's (at least) five reasons why.

1. I have never seen this article, and likely most people who are looking to get into sports or looking to compare what sports are safest haven't seen it either. It's not just that the article is possibly influenced by bias. It's that it's not something that most people have heard of.
2. Along the same lines as #1, articles like this often have flaws in research methodology, or just don't line up with personal experience. For example, the current sports science says not to do static stretches before class. However, it has been my experience and the experience of my students that if we don't do enough static stretching before class, we're more likely to pull a muscle. The research says one thing, but experience says another.
3. Crippling injuries might be more common in other sports, but lighter injuries are (probably) more common in fighting sports, since the objective is specifically to attack the other person.
4. Lifelong and life threatening brain injuries are relatively common in any striking art and some grappling arts (like Judo). There's also the supposed link between BJJ and strokes. Boxing is considered to be the world's deadliest sport, based on how battered your brain is. I don't know how often you get concussions in most sports (aside from American football), but it seems that fighting is hitting high on the low- and high- end of the injury spectrum, from bruises to brain bruises, where things like torn ligaments and broken bones are more prevalent in other sports.
5. You are supposed to get hit in fighting. You are not supposed to get hit in basketball or soccer. It's intuitive that you would get injured more if you're getting hit more.

 

[Yokozuna514]

Years ago there as a case study claiming that despite the perception of being more brutal, MMA actually has far lower rates of injury and made a case of it as the safest direct contact sport out there. Now admittedly it as on a website for MMA and the article was titled "Top 5 Myths of MMA" so it had an obvious agenda.

That said as someone who follows Soccer and obviously as my username shows Basketball, I can confirm at least for those two sports there's now way you're gonna go through them per season without getting an multiple injured members esp at the highest professional leagues like NBA and the Premiere League. And by injuries I mean crippling hospitalization requiring a month in the hospital is a common occurence.

However the article does bring me a question of why if we assume its claim of injuries being much higher for every other sports, do people including hardcore ultra athlete types like Football Firms in England fear practising Boxing and Wrestling and esp MMA due to risk of injuries?

Despite getting some nasty blows playing every season of their preferred favorite sport lke Hockey (and not even at a competitive league but amateur one lke Middle School Hockey or just playing in a local neighborhood weekend baseball teams who don't even have official licenses)?

The article main contention does have a legit point. Why fear Kickboxing and other sports despite the fact the fact you are far more likely to get ouchy injuries playing Soccer n your Backyard daily with you friends?

I mean in training I got a handsprain yesterday practising offense and defense with the basketball by accidental grappling. So I have to wonder why MMA is so stigmatized in particular?

Interesting question. Being familiar with MA, soccer and basketball especially I would say the culture around soccer and basketball promotes choosing to dedicate oneself much earlier to the sport to the exclusion of others if one chooses to pursue a pro career. Kids and parents are being told younger and younger that they have to spend more time practicing and playing to get to the upper levels and that requires more dedication to the sport. Here in NA kids are often required to choose between their club team and their school team at certain levels. The club team discourages players to play for the school specifically because they do not want them to be injured playing for someone else. Of course I am talking about athletes who are pursuing an elite stream but the message can be similar in the lower ranks depending on the importance of the sport in that area. Often times, the club teams are the path to the elite levels where the players will be noticed by scouts who can influence the players trajectory.

Parents as well can be a contributing factor that may not want their children needlessly jeopardizing their futures by getting injured in a secondary sport. I suspect the simplest answer in just that. People are having smaller and smaller families and parents are pouring more of their time, energy and money into a smaller group of kids to succeed. Seems to me that people may not want that kind of investment at risk in a sport that they know involves contact that may change the career path of an elite athlete because they got kicked in the head.

Most parents also don't realize the amount of contact their really is in basketball.

 

[Buka]

The smart money is way more afraid to participate in rugby than in fighting sports.

Rugby is a far tougher racket.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Despite the fact that organized non-contact sports do produce injuries, people don't expect that they will be injured. Self-delusion, perhaps.

Martial arts says you're going to hit and be hit, it's going to hurt, and sometimes you're going to have some trophies in the form of bruises or the occasional need to visit a healer.

It's not theoretical, it's a promise. Some people don't want to sign up for a guarantee of getting punched up some.

 

[Flying Crane]

Do people actually fear training in combat sports? Maybe they simply are not interested. If soccer, football, rugby, or basketball are what they love to do, perhaps they simply have no interest in combat sports.

It might be that the way the issue is being characterized by the OP is fundamentally inaccurate.

 

[punisher73]

I agree with FC.

Also, too many factors to make any type of meaning deductions (at least without seeing the actual study and see what the method was for the data collection, age groups, fitness level etc. etc.)

 

[MetalBoar]

Do people actually fear training in combat sports? Maybe they simply are not interested. If soccer, football, rugby, or basketball are what they love to do, perhaps they simply have no interest in combat sports.

It might be that the way the issue is being characterized by the OP is fundamentally inaccurate.

I would be surprised if a lot of people didn't fear training in combat sports. Many are probably also disinterested, which means they have no incentive to overcome that fear, but I think it's likely that many people assume that the injury rate is much higher for combat sports than it is for other sports and/or find the idea of "fighting" to be scary.

I know that a lot of people fear lifting heavy weights, and quite a few people fear lifting weights at all, due to concerns about injury. This is true, even though weight lifting is well documented to be one of the safest physical activities that you can engage in. I've found that a fair number of people are even scared of very slow, controlled, professionally supervised, weight lifting on machines, which is almost certainly safer than walking around your house or down the sidewalk from the data I've been able to find. If that frightens anyone, then there are undoubtedly a lot of people scared by the idea of potentially being kicked or thrown to the ground.

 

[Flying Crane]

I would be surprised if a lot of people didn't fear training in combat sports. Many are probably also disinterested, which means they have no incentive to overcome that fear, but I think it's likely that many people assume that the injury rate is much higher for combat sports than it is for other sports and/or find the idea of "fighting" to be scary.

I know that a lot of people fear lifting heavy weights, and quite a few people fear lifting weights at all, due to concerns about injury. This is true, even though weight lifting is well documented to be one of the safest physical activities that you can engage in. I've found that a fair number of people are even scared of very slow, controlled, professionally supervised, weight lifting on machines, which is almost certainly safer than walking around your house or down the sidewalk from the data I've been able to find. If that frightens anyone, then there are undoubtedly a lot of people scared by the idea of potentially being kicked or thrown to the ground.

Fair enough, but I doubt any assumptions can be made in the general sense that the people who play rugby or football or whatever, are actually afraid to train combat sports, vs. are simply disinterested or at least are more interested in those team sports and therefor make the choice to partake in those, given limited free-time for recreation.

My point really is that the OP presented the issue in a way that seems to me to assume people who do not train martial arts/combat sports are sort of default afraid of it. I doubt that can be supported.

 

[Jared Traveler]

I would suggest reading Lt. Dave Grossman's book "On Killing" to find answer. Human aggression is one of the primary fears people have. Certainly you deal with human aggression and other sports, but the intent it's different in martial arts.

 

[Buka]

Do people actually fear training in combat sports? Maybe they simply are not interested. If soccer, football, rugby, or basketball are what they love to do, perhaps they simply have no interest in combat sports.

It might be that the way the issue is being characterized by the OP is fundamentally inaccurate.

I think they do fear training in combat sports. I also think that fear is reinforced by a whole lot of Karate instructors.

 

[Flying Crane]

I think they do fear training in combat sports. I also think that fear is reinforced by a whole lot of Karate instructors.

You think that everybody who plays soccer, football, rugby, baseball, lacrosse, or basketball, are all operating out of fear of martial arts? That’s a whole lot of people. Maybe it’s true for a few, sure. But I would heavily doubt it is a significant percentage.

My personal suspicion is that by far the majority of them don’t ever even think of, or consider, training in martial arts. It simply isn’t on their radar because they are busy doing something else that they enjoy.

 

[Buka]

You think that everybody who plays soccer, football, rugby, baseball, lacrosse, or basketball, are all operating out of fear of martial arts? That’s a whole lot of people. Maybe it’s true for a few, sure. But I would heavily doubt it is a significant percentage.

My personal suspicion is that by far the majority of them don’t ever even think of, or consider, training in martial arts. It simply isn’t on their radar because they are busy doing something else that they enjoy.

No, not at all. I think a lot of people who go into any form of Martial Training fear both combat sports and the Martial Training itself.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Do people actually fear training in combat sports? Maybe they simply are not interested. If soccer, football, rugby, or basketball are what they love to do, perhaps they simply have no interest in combat sports.

It might be that the way the issue is being characterized by the OP is fundamentally inaccurate.

Anecdotally, I've met a fair number of people who fear it. And even more people who are parents and don't want their kids training in X because they're worried they'll get hurt.

 

[Flying Crane]

No, not at all. I think a lot of people who go into any form of Martial Training fear both combat sports and the Martial Training itself.

Gotcha. Looks like we were talking past each other.

 

[Flying Crane]

Anecdotally, I've met a fair number of people who fear it. And even more people who are parents and don't want their kids training in X because they're worried they'll get hurt.

Yeah, there will certainly be some of that. I don’t want my kid training in football.

 

[Buka]

Yeah, there will certainly be some of that. I don’t want my kid training in football.

I hear that. My friends who have kids wanting to play football strongly encourage them to become kickers. Kickers have it made in the shade.

 

[isshinryuronin]

Great discussion by everyone.

You are supposed to get hit in fighting. You are not supposed to get hit in basketball or soccer.

This is an excellent point - one that I'll use to come from the opposite direction on this issue.

While it happens, in MA you are trained NOT to get hit. Other kinds of sports, for the most part, do not teach tactics/techniques to avoid this.

Because you aren't supposed to get hit in basketball or soccer, the players are not watching for it and the moves they are focused on (shooting, dribbling, passing...) do not inherently have a defense from injury built in. This, IMO, makes them at least as susceptible to injury as MA. Now, competitive contact MA (boxing, MMA, Muy Thai) is a different matter. I'm talking about the other 99% of MA practitioners.

MA practitioners are generally trained to control their techniques to limit injury in practice or competition. They respect the danger. I think this is missing in most other sports.

All sports involving contact with the opposing party can result in sprains, bruising, jammed fingers or a bloody nose, but broken bones, concussions, torn ligaments and the like requiring hospitalization are not that common in MA from my experience considering the vast numbers of kids and adults engaged in it. Of course, some schools are more Cobra Kai-like than others.

And there's always curling or pickle ball available for those less contact oriented.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Non-combat sports have a higher number of injuries each yeah. Yup. Sure thing. Totally agree. However, that is NOT the same thing as a higher rate of injuries. It's not a subject I've spent a ton of time on, but I do not recall ever seeing a "study" on sports injury rates that had anything resembling good methodology.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I've had students react with horror when I urge them to apply power to a technique, telling them the proper intent is to break bones or cartilage or dislocate or damage soft tissue. They never made the internal mental connection that training martial arts is training to hurt, damage, or kill people. It can be unsettling to absorb that concept on a conscious level. I don't mean in the dojo against training partners, I mean the mental intent when performing techniques. If I kick someone in the groin, in my mind, the intent is to do permanent damage, not jangle their dangles.

Baseball doesn't have that problem.