WTF Taekwondo one of the safer martial art sports around
I was browsing through some news feeds on the web, found this article entitled Concussion effect ’spans decades’ and immediately thought about all the possible concussions suffered (or delivered) by players in the sparring ring.
The previously concussed volunteers had poorer performance in the memory tests, delayed responses to unpredictable events, and were unable to complete the hand control tests as quickly.
That’s the bottom line for those 40 former athletes aged between 50 and 60 who were tested. The article didn’t really go into which specific sports that these former athletes played in – although it does mention football (soccer) and there’s also a photo of ice-hockey players also.
The soccer concussions came about from repetitive headers of the old-style heavier balls and you can just imagine all the hard knocks being dished out on the hockey rink – and that’s not even including the punch ups they occasionally engage in.
Now, those are just "normal" sports. What about our sport? What about all the combat sports out there? I can’t say that we definitely repeatedly get hit in the head, but I’m pretty sure we aim to do that to the other person! I can name an obvious combat sport that their athletes are in a high risk of getting concussions – and therefore the possible long term effects that the article was writing about; BOXING!
They love their KO’s and it’s always a great spectacle to see it happen. They pretty much aim for the head more than half the time and I wouldn’t be surprised if this earns the number 1 sport for athlete concussions. Albeit, professional boxing and amateur boxing is quite different with respect to protective equipment, they’re all still hammering to slog one square in the face of their opponent. With head gear or not, it’s still gonna hurt and repeated actions aren’t going to help, either.
Then, I’m grateful that in our discipline we have restrictions on punching to the face/head. Yes, we do wear head protective gear but then again, so do those amateur boxers. Luckily, in Australia at least, we also have restrictions on kicking to the head for those young children under 14 years of age.
All these add up to the safety and well-being of the players choosing to engage in the sporting side of WTF Taekwondo.
I don’t claim to know ALL or even a few of the combat sports out there. Though I had trained in Muay Thai for a year and I can tell you that we got smashed in the face plenty and the only thing that softened the blow was the cushioning in the boxing gloves we wore. We were really unlucky if we got hit in the head by a foot, a leg (shin), a knee or an elbow! So I’m glad that WTF Taekwondo has all the protective equipment and rules and regulations that we do.
Are there other combat sports that you know of that you’d like to share? In particular, their ability to hand out a concussion.
Roy Khoh says:
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
I forgot about the humble MOUTH-GUARD and how much it helps to prevent concussions, as well as injury to the obvious dental structure.
In some countries, the mouth guard wasn’t compulsory protective equipment until after the successful inclusion of Taekwondo in the Olympics (ie. even around 1992).
So for those who forget their mouth guards, beware!!!
Kim Seng says:
February 8th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
There are three (3) main severity levels of concussion from a mild grade 1 level to the severe grade 3 level. It is important, as players, coaches and officials (eg referees) to have some base knowledge of what are the symptoms. The below is a summary and is merely to raise awareness and provide some early indications and early management of the situation. This is not the full medical treatment. Any requirement for medical attention must be referred to the appropriate medical authorities.
The concussion symptoms can last from several minutes to several hours. The athlete suffering a concussion may or may not lose consciousness from the injury.
Grade 1 concussion is the most common and accounts for 90% of concussions, and it is the most difficult to diagnose and recognize. It is important for the coach, the referee (of the match) and other fellow players to note any unusual behaviour of any player who had been hit in the head, the most common symptoms include the player cannot remember what happened or know where he is or is suffering from temporary memory loss for up to 15 minutes or has poor attention and an inability to process information (communication) or perform tasks (practice drills or warming up properly). When this is recognized, you must report the situation to the medical officers so correct diagnosis and medical treatment can be administered.
Grade 2 concussion lasts longer than 15 minutes of the symptoms as for the grade 1 concussion and can last as long as 1 hour. If the symptoms persist longer than 1 hour, immediate medical attention must be administered.
The Grade 3 concussion is visibly the most easily identified as the player would be unconscious, eg from the result of a knock-out kick to the head. The loss of consciousness may be brief (as in a few seconds) or prolonged (as in minutes or longer). In this situation medical attention and treatment must be administered immediately.
In taekwondo sport, the most easily identifiable concussion is the grade 3 level concussion, but it is equally as important to know that even the mild grade 1 concussion must be recognized as soon as the symptoms are displayed.
As the above article presents, taekwondo has taken steps to mitigate head injuries by using head protective guards for tournaments and the no head contact rule for the juniors of under 14 and below age group players.
For more information, this link below contains an article reproduced from Sports Medicine Australia for the management of concussions – and this may help you understand it a bit more.
Treatment of Concussions
simplelogik says:
February 10th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
I remember reading stats from the ABS a couple of years ago, it stated that contact martial arts is as dangerous as dancing, the risk factor is ranked as very low, whilst one of the most dangerous sport is NETBALL, only behind soccer and AFL !!! Now trying to explain to the average mom & dad that the netball is more dangerous than martial arts
..
Roy Khoh says:
February 11th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Wow! If the Australian Bureau of Statistics says so – then I believe it!
A bit like “I can’t believe it’s not butter”