Is Martial Arts safer than other sports like Soccer, Rugby and Aussie Rules?Written on the 4 October 2018  "Is Martial Arts safer than other sports like Soccer, Rugby and Aussie Rules?") A report completed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) in 2014 found that there were 36,000 sports hospitalisations in the 2011-2012 period, for people age 15 and over. The report also confirms that 28% of injuries affect the knee and lower leg, 15% elbow/forearm and 14% are wrist/hand injuries. The injuries are happening 49% of the time by fracturing, 23% soft tissue injuries such as a sprained ankle and 7% are dislocations. The top 3 team sporting injuries in Australia come from:
1. Australian Rules Football (9% of all sports hospitalisations) Across these three sports, the most common injuries is bone fractures followed by soft tissue injuries and third being brain injuries. The main causes being contact with another person and falling. The top 10 most statistically dangerous sports in Australia accounting for the most hospitalisations overall are:
1. Australian rules football Cricket and competitive swimming generally are not popular enough to account for too many hospitalisations, but they also have their own specific risks. Cricketers are likely to show up in the ER with a fractured wrist or hand, while many competitive swimmers are much more likely to slip on the poolside and break their leg than anything else. Interestingly Martial Arts falling under "Combative Sports" comes 18 on the list just ahead of Fishing, Dancing and Golf...you might ask why? In general Martial Arts has a high form of discipline which is taught prior to learning techniques that can injure you. Also with "personal contact" and "falling" being the top ways to get injured in team sports such as Rugby and Soccer, a good Martial Arts school has systems in place to teach you how to fall from a basic level and gradually builds up the process of light personal contact to full contact sparring over a period of time and progression which keeps this aspect of the sport safe. Do you want to send your child to Martial Arts or the hospital?
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