What is the most prevalent injury in Martial arts, And what system do you train in??

[kwaichang]

MA are rampant with injury what is the most prevalent injury Low Back Knee Hip Neck?

[David43515]

I don`t see that many injuries in MA classes, Sprains and pulls seem to be the most comon though. Someone`s always taping up a bad ankle. I do N. Shaolin and some Silat. Friends that do Judo tell me the most common injuries there are to thier shoulders.

[uki]

i see alot of balloon egos that tend to blow up and go pop.

[mawali]

Knee injuries are the most common for wushu related stuff!
MA as in judo, karate, etc can vary but I would guesstimate knuckle, shoulders and lower extremities injury/trauma.
I am sure somewhere one can google MA injuries and see a compilation of problem areas!

Definition:
MA: refererring to full contact, throwing and hitting

[Mr Punch]

According to a book I have it's the knee all across the board.

It's a famous martial arts injury book by a famous martial arts doctor.

[David Jamieson]

I've never sustained injury from martial arts practice, except when someone hits me.

also, I hurt my back playing lion dance once.

But as for the kungfu? nope, no injuries, all good.

15+ years and counting.

If you are hurt from normal practice, you are doing it wrong, seek correction or a qualified teacher to help you.

even the most frail of people can have the style adapted to suit their shortcomings.

[Lucas]

the only injury ive gotten from training other than minor bruises/sprains and the like is a broken finger, which i did to myself early on in my training by kicking my own hand...

other than that, ive busted my ribs a couple times, have had a knee issue, a couple concussions, torn shoulder, chipped/cracked tooth, messed up a couple ligaments. oh and some more broken finger and joint contusions from staff.....

but thats from contact, not technique, pad or drill work.

id have to say over all i would go with knees, generally because they can get weak over time just because of genetics and they take A LOT of stress. injuries are easy to take place as there are so many ways to injure the darn things.

also a lot of martial artists ARE NOT FLEXIBLE ENOUGH!

[uki]

i was once using a crescent knife and a broadsword in freeform where i undercompensated the knife blade with my "brush the knee" kinda move - i sliced thru a hanging length of cloth belt, my shorts and my skin to the bone on the knee cap. i ended up sewing the gash together with a needle, thread, a beer cap for a thimble, and a pair of pliers. i have once stabbed myself in the hip using a jian and i shaved my forehead skin with a broadsword. I once got tendonitis of the shoulder due to iron ball juggling and masonry work overkill. i believe injuries are like dimensional shiftings of gears - once injured and experienced in it, the next one that comes along has to trump it before you will learn the newest lesson... no pain, no gain.

[Xiao3 Meng4]

I've heard knee injuries are the most common across the board, even in Tai Ji (poorly performed TaiJi, mind you, but nonetheless, there's a lot of that around.) Coming from Wing Chun/Tai Ji/Zi Ran Men, though, I haven't seen all that many. I've seen many more wrist/forearm/hand issues.

Myself, I've broken, torn or dislocated every finger at least once. Sore jaws and dislocated or cracked ribs also crop up every now and again, depending on who I'm training with and how hard.

[Drake]

I've heard knee injuries are the most common across the board, even in Tai Ji (poorly performed TaiJi, mind you, but nonetheless, there's a lot of that around.) Coming from Wing Chun/Tai Ji/Zi Ran Men, though, I haven't seen all that many. I've seen many more wrist/forearm/hand issues.

Myself, I've broken, torn or dislocated every finger at least once. Sore jaws and dislocated or cracked ribs also crop up every now and again, depending on who I'm training with and how hard.

Knee injuries are everywhere. I have an on again, off again IB band issue due to how much running I have to do. I've found the say ping ma (horse stance) helps condition me for the rigors of running.

[uki]

i seem to have avoided major knee injuries mostly due to a rather un-conscious pre-conditioning of nearly 10 years of skateboarding and then another 1000 continuous miles of walking up and down the mountains of the appalchian trail. strengthening the knee has been the better part of my exercise routine for a decade now... the knee has its roots in the kidney - having an over abundance of knee related injuries tends to be a physical manifestation of the inability to let things go(assimilating and removal of waste from the blood stream.)

[Lee Chiang Po]

I am not trying to start a fight here, but I think knee injuries prevail because of some of the radical horse stances people use. Too wide and too low. That and all the wierd kicks they do. If your technique has an equal chance of injuring you as well as an opponent I think it might not be a good one. Of course some injuries occur when one person kicks or strikes another, but I think that the vast majority of injuries are self inflicted. If you do real gung fu you will not have to worry about self injury.

[Mr Punch]

You may be right that a lot of especially traditional MA practices cause further knee damage or raise the chance of knee damage.

But knee injuries are the most common in any sport. There's no reason a body can't handle a low horse, providing it isn't used as a warm-up on cold muscles. Twisting movements are far more likely to cause knee damage than perpendicular ones.

As Uki says, skating, walking, hiking and a lot of other similar things will help your knees no end, but then again you can put your knee out bending over in a funny way...

Thomas Kurz's Stadion page: 60-odd free pages of excellent advice EVERYONE in sports of any kind should follow!

[uki]

I am not trying to start a fight here, but I think knee injuries prevail because of some of the radical horse stances people use. Too wide and too low. That and all the wierd kicks they do. If your technique has an equal chance of injuring you as well as an opponent I think it might not be a good one. Of course some injuries occur when one person kicks or strikes another, but I think that the vast majority of injuries are self inflicted. If you do real gung fu you will not have to worry about self injury.

excellent post!! obviously the key here is self awareness - knowing ones body and its limitations... train while young, what you can still train when old.

[Skip J.]

excellent post!! obviously the key here is self awareness - knowing ones body and its limitations... train while young, what you can still train when old.

Oh yeah, take it from us old guys.... my main reason for wanting to take taiji all those younger years is hurting my knees and ankles in tae kwan do.... took about 6 months of taiji for those problems to go away, but now I teach it!

Hey uki, you willin' to give this one up for a few weeks of sig line????

too little time, too many sig worthy lines......