Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4 - Page 5 - Page 6 - Page 7 - Page 8 - Page 9 - Page 10

Some the scientific research that has been conducted on martial art related subjects

No holds barred sport fighting: a 10-year review of mixed martial arts competition

G. Buse
British Journal of Sports Medicine 2006;40:169-172

This study sought to identify the most salient medical issues that may be associated with mixed martial arts competition by determining the types and proportions of match stoppages.

Publicly available video footage of 1284 men competing in 642 consecutive televised matches from November 1993 to November 2003 was reviewed to determine the reasons for which matches were stopped. Matches were sanctioned by either a United States or a Japan based mixed martial arts organization.

Of the 642 matches, 182 (28.3%) were stopped because of head impact, 106 (16.5%) because of musculoskeletal stress, 91 (14.1%) because of neck choke, 83 (12.9%) because of miscellaneous trauma, 173 (27.0%) because of expiration of match time, and seven (1.0%) because of disqualification.

Conclusions. Blunt force to the head resulted in the highest proportion of match stoppages. Further research is warranted to delineate the morbidity associated with participation in mixed martial arts

Effect of implementation of safety measures in tae kwon do competition

D. Burke, K. Barfoot, S. Bryant, J. Schneider, H. Kim, and G. Levin
British Journal of Sports Medicine 2003; 37:401-404

Previous reviews of Taekwondo (TKD) tournaments have documented injury rates of 25/1000 to 12.7/100 athlete exposures. Most injuries have been reported to be to the head and the neck and are occasionally very serious. Many of these studies involved high-level TKD competitions with minimal safety precautions. Recently, safety measures have been implemented in many TKD competitions.

This study sought to evaluate retrospectively the incidence of injuries in TKD competitions involving a wide range of participants and featuring extensive safety precautions.

A total of 2498 participants ranged in age from 18 to 66, included both men and women, and ranged in rank from yellow to black belt. Traumas, defined as any event requiring interaction with medical staff, were documented with respect to mechanism, diagnosis, treatment, and follow up recommendations. An injury was defined as a trauma that prevented a contestant from resuming competition on the day that the trauma occurred, according to National Collegiate Athletic Association criteria.

The injury rate was 0.4/1000 athlete exposures. This is lower than reported in previous studies of TKD tournaments and in many other sports.

Conclusions. TKD tournaments that emphasize limited contact, protective equipment, and medical supervision are relatively safe and compare favorably with other sports.

A prospective cohort study of injury in amateur and professional boxing

T. Zazryn, P. Cameron, and P. McCrory
British Journal of Sports Medicine 2006; 40:670-674

There is concern over the potential for a high incidence of injury in boxing. This is despite a lack of prospective data evaluating the risk for modern day participants. Updated, reliable data with a focus on potential exposure to injury for both amateur and, especially, professional boxers is required.

This study sought to determine the epidemiology of injury and exposure of amateur and professional boxers in Victoria, Australia.

A prospective cohort study with one year follow up was carried out over 2004–2005; 33 amateur and 14 active professional boxers volunteered. Exposure at training and competition was measured, and any injuries sustained during this participation were recorded.

Twenty-one injuries were sustained by the cohort during the follow up period. Most were to the head region (71%), with concussion being the most common (33%). An overall injury rate of 2.0 injuries per 1000 hours of boxing was calculated.

Conclusions. The high exposure experienced by the boxers (as a result of considerable training time) indicated that boxing has acute injury rates comparable to, and often lower than, those found in other contact and non-contact sports. Further, acute injuries during training appear to be less common and severe than those sustained in bouts.

Low bone mineral density is two to three times more prevalent in non-athletic premenopausal women than in elite athletes: a comprehensive controlled study

M. Torstveit and J. Sundgot-Borgen
British Journal of Sports Medicine 2005; 39:282-287

This study compared bone mineral density (BMD), investigated factors associated with BMD, and examined the prevalence of low BMD in athletes and non-athletic controls.

The study included a questionnaire measurement of BMD, and a clinical interview. Participants were 938 Norwegian female athletes on national teams and an aged matched random sample of 900 non-athletic controls.

Mean total body BMD was higher in athletes than in controls, and higher in high impact sports athletes than in medium impact and low impact sports athletes. In athletes, body weight and impact loading sports were positively associated, and percent body fat and eating disorders were negatively associated with total body BMD. Body weight and weight bearing activities were positively associated and menstrual dysfunction was negatively associated with total body BMD in controls. A higher percentage of controls (28.3%) than athletes (10.7%) had low BMD.

Conclusions. Female elite athletes have 3–20% higher BMD than non-athletic controls and high impact sports athletes have 3–22% higher BMD compared with medium and low impact sports athletes. Low BMD is two to three times more common in non-athletic premenopausal women than in elite athletes.

Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4 - Page 5 - Page 6 - Page 7 - Page 8 - Page 9 - Page 10