Personally, I support all sports that help improve health, self-esteem, positive outlook, discipline, and self-awareness. With this being said, even though I competed for many years in martial arts and boxing, I can testify that although martial arts has many benefits, there are also many scientifically proven cons that can endanger a participant’s health, and in severe cases, lead to death. Are box and MMA dangerous, read on!
I personally stopped competing in martial arts and boxing, even though I still train, because there was so much empirical evidence that getting hit in the head results in significant long term damage- which in the majority of cases cannot be reversed.
Around the time I decided to distance myself from fighting, I became passionate about general fitness and health and ways of incorporating the best aspects of martial arts/boxing while eliminating it’s dangerous injuries into my ReSync Method.
My personal opinion is if somebody wants to compete in boxing or MMA, they need to be fully prepared mentally and physically in order to decrease the risk of permanent damage. It is important to note that the risk can never be fully avoided. In the past, athletes were better prepared for competition, they had more structure in their education in terms of technique, physical, and mental strength. In the more recent years, fighting has become a business that is open to the masses, and many fighters are drawn to the allure of being on TV rather than the honor, competitive spirit, and philosophy behind martial arts fighting.
Below, you can read pros and cons associated with boxing and MMA so you can draw your own conclusions based on research and facts:
PROS
- Improved balance and coordination. It conditions you to quickly shift your weight and change directions, a key to excel in sports.
- Teach self-defense. An invaluable quality for self-protection.
- Physical conditioning is one of the most important aspects of boxing and MMA. The training associated with these sports incorporate routines designed to to increase strength stamina, flexibility and all around condition so that athletes can go rounds without tiring.
- Dynamic flexibility of joints, muscles, and ligaments. This promotes better posture, making you appear taller and leaner, and it will continue to improve your quality of life as you age, injury free.
- Power. The two components of power are strength and speed, both of which are crucial parts of boxing and MMA training, so this type of training improves an athletes ability to perform explosive movements like jumping.
- Boxing and MMA training requires deep concentration and the ability to avoid distraction. So there is a mental aspect of the sport that often gets disregarded- quick thinking and instincts are key to success in fighting sports.
CONS
- The American Association of Neurological Surgeons says that 90% of boxers will have sustained a brain injury by the end of their careers.
- Eye injuries and dementia, are also effects of being hit in the head.
- The Nevada Athletic Commission did a five-year study on injuries in boxing and concluded that the amount of padding used in boxing gloves is directly correlated to the injury rate in boxing.
- In a typical boxing match, most punches are thrown at the head, since it’s difficult to achieve a knockout through blows to the body. The cumulative effect of constant hitting over the course of a fight can have a traumatic effect on a fighter’s head.
- According to a study undertaken by the British Board of Sports Medicine from 2002 to 2007, the standing eight count is the primary cause of the most serious injuries in boxing because it gives fighters the option to worsen injuries they have already sustained. Doctors call the stuttering and staggering after the standing eight count pugilistic dementia.
- From 1998 to 2006, there were 70 recorded deaths caused by injuries related to the sport of boxing.
- Injuries suffered by MMA fighters include head trauma, musculoskeletal stress, joint dislocation and soft tissue trauma.
- In 2008, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine published a study of injuries sustained during sanctioned MMA competitions. According to their findings, the most common reported injuries were lacerations and upper extremity injuries. The most frequent injuries are broken bones.
- There have been two recorded deaths in mixed martial arts.
- Research in the American Association of Neurological Surgeons’ 2006 study pointed out that the average direct hit to the head that a boxer sustains is equivalent to being hit with a 12-pound wooden mallet traveling at around 20 miles per hour.
- Professional boxers suffer from the cumulative effect of damage to the brain, often resulting in punch drunk’ syndrome.
- According to the Johns Hopkins study, head trauma and cerebral hemorrhages are the No. 1 cause of death in combat sports.
- John Hopkins study concluded that boxing is the most dangerous combat sport in America.
- MMA dangerous very truly.
Health Fitness Revolution by Samir Becic Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization, to make the world a healthier, fitter place, please donate!
