Nutrition in Combat Sports

156 M. Zetaruk
Uechi-ryu, another traditional martial art, found that none of the participants sustained
time-loss injuries during the preceding 12 months. [20] Martial arts that incorporate
close supervision with a sense of self-discipline, traditional teaching methods,
philosophy, and meditation are associated with fewer and less severe injuries. [5]
Injuries in combat sports may be acute or overuse. Tournaments result in a
higher injury rate than non-competition settings. [5] Although the mechanism of
injury varies depending on the individual martial art practiced, acute injuries tend
to occur as a result of being kicked or hit, kicking or hitting an opponent, falling,
trying to break a board, or being thrown or flipped. [21]
10.4.1 Distribution of Injuries
Distribution of injuries among young martial artists depends upon the specific style
practiced. Taekwondo, karate, and kung-fu, which utilize kicking and punching
techniques, have a preponderance of lower extremity injuries. [18 , , 20 21] Styles
which involve close contact grappling and throwing, such as aikido and judo, have
a much higher proportion of upper extremity injuries. [18 , 21]
The distribution of injuries is also dependent upon the setting, with tournaments
having a different distribution compared with training sessions. Among injuries
presenting to a pediatric emergency room, head and neck injuries constitute 17% of
taekwondo injuries; [21] However, this increases to 35% during junior taekwondo
competitions. [22]
10.5 Specific Injuries
10.5.1 Concussion
Any contact or collision sport carries the potential for head injury, with the risk varying
greatly among different sports (See Table 10.2 ). The risk of concussion in soccer
is 0.18–0.23/1,000 athlete exposures, [23] while in ice hockey the rate is 3.9/1,000
athlete exposures. [24] When one of the objectives of the activity is to specifically
target the head, the risk of concussion increases. [25] In combat sports such as boxing
or kickboxing, the risk of head injury is very high, as knockdowns and knockouts lead
to success in competition. Martial arts vary in the degree of contact permitted and in
the acceptable target areas of the body. Boxing has the highest incidence among
males when compared with taekwondo and karate. [26] In women’s individual contact
sports, taekwondo had the highest rate of concussion. [26] The rate of concussion in
junior taekwondo tournaments ranges from 5 to 50/1,000 athlete exposures, [22 , 25]
and over one third of all injuries occur to the head and neck. [22] Eight percent to 10%
of injuries sustained in junior taekwondo tournaments are concussions. [2 , 22]