Hi, This is an intresting article written recently on the boxing insider website. see what you think. 11th, 2011 By: William Holmes “For me, the martial arts is a search for something inside. It’s not just a physical discipline.” -Brandon Lee Recently, the participation of children in various martial arts has been questioned by the media and various organizations. The United State’s largest organization of pediatricians has urged its members to vigorously oppose boxing for any child or adolescent1. Another website has been created to campaign against the UFC, and has called itself UFC, unfit for children2. Additionally, across the pond mixed martial arts in England has been under attack by the media, for allowing children to compete in the cage3. There is no argument against the fact that the martial arts teaches self defense by physical means, however, these organizations and groups fail to recognize the other side of martial arts, and the benefits it can bring to its’ young participants. Let us ignore the current MMA vs. Boxing debate that is going around in the media, as this argument pertains to both mixed martial arts and boxing. Both sports are admittedly inherently violent, and both sports teach self defense. Both sports require years of hard work and dedication in order to succeed in it. Both sports would also benefit from the participation of youth in them in order to succeed in the future. The MSNBC article cited pediatricians’ concern about the safety of the youth participants as the chief reason for their opposition to children participating in boxing. They state that one in five professional boxers wind up with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain injury also known as dementia pugilistica. However, the article goes on to state that this study is based on older data, and boxing has become safer since. Also, the article states that the injury rate in boxing is one injury for every 1,000 hours of amateur boxing. Ironically, this is lower than the injury rates for wrestling, soccer, and football. If the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) was concerned about the injuries of children who participate in boxing, shouldn’t they also vigorously oppose youth participation in soccer, football, and wrestling? Again, there is no argument that boxing is an inherently violent sport. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics appears to not have done their research about the rules of amateur boxing prior to releasing their statement. Amateur boxing requires boxers to wear protective headgear to protect against the kind of head injuries that concerns the AAP. Amateur boxing also consists of three rounds of three minutes, not the lengthy 10-12 round bouts you see on television. Prior to competition, a participant has to practice their techniques by working on the heavy bag, speed bag, foot movement, and heavy conditioning and strength training in addition to moderate to light sparring. Finally, there are rules in place that only allow youthful participants to box against other youth who are in their same age and weight class. So while it is conceded that boxing is a very physical sport, it is overlooked that a lot more goes into boxing than just live sparring, and rules are already in place to protect the health and safety of the children. The article posted by The Guardian is about the eight year old children participating in cage fighting. It has a quote from the British Medical Association, which said the event was disturbing as it is opposed to boxing and cage fighting. “This example of cage fighting among young children is particularly disturbing, especially as they are not even wearing head guards,” said a spokesman. Amateur boxing requires head guards, why does this cage fighting event with youthful participants not require head guards? The answer can be found earlier in the article, where it states that children are not allowed to punch or kick each other in the event. So essentially, the event is a grappling only event with youthful participants, rendering the requirement of head gear null and void. The article also puts in the mind of the readers the sight of a child bursting into tears after suffering a loss. To assume that children cry only after losing a mixed martial arts event and not in any other sports is short sighted and misleading. The other website attacking the participation of youth in combat sports, www.unfitforchildren.org, has been developed by the culinary workers union. One might question why would the culinary workers union feel a need to publicly oppose children participating in mixed martial arts? This issue has already been superbly addressed by fellow boxinginsider.com writer Charles Jay4. Basically, one always has to consider the source of information to discover if there are any reasons for bias or slant. So what is it about children participating in mixed martial arts and boxing that the AAP, the British Medical Association, and the absurd unfit for children organization overlooking? Combat sports are inherently dangerous, and is certainly not for everyone. Even the AAP admitted that boxing has a lower injury rate than wrestling, soccer, and football. Amateur boxing and MMA requires the wearing of more protecting gear than the professionals and far less rounds. Does the fact that a sport may be dangerous require a professional organization to call for its ban and prohibition? Why not also call for the ban of midget football and youth soccer based on your statistics? One of the best reasons to get children involved in team sports is teach them the valuable lesson of working with others, and how to handle losing and winning graciously. The biggest difference between boxing and MMA in comparison to football and soccer is that it is not a team sport, but an individual sport. If you lose, you have nobody to blame but yourself, and conversely if you win, you deserve all the glory. No sport requires the amount of discipline and mental toughness that is necessary for boxing and MMA. Respect, honor, and humility is taught and learned in MMA and boxing. While team sports will teach you how to work well with others, individual sports will teach you about personal responsibility. It is not easy raising a child. Some children are a bundle of energy, and parents often have difficulty trying to get them to channel their energy towards something positive. Some children are introverted, shy, and lacking self confidence. These are the types of kids that could benefit by participating in boxing or mixed martial arts. Children with lots of energy to burn could spend hours in a gym honing their energy towards something positive. They could use that energy to train and learn discipline in the process. Boxing and the martial arts does wonders for a child’s self confidence. They can walk around school knowing that they were able to survive a brutal workout and learn self defense in the process. What these organizations that are against youth participating in combat sports also fail to point out is the wonders that boxing and mixed martial arts is already providing benefits for our youth. An article written on MSNBC points out how some troubled youth in Seattle cope with their difficulties by working out in a boxing gym5. There is currently a program in New Jersey designed to steer kids away from gangs and into a boxing gym that has been proving positive influences for their participants6. MMA legend Ken Shamrock first learned martial arts from Bob Shamrock, who ran a ranch for troubled youth, and Ken often credits Bob with helping him turn his life around by encouraging him to take up wrestling, one of the most important bases for mixed martial arts7. Even the legendary Bernard Hopkins credits his time to learning boxing while in prison to helping him stay out of trouble8. The point is there are no arguments against the fact that boxing and mixed martial arts are inherently violent sports. However, to call for its total ban in the participation amongst youth is ignorant and foolhardy without considering the positives that the sports bring. Should a parent be aware of the physical risks for their son or daughter if they want to participate? Of course they should. However, these groups should also be aware of the benefits these sports bring before coming to an ill informed opinion. The mental and internal benefits often outweigh the physical risks of a participant in boxing and MMA, and parents should also be aware of these benefits, and with proper safeguards in place, the physical risks can be minimized. Perhaps what is more troublesome, is that those promoters in charge of promoting boxing and mixed martial arts have not done more to speak out about the positives of the youth participating in boxing and mixed martial arts. Read more: http://www.boxinginsider.com/column...ixed-martial-arts-and-children/#ixzz1f3OGJEpx
A friend of mine once said, "Martial Arts do not promote violence, they teach you how to handle violence." A big distinction between how the layman usually perceives Martial Arts and Martial Sports. I've been victim to this perception in the past when I was searching for new facilities for my school. I was either turned away for the aspect of "violence" or charged an extra fee for the "higher chance of personal injury." Over the last decade I've only had two "injuries" in class. A young boy's loose tooth fell out (he was very happy about that) and a girl broke her foot from falling while she attempted a spinning crescent kick (this was an exceptionally fragile girl who usually had a broken "something-or-other"). Other than that. . . maybe a bruise. I've seen in my students at least a hundred injuries caused by football, baseball, dance, and soccer (the number one offender). Broken arms, legs, fractures, sprains, ect. . . . But not many people are interested in the statistics just their own personal bias.
Again, I ask you - what do you think about this guy? [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzbsc3inkAU"]Gustavo Sampaio Highlight - Karate Uechi-Ryu - YouTube[/ame]
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - A. Einstein Their precious offspring tears ACL during football pratice that puts them out for 6 months and no one blames football. But as soon as the kid gets a bruise from martial arts training, oh boy, it's time to grab the torch and pitchforks.
If I must form an opinion, I would say that he is nothing extraordinary. His fighting style is only a tad short of being labeled as "brawling", however, it is refreshing to see that his posturing is definitely "Uechi-Ryu" at times. I applaud his courage to compete in Full Contact competitions, perhaps he'll show the world the effectiveness and credence of Uechi-Ryu Karate and it will become a recognized style among the laymen (like what happened to Kyokushin Karate with their early K1 champions).
Yep. Here in the States, American style football ( which I like, BTW ) is Concusion Central. Kids have em all the time while football season is on and no one EVER says that the sport should be banned. I don't know of any injuries, much less concusive injuries that've occured in kid's boxing or martial arts. Of couse, all of soccer-mum land would be in a row if football or soccer were banned as their whole way of life ( boys in football jerseys, their girls cheerleaders, dad watches Pro on the telley ) would be in jeopardy if it were. Its as much part and parcel to the season as Thanksgiving and pumpkin pie. Its all about...can we all collectively say "D-e-m-o-n-i-s-e". I'm constantly amased at how easily led by blatantly obvious dodgy premises people are. You'd mentioned how they showed a child crying when they lost a match! As if THAT is the result of boxing or MA and one would NEVER see that in another sport. Unbelievable.
Tough guy... but they're a dime a dozen, now a days. Nothing special IMHO. I don't see how he, or your question, has anything to do with this thread, though.
I've never had any serious injury in my 40+ years of M/A - and I've never used any protective gear, at all. Not even a mouthpiece or cup. On the other hand, in one semester of high school, I tore up my ACL and ICL... not during a football game, but during practice. Even with all that "protective gear" I was wearing at the time. For all intents and purposes, it ended my competitive M/A career.
He's a guy from the same background as William, competing in a "sport." So I was curious to hear how William feels about it.
It's moronic how martial arts get demonized yet sports with WAY higher injury rates are okay because they're perceived as respectable. It almost seems like these people are less concerned with actual injuries and more concerned that their kids might end up doing something disapproved of.
You nailed it; 'xcept you need to go back and take out the word almost and substitute the word is for the word seems in your post. I heard of a series of studies done years ago in a University somewhere in where they did studies on how group dynamics changed one's perception of truth. For instance they would place the subject in a controlled group where they were asked some simple questions based on observation - to compare the length of a two objects, for example. Unbeknownst to the subject, the other members of the group were instructed to give a false answer to the question. If the subject was in a particular group setting, she would give the same answer as the majority of the group - even when the answer was clearly and unquestionably wrong - a 6 cm rod would be reported as being longer than a 15cm rod. If the same subject were not in the particular control group, she would answer correctly in every case. The results were frightening. Apparently, some demographic groups are far more susceptible to this than others. For instance, white, suburban American females of a certain socio-economic class showed a much higher rate of group-influence than another group - or so I think I recall. Anyroads, it seemed like these same demographic groups that were highly susceptible to group opinion were also the most susceptible to percieved media opinion - even when that "message" flew in the face of all logic and reason. Not surprisingly...
