Millions of children are injured each year while participating in sports and other fitness activities.
What steps can be taken to reduce the risks?
• Sports Physical: The first step in injury prevention is to make sure your child has a pre-participation sports physical, especially for contact sports, to make sure he or she doesn’t have any particular health problems that would preclude participation in the chosen sport.
During a sports physical, the doctor should ask detailed questions about your child’s medical history, including any previous injuries, chronic conditions such as asthma or diabetes, congenital heart problems and family history of cardiovascular disease. The physician should perform a thorough physical exam, listening to the heart and lungs, checking blood pressure and pulse, testing for vision and hearing problems, assessing joints for strength and range of motion, and evaluating muscle mass and flexibility.
• Warming Up: Emphasis should be placed on the importance of warming up before participating in any sport. Doing a light cardiovascular exercise such as jogging for 5-10 minutes and then stretching will help your child avoid muscle strains. Don’t stretch cold muscles. Warm up to stretch, don’t stretch to warm up.
• General overall conditioning can also help ensure safer sports participation. Encourage your children to be physically active every day. Parents should set a good example for their kids by being active too.
• Wearing the proper equipment can help your child avoid injury. Make sure the equipment fits properly. Equipment used in martial arts would be mainly used for sparring, weapons training (hand gear) and when kids do board breaking.
• Being certified in CPR for head instructors and others that are leading martial arts classes is a must in my book.
• Age and Weight groupings: Sometimes injuries arise when a child is playing with kids who are a lot bigger or older. Being careful to group kids by age and/or weight when possible to avoid such problems is important. In settlings where age/weight is not separated, strict supervision of techniques by the instructor should is a must. I once saw this happen in France during a kid’s judo workout at a local dojo I was visiting. A small 6 year old was trying to do a lifting throw to a kid twice his size. He felt something pop in his groin and fell to the ground, the instructor ran over. This dojo didn’t appear to have classes organized by weight (which is OK if an instructor is present to control the situation and instruct what not to do). This judo dojo didn’t have an instructor to student ratio that allowed for close supervision. This is the type of accident that can be avoided and is the responsibility of the instructor to prevent.
• Balanced Diet: Young Martial Artists also need to eat a balanced diet, including plenty of carbohydrates that provide energy for working muscles. In addition, they should drink plenty of water before, during and after sports activities, and be aware of the symptoms of heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heatstroke.
Additional Safety measures to keep in mind for instructors:
1. Have an evacuation plan for your dojo and practice it at set intervals (quarterly or when a new class comes in as part of orientation).
2. Have an up to date medical kit. Check expiration dates. Many resources on line can help you stock your medical kit with everything you may need. They also sell fully stocked medical kits on most martial arts equipment websites and other online stores.
3. Post Dojo Safety Rules (no jewelry in class, no eating or chewing gum, trim nails, no shoes on training floors and mats etc.)
4. Ensure a safe dojo environment (well padded pillars, radiators, good ventilation, lighting etc.)
5. Ensure that all instructors are CPR Certified.
6. Have important medical numbers posted by the dojo phone (fire, police, poison control etc.) and a list of all primary contacts in case of emergency for your dojo students.
7. Insurance: Make sure your dojo has adequate insurance coverage.
The value of participating in martial arts and other sports extends beyond the physical benefits. Research has shown that kids who are active in sports (especially when their parents take part) are much less likely to become involved with drinking, drugs, smoking, and violence and improve their grades. Martial arts and sports in general can help develop a kid’s sense of self-esteem and reduce their likelihood of engaging in risky social behaviors.
June 8, 2011
Categories: Adult Class, General Martial Arts, Kids Class . Tags: contact sports; injury prevention; reduce injury; minimize kids risk of injury in contact sports and martial arts; dojo safety . Author: concordekarate . Comments: 7 Comments