Do professional fighters use protective equipment for training?
One of the hardest things to overcome as a normal man learning about martial arts is so many rules. For something that started out as “No Holds Barred” and prides itself on being “as real as possible,” there are many terms and conditions. Things like crotch punching or eye stinging are easy to understand — no one wants to survive a professional fighting career by committing to going blind and sterile at 35. And then there are things that are a little more complicated: like holding onto the cage.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is trending right now. This type of fighting sport has successfully attracted tens or hundreds of millions of spectators around the world, especially in the United States. In our country, even MMA has surpassed boxing as a full-contact sport in terms of popularity. But just like a full-contact sport, MMA is “not far” from various injuries. There are more injuries attributed to this branch, mainly due to its adopting nature of multiple fighting disciplines. The question is whether in training a fighter is necessary to wear protective equipment? Couldn’t he not wear any kind of protection like when he was engaged in a fight? We will answer that in this article!
There have been various studies conducted to identify the prevalence and assess the location and types of injuries commonly suffered by MMA athletes and one study involved no less than fifty subjects ranging from 18 to 39 years. The results are quite interesting because the number of injuries is inversely proportional to the belt ranking. A person with a low belt rank tends to have a higher number of injuries than those with a higher rank.
One of the disciplines that burst onto the contact sports scene, one of the fastest growing in any sense in recent years, is mixed martial arts (MMA). With different rules than boxing, bloody fights draw a lot of attention inside cages or rings, depending on the tradition of the company you organize. And an incognito arises in that sense: which of both sports is more damaging to the physique of the fighters? Science has a possible answer.
In 2015, researchers at the Glen Sather Sports Medicine Clinic at the University of Alberta in Canada reviewed data from a decade of post-fight MMA and boxing medical examinations, and published the results in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. Shelby Karpman, a sports medicine physician who was responsible for the study, concluded: “You are more likely to get hurt if you participate in MMA, but the severity of the injury is generally less than that of boxing.”
Injuries are common in the head, neck, and face. Then followed by the lower and upper extremities, the middle body, and finally the groin. Usually the most common types of injuries are bruises, sprains, and abrasions. However, in some cases, internal injuries seem to predominate, characterized by internal bleeding, especially in the head area.
Injuries can happen anytime
Yes, injuries can happen at any time, no matter in the middle of a fight or training. Therefore, minimizing injuries during training is important to avoid “silly incidents” before a match. Thus, it is very important to focus on improving protective equipment during training. It should also be followed by modification of the competition rules as deemed necessary to minimize injury without compromising the quality of the fight/competition.
There are many types of body armor that should be used during training
Protective as a prevention of injury is usually adjusted to the type of injury that may occur. There are many possible injuries to someone who is practicing MMA. One of the most popular is the so-called cauliflower.
What is the cauliflower?
As the name implies, it is an image for an MMA fighter’s earlobe that forms a cauliflower or irregular shape. Reporting from The Sun, the ears of UFC fighters who became like that were caused by the onslaught of the opponent, both punches, kicks, and slams. The more attacks received, the more irregular the shape of the ears will be. Did you know that the earlobe is one of the weakest or unprotected parts of the body. It contains blood vessels and no bones.
If you continue to receive attacks, then the blood vessels in the earlobe will burst and swell. The blood flow is not functioning, which in a certain time will cause infection. Cauliflower can cause hearing symptoms, headaches, blurred vision, facial swelling, and heavy bleeding. But in MMA, there are already doctors and medical personnel who will check the condition. Therefore, it is recommended that fighters wear head protection when training. Also, they should be diligent to regularly check with the doctor.
In practice, there are always incidents that may occur. Not much different when the fight happened. That is why personal protective equipment is absolutely used by professional fighters, even when they are training. Here, Sparta soft helps every fighter to get maximum safety during training.
