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My friends Bob and Kay's 6 year old is in Karate.... and they went for their first semi-competition/demonstration last week... and she said it was funny watching... the boys would go at it, and Kay was nervous always that Jessie would get hurt.... but then her turn came and it was pitiful watching these two six year old girls, neither of which really wanted to hit the other.... Bob (picture Southern sherrif) yelling "Come on Jessie!" Hit her!"

The base I was on in Germany hosted some martial arts competitions...mostly karate, but some other disciplines as well. There were more solo demonstrations than fights, but in any case it was VEY cool. I've always thought I'd like to learn martial arts...though I wouldn't know where to start and it seems like most people start as little kids.

On the other hand, Dad had a little boy come in to the emergency room a little while ago who was hurt really badly in a training session. Another boy kicked a bit too hard in the wrong place. He had to be transported to another hospital, so I guess it was pretty serious.

I imagine girls aren't always as rough, though. ;)

On the other hand, Dad had a little boy come in to the emergency room a little while ago who was hurt really badly in a training session.

I am sure there was someone in every emergency room in the country today who was seriously injured in the bathroom. ;~D

I imagine girls aren't always as rough, though. ;)

I dunno... the first three or four years I worked here I was the only male in an all-female department. Women can be pretty mean when they want... waaaay meaner than men. :-)

I imagine girls aren't always as rough, though. ;)

They can be :) Girls aren't as rough at first because they tend to hold back for fear of hurting the other person, but once they get used to it a lot of pent-up aggression can come out.

Regarding injuries, you can get injured in sparring, but it's not particularly more dangerous than other high-impact sports, IMO, unless you're going full-contact in which case it has the same risks as boxing. The most common things I've seen happen is someone forgets to wear a cup and gets kicked in the groin, or two people clash their shins (something that happens more to beginners until you learn to avoid it), or someone doesn't pull their punch enough and the other person gets a bloody nose. But for the most part sparring rules are designed to prevent injury and are pretty successful at that (which, unfortunately, has the effect of making the combat simulation somewhat unrealistic and can be detrimental for the self-defense side of the training). I've actually gotten injured more often in training than in sparring--forgetting to stretch or trying to kick too hard without warming up enough or something like that.