Combat sports have become a major part of popular culture. Promotions like the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and DAZN have fueled the sport’s increasing popularity, playing an important role in its growth. Kids today have a glorified view of combat sports, increasing viewership and participation. While it’s great to see growth, the effects that combat sports can have on kids are concerning.
Today, an estimated six million kids participate in some form of martial arts in the United States. From all of this new participation, comes injury. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is one of the most physically taxing sports and because of this, kids get injured at a much higher rate. A study done by the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System showed that out of a total of 4,978 pediatric patients injured due to boxing and martial arts trauma, 264 patients experienced injury to the face through continuous blows to the head.
Some of these injuries can have several long-term effects. According to the University of Utah, depending on severity, the long-term effects of head trauma include memory loss, headaches, seizures, dizziness, visual changes, fatigue, paralysis, balance problems, reduced language skills and mood swings. Because children have not fully developed their brain structure, damaging a developing organ can be extremely detrimental to the health and growth of these adolescents.
While headgear is worn to minimize the effects of damage to the brain in boxing, this protective equipment has very little effectiveness in accomplishing this. Sports insurance companies have even admitted to this.
Many kids who have already participated in boxing have suffered from brain trauma. Senior Oliver shared his struggles with the lingering side effects after stepping away from boxing.
“It kind of messed me up,” Oliver said. “It made it harder for me to focus on my schoolwork and I zoned out for minutes at a time.”
Even with the damage that comes from MMA, it’s still a great outlet kids can use for exercise. Without proper physical activity for kids, they are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease, heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions that lead to premature death.
A study published by Anna Harwood and her colleagues in the journal Aggression and Violent Behavior answered the question of whether or not martial arts were bad for kids.
“They analyzed twelve studies involving 507 kids, studying the impact of martial arts on aggressive and violent behavior,” Dayton said. “In nine of the twelve studies, martial arts had a positive effect and no impact in the other three studies.”
The study’s results found that MMA focuses on positive mental health as much as self-defense and fighting techniques. They practice controlling one’s emotions and healthily relieving stress.
Additionally, the popularity of Muay Thai has increased, especially given the recent trend on social media involving young adults and even teens wanting to learn the sport. While learning the sport is exceptionally useful, not only because of its positive health effects—there seems to be little to no age restrictions for those participating in Muay Thai. The National Library of Medicine found that Muay Thai athletes are more prone to facial lacerations than other combat sports athletes such as boxers. From all the close skin-to-skin contact that Muay Thai fighters undergo, the cuts from their fighting can get infected, and these infections may be bacterial, viral, or fungal. In some severe cases, infections could cause bacteria to enter the bloodstream, causing sepsis, a life-threatening condition. Children involved in this sport are exposing themselves to life-threatening situations, and an age restriction on Muay Thai gyms would help reform this.
Another cause for concern with combat sports is the weight control many athletes participate in. The two types of weight control that fighters go through are bulking and weight cutting. Bulking is a term referring to the muscle-gain phase of dieting. Fighters who want to gain enough weight to move up a weight class start to go in a calorie surplus to gain the weight they need. Weight cutting refers to losing enough weight to participate in a lower weight class where a fighter might have an advantage. These extreme habits can be unsafe for participating teams if not regulated properly. Some unsafe practices of weight cutting include employing dehydration to lose water weight, as seen by many UFC fighters. However, this process can result in biochemical and hormonal changes, which can include anything from physical effects such as lower urine amounts, lower plasma levels, constipation and diarrhea, or mental effects such as depression or anxiety.
Other common combat sports include different types of MMA such as jiu-jitsu. While jiu-jitsu can have the same positives as Muay Thai and boxing, they add more flexibility and core strength for the participant. One of the biggest positives and differences between the two is the lack of any directly inflicted head trauma caused by a kick, punch, elbow or knee. While jiu-jitsu has no legal punching or kicking to the head, the concern comes from the submissions. Submission is a term for making an opponent yield the match by verbally telling the referee they tap or visibly tapping the floor or the opponent with their hand. Learning to defend oneself when attacked on the ground is important, but the practice should stop there. Jiu-jitsu-related injuries can be internal injuries such as swelling, bleeding, fractured larynx or hyoid bone, seizures, and pulmonary edema. Suppose the person choked out, refuses to see medical treatment, and seems to have any of the listed symptoms or side effects. In that case, they can die later from undiagnosed or unsuspected fatal injury.
Participating in combat sports comes at a heavy risk for professional fighters and an even bigger risk for kids who want to participate. The kids participating are at risk for life-threatening injuries and long-term side effects. To go along with the extreme injuries that can come from participating in combat sports, the ramifications that come from weight-cutting and bulking are very dangerous. While there are many positives that come from practicing MMA, the complications that come from them for the kids participating in them are hard to avoid.
