With its continued popularity for over a decade, mixed martial arts MMA is seen today as a way to exercise and prepare oneself for self-defense situations. It’s even being taught to children at a young age. If you’re considering taking up mixed martial arts training, below are some important points to consider. You can also share this information to any family member who is interested to train for MMA.

A Surprisingly Safe Sport

While mixed martial arts MMA was originally marketed in ways that actually promoted the perceived brutality of the sport, the reality is quite different. This is true especially for casual trainees who never intend to reach the lofty heights of international championship competition. The foremost authority in the world of mixed martial arts, the Ultimate Fighting League, is particularly eager to champion the safety of the sport.

Mixed martial arts MMA is a combat sport which places its category alongside traditional martial arts and boxing. In any sport where strikes are thrown directly at the players, injuries are inevitable. Even though the overall injury rate for mixed martial artists is comparable to (or even higher than) those other combat sports, an important distinction has to be made between quantity and severity.

Yes, mixed martial artists get injured a great deal. The nature of these injuries, based on thorough examination of all available records, is rather encouraging. Serious concussions are far less common in MMA than in boxing. Why is this so? Several factors contribute to minimising the severity of MMA injuries.

Education and Supervision Are Key Factors

Long before any mixed martial arts practitioner faces another person in a real bout, they learn extensively about what parts of the sport are safe and unsafe. Their trainers are experts with a full command of the risks and capabilities of their fighters.

Mixed martial artists are all governed by a universal set of rules, applicable from the most heavily-anticipated championship fights down to humble gym-floor sparring matches.

The Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts make copious allowances for protecting fighters. At the professional level, these encourage thorough medical examinations being required both before and after fights to confirm that any injuries are detected and treated appropriately.

For more casual practitioners of mixed martial arts, a great deal of safety is offered by the expertise of the officials and teachers who arrange matches. Match ups are made with an eye to far more than simple weight classes. In every case, fighters are matched with opponents whose level of expertise is as close as possible to their own. This ensures that neither participant is out of his or her depth.

Use of Full Protective Gear

Competitive mixed martial arts appears to be a very barebones affair. However, fighters in all rule-abiding matches are actually wearing quite a bit of safety gear. Cups and mouth guards are always required. Fighters have the option of wearing protective leg gear as well.

Female fighters are allowed to wear chest protectors. Gloves are mandatory. But in stark contrast to boxing gloves, these split-fingered gloves do not encourage fighters to hit with increased power.

Under training conditions, safety equipment is even more extensive. Leg protection is universal. And most fighters opt to train with headgear to minimise the risk of head injuries. Chest protectors can be used by fighters of either sex when training to protect against body blows.

While no combat sport can ever be made truly safe, the authorities that govern mixed martial arts have taken many significant steps to ensure that their discipline is as safe and healthy for fighters as possible. This is an important factor to be aware of prior to engaging in mixed martial arts training.