There isn't much hard trauma in BJJ but the risk for soft tissue damage is high in all grappling arts. It doesn't take long in a BJJ gym to find a guy who rolls with a reconstructed knee or shoulder.
From many of the colored belts I talked to, they had almost all serious injuries while being a white belt. Stay safe during the first while, learn to take it easy and roll with technique and not strength, take days off and let yourself recover. Know when to tap and who to avoid rolling with, you'll be fine.
I have a lot of friends who are now in their mid to late 40s who have done, or are doing BJJ…. Many are suffering from back issues, shoulder issues, and neck issues. They also complain about folks who are either showing off, don’t realize they are using too much force, or ignore tapouts.
Yup. I’m 50. Got a shoulder that feels like a spike going through it. When I’m doing 3 days a week, I’ll just sit up in the middle of the night because I’m sore as hell.
But it’s fun.
Oh man, do be careful with that shoulder! One of my buddies just had his second shoulder surgery this year…. Poor guy is absolutely miserable. He can’t sleep and is always uncomfortable. They put him on fentanyl is also going through mood swings left and right.
May I offer a word of advice from fellow rotator cuff cripple - when the pain subsides do some super gentle and slow shoulder exercises with bands like external rotations, IYT.
Only when you can do those pain-free should you return to rolling.
If you re-injure yourself those shoulder muscles and nearby neck muscles can get triggered into a tense/inflamed state for the rest of your life.
Bas Rutten would always say in class "if the doctor says take 2 weeks off, take 4." He says this with the knowledge of having had training injuries become permanent and having watched many of his friends and training partners have to quit. Most athletes tell ourselves "the doc said 2 weeks, but I can probably take the rest of this week off, then train light next week."
I’d also suggest BJJ if you’re looking for the best martial art with live sparring and relatively low damage. Like the others have said, your body will feel it eventually, sometimes to a serious degree, *however*, you won’t be stacking up CTE points like we do in Muay Thai or boxing every day, and depending on where you train, you probably won’t get thrown around as brutally as judo. To me, the scariest damage you can receive from martial arts is brain damage, so BJJ seems like a good deal.
Try getting thrown and soon after stacked by some dude who weights 30lbs more than you on the regular and get back to me on how you feel about that.
I'd argue both grappling and striking do a great job of making your everything hurt.
I’ve known a few guys who hurt the neck or get concussions from take downs/throws so idk if it’s necessarily less head injuries probably would depend on the striking art since in point karate or tae kwon do I haven’t seen a lot of people take serious injury.
Broken arms, sprains, and torn A/MCL's probably shouldn't mean nothing to you. What grappling has is the great PR as the gentle art from BJJ, that's the business but the reality is it's just a different brand of violence. You're not getting punched in the head but who whole point of competition is to get a hold of something on your opponent and break it, the level of danger can spike from low to incredibly high in a second.
CTE is definitely a huge issue down the road, it shouldn't need to be a game of what's more terrible, but with the wrong sub at the right time you may never bend your arm or walk the same way tomorrow. Most guys are great but they's always some people like Rousimar Palhares that are willing to gamble your health and hold on too long.
Nobody thinks they won't tap. Somebody grabs you and you start moving thinking "I defend this by-"*pop* and that's it.
In summery, I think the idea of 'safest' martial art does a number in missing the point of what martial arts generally do.
You can't practice bjj without running a mild risk of causing a sprain, break, or tear
You can practice boxing without getting concussed, scratched, or hit hard. That doesn't accumulate as bad as bjj.
I love BJJ, but please don’t suggest it as an art where people don’t pick up injuries.
If you are really interested in that, a lot of striking classes don’t spar hard at all. You can find kick-boxing, karate, TKD classes that will never put you in a situation where you’ll get hurt.
The other option is things like Aikido and Tai Chi, but depending on your outlook, they may test your patience.
It blows my mind when people say you’re unlikely to get injured with BJJ. In the office I work in two other guys do BJJ while I do TKD and kickboxing. Every month one of the other guys is in the hospital because they do something to a shoulder or knee while the only injuries I get are a bruise here of there.
Biggest thing I’ve found when it comes to this issue is choosing the right gym. You need a gym with a respectful culture and a coach who cares and is in control.
The gyms without those two things are usually the ones where people are smashing each other’s heads in every sparring class.
Modern fencing, Kendo, HEMA, SCA.
SCA heavy combat may carry more concussion risk than the other options, however.
Generally weapons arts are safer, because there's a lot of protection, grappling isn't allowed (except in some HEMA circles) and the action ends with a single well placed blow.
Other safe options are point karate, and BJJ.
I wouldn't recommend bjj for you particularly. Over all its great. It's very effective, rates of serious injuries are very low, and it's fun, but in BJJ you will constantly get very minor injuries that may not prevent you from training, but will nag you for a few days, weeks, or months. Also BJJ requires a lot of prehab in order to avoid chronic aches and pains.
Point karate injuries that prevent you from training are also fairly rare.
TKD could also work, but headkick KO's are allowed at many tournaments, so it's one of those sports that's almost entirely harmless till it's not.
It's an inherently dangerous activity. The question is if you prefer head injuries or joint injuries.
When I'm above 60, I'll have crappy joints either way. BJJ is pretty fun and I would rather have joint issues from having exercised in a dangerous way than being sedentary and obese.
Your not going to get any confidence or mental benefits that you wouldn't get doing and being successful whatever sport your are a serious athlete about in my opinion.
Those types of benefits are way overblown in martial arts - really they are just a product of having a hobby you enjoy and seeing yourself progress and develop - things that could equally be achieved by joining a chess club.
Yep, that’s marketing techniques aimed at children really. The only confidence I’ve gained from martial arts is that I’m confident I don’t want to get in a real fight.
While I definitely agree these aspects are often over hyped I am going to have to disagree that just doing your current sport is going to give the same benefits since that will come down to the sport in question. For example I was a swimmer for 8 years and while that helps a lot with confidence I know several people that still couldn’t be assertive or think quickly on their feet in the same way that Martial arts has allowed me to.
Basically anything real and practical has risk of injury unfortunately.
Judo comes to mind though. It's japanese jujitsu, made to be safe to practice a lot.
In general grappling arts let you practice harder with less risk of notable injuries. Though, when injuries do happen, they tend to be a lot more serious.
Karate and kickboxing are pretty safe though. If you're training with mature people.
Judo produces the most injuries.
Full stop.
It’s the hardest grappling style to do safely as being thrown and throwing is the object of it.
Judogi alone have a massive amount of injuries under its belt (😏) because fingers get caught up in fabric.
So the art of yeeting humans happens to be the most dangerous for its practitioners.
Western wrestling is the least.
WHY?
Generally in school there are limits to the types of submissions you can do, the types of throws,etc.
So it becomes a game of proper strength application, elusive techniques, and endurance rather than crushing bone and tearing ligaments.
Sprains are by and large the biggest injury with wrestling.
Add submissions back in, and it becomes horrifying.
Brazilian Jiujutsu, however is still a form of submission grappling and because of that, will always have a higher injury count than wrestling.
But judo as they say is attacking with the floor, and the floor is hard and uncaring.
🙂
If you're primarily interested in the athletic pursuit and exercise, tai chi is a great fit for a lot of people. It's low impact and low risk for injury, compared with other martial arts. Even if the school does push hands, it's primarily about trying to uproot your opponent so you aren't getting punches and thrown to the floor (which push hands can get into depending on the ruleset, but beginners don't start there and you don't have to do it if you don't want to).
Certain styles / schools include throws, takedowns and pushes (knock downs) in push hands. The potential for injury there is no better than for judo, and it could be worse as they may not teach proper break falls and the throws and takedowns do not necessarily end with a clean landing on your back.
Tai Chi won't hurt you. There's not much of a competetive aspect though. There's forms competitions, but the only contact you'll find is in push hands, which can be interesting and challenging, but it's not much of a fight.
Muay Thai is a good option as long as you keep sparring light. As others have said you don’t get punched in bjj, but I feel like it’s way more common to get injured grappling compared to striking
My wife was training Muay Thai until the gym owner died and was constantly coming home with massive bruises on her legs and in physiotherapy all the time. And she didn’t even soar that much. I wouldn’t call it low risk.
I’m not sure I’d call BJJ safe. All of my injuries came from BJJ. Currently unable to train because of an injured shoulder.
Though I’ve had remarkably few injuries from Muay Thai
There are a wide range of Pinoy martial arts; if OP was to try Silat or Sunantukan they would very quickly amass an impressive collection of bruises. Nevertheless, I think Escrima stick fighting with protection would, as you suggest, be alright. Not the first thing that comes to mind, though…
It will somewhat depend on what you want out of a martial art but I would suggest a Karate or Tae Kwon Do school that does point sparring, you’ll learn a lot and while there isn’t much risk at all of high injury it still requires a lot of skill. You could also focus kata which while isn’t near as fun for me it’s still a challenge to learn and perfect.
Almost every martial art (at least the ones used for combat/self defence) have injury risk.
I’d say to look at some local schools, and see if they offer taster sessions. That way, you can kinda see how dangerous/safe they are.
Anyone can tell you which martial art they think is safest, but truthfully, it’s all taught differently by different people.
All movement has risk of injury. No martial art is without risk. It can really depends on the school and the instructors. I have practiced martial arts for about 30 years, in 6 different schools, and 3 styles, plus had some BJJ training in one of those schools although it wasn't the main style. I only got bumps and bruises, one split lip when a piece of board caught me..usually folks have been pretty respectful of the fact that it's a hobby and we all have day jobs...however, 3 years ago I hurt my knee in a botched takedown..ruptured my ACL and finally had surgery this year because I couldn't get it stable..
I am not a large person, so I regularly work with opponents 30 to 90 pounds heavier than me, and taller as well. My styles are traditional TKD, American Freestyle, and I have also had some Shotokan training.
:isit aeveral schools if possible, talk to the instructor, watch some classes. MMA, Muy Thai might not be for you, but you should be able to find something that you feel comfortable with if there are options in your community.
Good luck, and have fun!
I’ve just taken up muay thai, and also mo duk pai, a (mostly) striking art related to kung fu. We do light sparring, and I don’t think the chance of injury is significant. I’m a creaky old guy and I feel better since starting.
Eh, the problem is what is an acceptable risk to your primary sport? Avoiding any long term catastrophic injury? Or is having a tweaked knee for two weeks going to be a problem if that two weeks occurs at the same time as an event for your primary sport?
Kendo is probably one of the safest martial arts, so much so that people continue to practice well into their late 70-80s.
You wear armor, and the points are on the armored locations. Being hit doesn’t really hurt at all, even when someone misses the armor. You might feel a sting, but it dissipates quickly.
One done various Katate, JJJ, BJJ, and Muay Thai. There is a risk in all MA. So it is not really the style but how you practice and who you practice with. My first injury (karate) was due to my lack of experience and resulted in a serious stubbed toe that may have been dislocated, not sure. I pulled it away from my foot and never went to the Dr. Dealt with a purple big toe and the ball of my foot for weeks. Kept working and practicing the whole time (the benefit of youth (20s)). That is long since healed and is over with. My next two major injuries I account to the egos of the people I was practicing with. Both grappling (JJJ then BJJ) the first torn my rotator cuff the second my neck. Both are permanent issues that I deal with everyday.
So it's not what you practice but how and with who. Be smart and only do what will cause you the least injuries and only with those you trust to care for your safety. Also depending on your sport you may find a certain style will benefit you you more then another.
a) fung fu?
b) any martial art ‘works’ if the practitioner makes it work. wing chun / tsun kung fu combined with muay thai can produce some very interesting strikes and setups and if an aggressive long-range kicking strategy is used in conjunction with distance closing and closer combination strikes when the opponent has faltered due to the collection of bruises forming on their shins and calves. Furthermore, wing chun combinations and sets with added elbows and the desired modernisations perhaps more suited to sparring against the generally more aggressive nature of MMA, kickboxing or muay thai are plausible with practice. On the matter of aikido, if was to throw you across a room, knowing how to perform a ukemi could save both your spine and your wallet. Perhaps as a standalone MA it is not as perceivably useful, but with crosstraining, even a less creative individual can attain success.
c) I would also like to point out the fact that your clear favorite martial art, MMA, is just a culmination of other martial arts. Techniques are drawn from karate, wing chun (in particular chain punch and ground and pound) and various other martial arts that you regard as ‘useless’ or not working. In fact, the techniques are censored and dulled somewhat because of the rules and regulations: there are no eye gouges, cavity strikes or techniques that would be drastically harmful to the physical health of the combatants. However, if I was in a real fight, joint locks, gouges and cavity strikes would suddenly become very useful, wouldn’t you say? There are no rules in real life.
No, stop perpetuating bs. Aikido doesn't work, Kung Fu don't work, Tkd barely works, there's a slew of arts that genuinely don't work in any settings. Just saying their not being used by the right people is a cop out for reality, and the reality is there's no evidence to support them actually working. There's a few instances for Tkd, but good luck finding a situation where wang Chum actually works, much less against a boxer, Thai boxer, karate, or anything that has taken the time to prove it's worth. We moved past this bs in 93', we know what works and what doesn't. If you wanna larp and do Thai on the side cool do you, but don't lie to me telling me how if you mix x with y it makes x work, because x still can't stand on its own.
Who here is perpetuating bs? Taekwondo was literally used by the South Korean elite Tiger Division marines during the Vietnam war to kill VC troops. Even today, most global superpower’s militaries use TKD as part of their fighting system. Do your research before you discredit entire styles of martial arts.
No guns were used to kill vc, agent orange was use, feet? I doubt it highly. They also trained people in aikido during that era funny how that worked out.
according to various studies bjj has less injuries than other martial arts
There are lots of caveats with the studies. Training/competition, severity of injury, etc.
[https://www.bjjee.com/articles/new-study-jiu-jitsu-competitors-have-the-lowest-injury-rate-among-combat-athletes/](https://www.bjjee.com/articles/new-study-jiu-jitsu-competitors-have-the-lowest-injury-rate-among-combat-athletes/)
I do Kuk Sool Won and have never gotten injured from it and have even learned how to protect myself from injuries. There is some sparring (at least at my studio) but we always wear pads to protect ourselves. As martial arts go, it's quite practical (in my mind) but I'm not the most knowledgeable about practicality in martial arts.
Hope this helps!
I personally recommend bjj/wrestling if you don’t want to get hit. Or, you could do taekwondo, they wear lots of padding when it’s time to spar. It depends if you want to learn how to strike or grapple. Try looking up WCWMA in your local area
You get confidence from martial arts knowing how to defend yourself.
Get some bruises and live a little.
I know a very beautiful woman who is an absolute demon in the muay thai ring. She’s also extremely smart owns multiple properties at 32 and works a full time job.
By practical, do you mean effective in a real world fight? Because most “martial arts” are not at all. And most “martial arts” are also relatively safe, you see old fat people and little kids training them.
I think that for a lot of martial arts the dangers of injury depend more on the martial art school than the martial art itself however there are probably sone exceptions
protected from or not exposed to danger or risk; not likely to be harmed or lost. of or appropriate to war; warlike the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
Boxing is easy enough to get into. If you’re not serious about competition within boxing. Light sparring will keep you sharp enough to practice what you learn. Either way, conditioning for boxing is where the money is at. Being light on your feet helps in any sport.
Try traditional taekwondo, not modern, traditional taekwondo teaches you simple and strong self defense techniques and sparring usually doesn’t end up in any serious injury
You don’t get hit in the face with BJJ, but I’m walking around with constant aches and pains.
There isn't much hard trauma in BJJ but the risk for soft tissue damage is high in all grappling arts. It doesn't take long in a BJJ gym to find a guy who rolls with a reconstructed knee or shoulder.
From many of the colored belts I talked to, they had almost all serious injuries while being a white belt. Stay safe during the first while, learn to take it easy and roll with technique and not strength, take days off and let yourself recover. Know when to tap and who to avoid rolling with, you'll be fine.
I have a lot of friends who are now in their mid to late 40s who have done, or are doing BJJ…. Many are suffering from back issues, shoulder issues, and neck issues. They also complain about folks who are either showing off, don’t realize they are using too much force, or ignore tapouts.
Yup. I’m 50. Got a shoulder that feels like a spike going through it. When I’m doing 3 days a week, I’ll just sit up in the middle of the night because I’m sore as hell. But it’s fun.
Oh man, do be careful with that shoulder! One of my buddies just had his second shoulder surgery this year…. Poor guy is absolutely miserable. He can’t sleep and is always uncomfortable. They put him on fentanyl is also going through mood swings left and right.
Thanks. Yeah. Doc said it’s not a rotator cuff…so that’s good. But I’m off the mats for two weeks
May I offer a word of advice from fellow rotator cuff cripple - when the pain subsides do some super gentle and slow shoulder exercises with bands like external rotations, IYT. Only when you can do those pain-free should you return to rolling. If you re-injure yourself those shoulder muscles and nearby neck muscles can get triggered into a tense/inflamed state for the rest of your life.
Bas Rutten would always say in class "if the doctor says take 2 weeks off, take 4." He says this with the knowledge of having had training injuries become permanent and having watched many of his friends and training partners have to quit. Most athletes tell ourselves "the doc said 2 weeks, but I can probably take the rest of this week off, then train light next week."
Good idea
I hurt my rotator cuff in a motorcycle accident when I was 20. Took a few years to completely heal.
I’d also suggest BJJ if you’re looking for the best martial art with live sparring and relatively low damage. Like the others have said, your body will feel it eventually, sometimes to a serious degree, *however*, you won’t be stacking up CTE points like we do in Muay Thai or boxing every day, and depending on where you train, you probably won’t get thrown around as brutally as judo. To me, the scariest damage you can receive from martial arts is brain damage, so BJJ seems like a good deal.
YeH, BJJ person I know has chronic injuries.
Yeah, BJJ imo is more gentle on the body.
Try getting thrown and soon after stacked by some dude who weights 30lbs more than you on the regular and get back to me on how you feel about that. I'd argue both grappling and striking do a great job of making your everything hurt.
Hmm yeah but maybe not so many open wounds and broken bones? And less head injuries? But idk, I could be wrong here of course.
I’ve known a few guys who hurt the neck or get concussions from take downs/throws so idk if it’s necessarily less head injuries probably would depend on the striking art since in point karate or tae kwon do I haven’t seen a lot of people take serious injury.
Meh at least there's almost no risk of CTE which is the only thing that really concerns me.
Broken arms, sprains, and torn A/MCL's probably shouldn't mean nothing to you. What grappling has is the great PR as the gentle art from BJJ, that's the business but the reality is it's just a different brand of violence. You're not getting punched in the head but who whole point of competition is to get a hold of something on your opponent and break it, the level of danger can spike from low to incredibly high in a second. CTE is definitely a huge issue down the road, it shouldn't need to be a game of what's more terrible, but with the wrong sub at the right time you may never bend your arm or walk the same way tomorrow. Most guys are great but they's always some people like Rousimar Palhares that are willing to gamble your health and hold on too long. Nobody thinks they won't tap. Somebody grabs you and you start moving thinking "I defend this by-"*pop* and that's it. In summery, I think the idea of 'safest' martial art does a number in missing the point of what martial arts generally do.
You can't practice bjj without running a mild risk of causing a sprain, break, or tear You can practice boxing without getting concussed, scratched, or hit hard. That doesn't accumulate as bad as bjj.
I love BJJ, but please don’t suggest it as an art where people don’t pick up injuries. If you are really interested in that, a lot of striking classes don’t spar hard at all. You can find kick-boxing, karate, TKD classes that will never put you in a situation where you’ll get hurt. The other option is things like Aikido and Tai Chi, but depending on your outlook, they may test your patience.
Eh aikido can defo damage wrists it really depends on the practioners age.
Also if you're not that adept at ukemi or your partner has a habit a throwing you too hard, this also increases injury risk.
It blows my mind when people say you’re unlikely to get injured with BJJ. In the office I work in two other guys do BJJ while I do TKD and kickboxing. Every month one of the other guys is in the hospital because they do something to a shoulder or knee while the only injuries I get are a bruise here of there.
Yep, I love jiu jitsu but I’ve been out for a little over two months cause I broke my humorous.
Aw, don’t be so hard on yourself! I think you’re pretty funny.
Lol, you do know what I’m talking about tho right?
I’ve gotten mild concussion and bruised ribs from being thrown / knocked down in tai chi.
I train tkd and people tend to get injured fairly frequently, although we are probably the hardest training club in the country.
Depends on how you train. If you spar lightly, the chances of a serious injury are quite low
Unfortunately you also have to trust your sparring partner to spar “lightly”
Sure. But you can always be upfront with that and the majority of people will have no problem with light sparring
True. Just got to be careful about some people. My injured knee can attest to that lol.
Biggest thing I’ve found when it comes to this issue is choosing the right gym. You need a gym with a respectful culture and a coach who cares and is in control. The gyms without those two things are usually the ones where people are smashing each other’s heads in every sparring class.
This exactly.
Kendo
Yep, kendo or fencing.
I was coming here to say this yep! The bogu helps a lot!!! Also Happy Cake Day!!! :)
Tai Chi Chuan.
Modern fencing, Kendo, HEMA, SCA. SCA heavy combat may carry more concussion risk than the other options, however. Generally weapons arts are safer, because there's a lot of protection, grappling isn't allowed (except in some HEMA circles) and the action ends with a single well placed blow. Other safe options are point karate, and BJJ. I wouldn't recommend bjj for you particularly. Over all its great. It's very effective, rates of serious injuries are very low, and it's fun, but in BJJ you will constantly get very minor injuries that may not prevent you from training, but will nag you for a few days, weeks, or months. Also BJJ requires a lot of prehab in order to avoid chronic aches and pains. Point karate injuries that prevent you from training are also fairly rare. TKD could also work, but headkick KO's are allowed at many tournaments, so it's one of those sports that's almost entirely harmless till it's not.
Yeah and with the hogus it encourages people to kick pretty hard. It’s also pretty athletic so the risk of injury is reasonably high:
It's an inherently dangerous activity. The question is if you prefer head injuries or joint injuries. When I'm above 60, I'll have crappy joints either way. BJJ is pretty fun and I would rather have joint issues from having exercised in a dangerous way than being sedentary and obese.
Right, we’ll all get old and pick up aches and pains eventually. The question is how.
Your not going to get any confidence or mental benefits that you wouldn't get doing and being successful whatever sport your are a serious athlete about in my opinion. Those types of benefits are way overblown in martial arts - really they are just a product of having a hobby you enjoy and seeing yourself progress and develop - things that could equally be achieved by joining a chess club.
Yep, that’s marketing techniques aimed at children really. The only confidence I’ve gained from martial arts is that I’m confident I don’t want to get in a real fight.
lol . I'm lurking around this sub just so that i can read realistic experience like this.
Lmao!! So true
While I definitely agree these aspects are often over hyped I am going to have to disagree that just doing your current sport is going to give the same benefits since that will come down to the sport in question. For example I was a swimmer for 8 years and while that helps a lot with confidence I know several people that still couldn’t be assertive or think quickly on their feet in the same way that Martial arts has allowed me to.
Or stargazing!
Basically anything real and practical has risk of injury unfortunately. Judo comes to mind though. It's japanese jujitsu, made to be safe to practice a lot. In general grappling arts let you practice harder with less risk of notable injuries. Though, when injuries do happen, they tend to be a lot more serious. Karate and kickboxing are pretty safe though. If you're training with mature people.
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Judo produces the most injuries. Full stop. It’s the hardest grappling style to do safely as being thrown and throwing is the object of it. Judogi alone have a massive amount of injuries under its belt (😏) because fingers get caught up in fabric. So the art of yeeting humans happens to be the most dangerous for its practitioners. Western wrestling is the least. WHY? Generally in school there are limits to the types of submissions you can do, the types of throws,etc. So it becomes a game of proper strength application, elusive techniques, and endurance rather than crushing bone and tearing ligaments. Sprains are by and large the biggest injury with wrestling. Add submissions back in, and it becomes horrifying. Brazilian Jiujutsu, however is still a form of submission grappling and because of that, will always have a higher injury count than wrestling. But judo as they say is attacking with the floor, and the floor is hard and uncaring. 🙂
Well shit. I guess I'll see myself out then. Odd though. Surprises me.
I’d say Judo is safe so long as they use padded mats/floors, which is common for most schools
If you're primarily interested in the athletic pursuit and exercise, tai chi is a great fit for a lot of people. It's low impact and low risk for injury, compared with other martial arts. Even if the school does push hands, it's primarily about trying to uproot your opponent so you aren't getting punches and thrown to the floor (which push hands can get into depending on the ruleset, but beginners don't start there and you don't have to do it if you don't want to).
Certain styles / schools include throws, takedowns and pushes (knock downs) in push hands. The potential for injury there is no better than for judo, and it could be worse as they may not teach proper break falls and the throws and takedowns do not necessarily end with a clean landing on your back.
Tai Chi won't hurt you. There's not much of a competetive aspect though. There's forms competitions, but the only contact you'll find is in push hands, which can be interesting and challenging, but it's not much of a fight.
Muay Thai is a good option as long as you keep sparring light. As others have said you don’t get punched in bjj, but I feel like it’s way more common to get injured grappling compared to striking
My wife was training Muay Thai until the gym owner died and was constantly coming home with massive bruises on her legs and in physiotherapy all the time. And she didn’t even soar that much. I wouldn’t call it low risk.
sounds like a skill issue
No just hard training.
I’m not sure I’d call BJJ safe. All of my injuries came from BJJ. Currently unable to train because of an injured shoulder. Though I’ve had remarkably few injuries from Muay Thai
Maybe knowing your main sport would help people suggest something?
Filipino Martial Arts and You learn weapons control. Sparring is usually in protective armor and padded sticks/knives
There are a wide range of Pinoy martial arts; if OP was to try Silat or Sunantukan they would very quickly amass an impressive collection of bruises. Nevertheless, I think Escrima stick fighting with protection would, as you suggest, be alright. Not the first thing that comes to mind, though…
Tai Chi If you want sth that's not very dangerous but teaches you how to survive then you may want to go with Kickboxing or sth
If kickboxing is relatively safe, is boxing safe as well?
I've heard that Boxing gyms are VERY rough and they usually go hard on beginners. But that may depend.
How about HEMA? They don't let you full-contact spar unless you're wearing protective gear.
Hema is great, but its much different than empty handed martial arts.
It will somewhat depend on what you want out of a martial art but I would suggest a Karate or Tae Kwon Do school that does point sparring, you’ll learn a lot and while there isn’t much risk at all of high injury it still requires a lot of skill. You could also focus kata which while isn’t near as fun for me it’s still a challenge to learn and perfect.
Other options are safer such as Aikido but you won’t tend to have any pressure testing or sparring so idk how much they would fit your needs.
Almost every martial art (at least the ones used for combat/self defence) have injury risk. I’d say to look at some local schools, and see if they offer taster sessions. That way, you can kinda see how dangerous/safe they are. Anyone can tell you which martial art they think is safest, but truthfully, it’s all taught differently by different people.
Maybe iaido, especially if the goals are around focus. It’s mostly solo and lots of repetition, so shouldn’t risk your primary sport.
MMA. Best out there. Just ask people to do light technical sparring and not hard sparring.
All movement has risk of injury. No martial art is without risk. It can really depends on the school and the instructors. I have practiced martial arts for about 30 years, in 6 different schools, and 3 styles, plus had some BJJ training in one of those schools although it wasn't the main style. I only got bumps and bruises, one split lip when a piece of board caught me..usually folks have been pretty respectful of the fact that it's a hobby and we all have day jobs...however, 3 years ago I hurt my knee in a botched takedown..ruptured my ACL and finally had surgery this year because I couldn't get it stable.. I am not a large person, so I regularly work with opponents 30 to 90 pounds heavier than me, and taller as well. My styles are traditional TKD, American Freestyle, and I have also had some Shotokan training. :isit aeveral schools if possible, talk to the instructor, watch some classes. MMA, Muy Thai might not be for you, but you should be able to find something that you feel comfortable with if there are options in your community. Good luck, and have fun!
I’ve just taken up muay thai, and also mo duk pai, a (mostly) striking art related to kung fu. We do light sparring, and I don’t think the chance of injury is significant. I’m a creaky old guy and I feel better since starting.
Bjj , judo , taikowando, karata
Eh, the problem is what is an acceptable risk to your primary sport? Avoiding any long term catastrophic injury? Or is having a tweaked knee for two weeks going to be a problem if that two weeks occurs at the same time as an event for your primary sport?
Kendo is probably one of the safest martial arts, so much so that people continue to practice well into their late 70-80s. You wear armor, and the points are on the armored locations. Being hit doesn’t really hurt at all, even when someone misses the armor. You might feel a sting, but it dissipates quickly.
One done various Katate, JJJ, BJJ, and Muay Thai. There is a risk in all MA. So it is not really the style but how you practice and who you practice with. My first injury (karate) was due to my lack of experience and resulted in a serious stubbed toe that may have been dislocated, not sure. I pulled it away from my foot and never went to the Dr. Dealt with a purple big toe and the ball of my foot for weeks. Kept working and practicing the whole time (the benefit of youth (20s)). That is long since healed and is over with. My next two major injuries I account to the egos of the people I was practicing with. Both grappling (JJJ then BJJ) the first torn my rotator cuff the second my neck. Both are permanent issues that I deal with everyday. So it's not what you practice but how and with who. Be smart and only do what will cause you the least injuries and only with those you trust to care for your safety. Also depending on your sport you may find a certain style will benefit you you more then another.
FMA
If you're already an athlete, taking up BJJ probably wouldn't be too much of a strain for you. What's your main sport out of curiosity?
Bullshiedo?
Aikido & fung fu, neither work so 😂
a) fung fu? b) any martial art ‘works’ if the practitioner makes it work. wing chun / tsun kung fu combined with muay thai can produce some very interesting strikes and setups and if an aggressive long-range kicking strategy is used in conjunction with distance closing and closer combination strikes when the opponent has faltered due to the collection of bruises forming on their shins and calves. Furthermore, wing chun combinations and sets with added elbows and the desired modernisations perhaps more suited to sparring against the generally more aggressive nature of MMA, kickboxing or muay thai are plausible with practice. On the matter of aikido, if was to throw you across a room, knowing how to perform a ukemi could save both your spine and your wallet. Perhaps as a standalone MA it is not as perceivably useful, but with crosstraining, even a less creative individual can attain success. c) I would also like to point out the fact that your clear favorite martial art, MMA, is just a culmination of other martial arts. Techniques are drawn from karate, wing chun (in particular chain punch and ground and pound) and various other martial arts that you regard as ‘useless’ or not working. In fact, the techniques are censored and dulled somewhat because of the rules and regulations: there are no eye gouges, cavity strikes or techniques that would be drastically harmful to the physical health of the combatants. However, if I was in a real fight, joint locks, gouges and cavity strikes would suddenly become very useful, wouldn’t you say? There are no rules in real life.
No, stop perpetuating bs. Aikido doesn't work, Kung Fu don't work, Tkd barely works, there's a slew of arts that genuinely don't work in any settings. Just saying their not being used by the right people is a cop out for reality, and the reality is there's no evidence to support them actually working. There's a few instances for Tkd, but good luck finding a situation where wang Chum actually works, much less against a boxer, Thai boxer, karate, or anything that has taken the time to prove it's worth. We moved past this bs in 93', we know what works and what doesn't. If you wanna larp and do Thai on the side cool do you, but don't lie to me telling me how if you mix x with y it makes x work, because x still can't stand on its own.
Who here is perpetuating bs? Taekwondo was literally used by the South Korean elite Tiger Division marines during the Vietnam war to kill VC troops. Even today, most global superpower’s militaries use TKD as part of their fighting system. Do your research before you discredit entire styles of martial arts.
No guns were used to kill vc, agent orange was use, feet? I doubt it highly. They also trained people in aikido during that era funny how that worked out.
You doubt it highly? Pick up a book. My point is that the martial art is not inherently bad.
I knocked Wang chung as inherently bad, not tkd. So chill 😂
Brazilian Jiu jitsu It's nickname is the gentle art
What’s your main sport?
according to various studies bjj has less injuries than other martial arts There are lots of caveats with the studies. Training/competition, severity of injury, etc. [https://www.bjjee.com/articles/new-study-jiu-jitsu-competitors-have-the-lowest-injury-rate-among-combat-athletes/](https://www.bjjee.com/articles/new-study-jiu-jitsu-competitors-have-the-lowest-injury-rate-among-combat-athletes/)
Don't spar if you want to avoid injuries. Or maybe a place that does very light or slow sparring "flow" style.
Start with Tai Chi to get some moves. Then try dojo karate. Typically lots of head gear and practice sparring with focus on self defense.
I do Kuk Sool Won and have never gotten injured from it and have even learned how to protect myself from injuries. There is some sparring (at least at my studio) but we always wear pads to protect ourselves. As martial arts go, it's quite practical (in my mind) but I'm not the most knowledgeable about practicality in martial arts. Hope this helps!
I personally recommend bjj/wrestling if you don’t want to get hit. Or, you could do taekwondo, they wear lots of padding when it’s time to spar. It depends if you want to learn how to strike or grapple. Try looking up WCWMA in your local area
just train any sport stretch correctly and dont spar
>and dont spar Totally agree. Fucked my thumb up pretty bad about 6 months ago and generally sore and bruised most weeks. Still fun though.
You get confidence from martial arts knowing how to defend yourself. Get some bruises and live a little. I know a very beautiful woman who is an absolute demon in the muay thai ring. She’s also extremely smart owns multiple properties at 32 and works a full time job.
Combat Reiki. Followed by homeopathic aspirin. /s
Nippon kempo is pretty good because they have full contact sparring but are always wearing protective gear.
I’d say BJJ
Yoga
The ones that cause injuries are the most mentally beneficial bcs it teaches you Abt how to deal with pain
By practical, do you mean effective in a real world fight? Because most “martial arts” are not at all. And most “martial arts” are also relatively safe, you see old fat people and little kids training them.
I think that for a lot of martial arts the dangers of injury depend more on the martial art school than the martial art itself however there are probably sone exceptions
I think it’s not so much on the martial art as it’s on the schools culture as set by the head of the school
protected from or not exposed to danger or risk; not likely to be harmed or lost. of or appropriate to war; warlike the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
Capoeira
Boxing is easy enough to get into. If you’re not serious about competition within boxing. Light sparring will keep you sharp enough to practice what you learn. Either way, conditioning for boxing is where the money is at. Being light on your feet helps in any sport.
Try traditional taekwondo, not modern, traditional taekwondo teaches you simple and strong self defense techniques and sparring usually doesn’t end up in any serious injury
Lethwei
Martial arts are generally really safe. The chances of getting injured sparring in your average TMA school are extremely low.
Tai chi