Taekwondo Class Safety
Most injuries in our classes occur not from someone being hit, but by a person injuring themselves either by working out too hard and pulling a muscle or by a student executing a technique incorrectly and straining a muscle by improperly positioning their body.
Such injuries occur in all sports and it has been my experience that martial arts training is safer than basketball, football, soccer and most other active sports. There's a good reason for this. In most team sports a player accidentally or deliberately strikes someone carrying a ball. The ball handler has to focus on the ball and is vulnerable to another player striking him from behind or while his attention is riveted on the ball. In Taekwondo, you are facing the other person and they can't tackle you from behind or strike you while your attention is on dribbling or kicking a ball. Instead, you are focused on them and thus able to evade or block their attack. This allows people to avoid being hit, especially since our classes emphasize NOT making contact but rather coming close to the other person with an effective attack.
Some may think that SAFE practice is not practical and that people learning to control their moves will never be able to actually defend themselves. Having been to many martial arts tournaments over the years and having seen students from our program not only participate in tournament sparring but come away with first place trophies, I feel confident that students who practice controlled moves are able to defend themselves if that necessity should arise. Indeed, I have had several students who when attacked by a bully were able to prevail against the attacker and successfully protect themselves.
