Adrenaline Rush and Extreme Sports
By: Gwyn Bevel
Updated: March 4, 2013
Arm bars and chokes are just part of judo. The most practiced martial art in the world. Those dedicated to it can do some serious damage to their opponents or themselves. Judo athlete Alexa Liddie says, "I've had a couple concussions, a couple hyper extended elbows." From broken limbs, to concussions, to being choked out. 2012 Judo Olympian Kyle Vashkulat says, "You wake up and you don't know where you are, your head's hurting."
A George Washington University study found martial arts have a rate of one injury for every 48-practice hours, closely followed by rugby. The research also found women in martial arts experience twice as many injuries as men. So make sure you have a well-trained instructor like US Olympic Judo Coach Jimmy Pedro. He says,"The key to injury prevention is never getting out of shape."
Still looking for something safer? Tennis has a rate of one injury every 14-hundred hours. In 2011, more than 82-thousand kids, 19 and under, went to emergency rooms for skateboarding injuries. And more than 38-thousand for snowboarding and skiing injuries. While these activities may seem more extreme than riding a bike, a whopping 288-thousand went to the ER for bike-related injuries.
The bottom line, there are risks in just about every sport you or your kids enjoy. So get the right safety gear, and remember, the American Association of Pediatrics reports 60-percent of skateboarding injuries involve children under 15, most of them are boys. The group finds a higher center of gravity, less development, and poor balance make kids more likely to get hurt on a skateboard. It recommends children under five never ride one.
