Can you hurt someone in a martial arts competition?

Aside from self-defense, one of the main reasons people train in martial arts is for the competition experience. This can be an enjoyable hobby whereby people pressure test their skills against similarly skilled opponents in a competitive environment. Usually, a martial arts competition will face people off against each other based on belt rank, age, gender and time served training.

This can be a fun experience and also lets you know how good you truly are. Elsewhere, it also tests your reflexes under pressure and whether you can handle the adrenaline, nerves, and expectations. Of course, martial arts are always physical and you can get hurt, but how much is too much? In this article, we shall discuss whether you can hurt people or get hurt during a martial arts competition.

Some competitions don’t allow hard strikes

Although martial arts are deeply embedded in self-defense, some competitions have rules against going too hard. Whilst this sounds contradictory, it is something that goes on. Two martial arts that spring to mind are Shotokan Karate and Taekwondo. Although these once had reputations of being hard martial arts, these days their competitions don’t allow for hard strikes.

In other words, you could literally knock your opponent out – only to be disqualified for hitting too hard. The point of this is to advocate technique over brute power. Still, this is taken to the extreme these days where Taekwondo competitions take this too far. As a result, sometimes these competitions look closer to a game of tag compared to combat sports. Understandably, some martial artists look down upon these rules which have arguably watered down the aforementioned martial arts and have made them a shell of their former selves.

Respect the tap

In grappling competitions such as Judo, Sambo, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, strikes aren’t allowed. They are based on grappling after all. So, one of the main ways to win is by submitting the opponent and making them tap out. The idea in these competitions is to be able to submit someone without hurting them.

Most of the time, this is possible and if you have full control of a submission then there’s no need to rip it on quickly. For instance, if you catch someone in an armbar and there’s no way of escaping, you don’t need to ram it on. At the same time, this is a competition after all so you should still make sure there’s enough intent there and don’t be too nice. By the same token, the person caught in the submission should be equally mindful.

If you’re stuck in a submission and close to breaking point then it’s best to tap to avoid injury. Sadly, some people avoid this advice and push their bodies to the physical limits which can result in serious injuries. Generally, there’s a fine line between putting a submission on too quickly and someone refusing to tap. For the most part though, both practitioners are usually ok about this when it comes to respecting each other’s safety.

Injuries do happen

With all of this said, injuries still happen at martial arts competitions. For instance, you could still knock someone out if you punched them hard enough, even if the rules didn’t allow it. Ultimately, you are emulating a fighting scenario after all. In competitions that do allow hard hits, the chance of knocking someone else or getting knocked out obviously increases dramatically. For example, in an amateur MMA fight a knockout is relatively common. This means it’s up to you as to whether you want to take this risk or whether you’re comfortable with hurting someone. Certain other martial arts such as Muay Thai and Kyokushin Karate will also allow for going full force without penalties or disqualifications.

In grappling martial arts, you’re not really likely to see a knockout but you will see people get choked unconscious, bones broken, and other injuries. Even stuff like collegiate wrestling can end badly if someone is slammed on their neck badly. In other words, if you’re scared about being hurt that much then you probably shouldn’t compete as there’s always a possibility of injury, no matter how much you plan to compete safely.

Summary

To answer the original question, injuries do happen in martial arts competitions and people do get physically hurt. Thankfully, most of the time the main damage is done to the loser’s ego rather than their body. However, as mentioned injuries are always lurking where combat sports are concerned.

If you do want to compete but don’t like the sound of hurting someone or getting hurt then there are certain martial arts that you may want to consider. As mentioned, certain types of Karate and TKD allow for competitive matches without significant risk of injury. These days, you can even have an MMA fight that doesn’t allow head punches on the ground or competitions that use shin and head padding to lessen blows. In conclusion, it really depends on what martial art you’re competing in – and then it depends on an element of luck from there on out.