[Prevalence of karate injuries in professional karate ka in Isfahan]

Karate is the most popular martial art in Iran, Karate has become a popular sport, not only among the younger generations seeking to learn self-defense and improve self-esteem, but also among middle-aged men and women as a sport to improve cardiovascular fitness and flexibility. Martial arts have a reputation for being a high risk activity, but severe injuries in karate are actually rare. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and incidence of karate injuries in professional karate ka athletes in Isfahan. Fifty individual from professional karate ka experienced at least one year of country championship participated in this study. Each athlete was asked to complete a questionnaire on karate injuries sustained during the two previous years with type, time, location, mechanism, season of injuries and number of days off training and competition. From 185 injury recorded, lower limb with 64 [35%] was vulnerable body region. Head and face with 60 [32%], upper limb with 43 [23%], trunk and spinal column with 13 [7%] and internal organs with 5 [3%] were exposed to injuries. 46% of injuries were occurred during training, 40% during competition, 8% during warm up and 6% during weight lifting period. 43% of injuries were minor, 27% moderate and 30% severe. Opponent technical foul [26%] was the most common reason of injuries. According to our findings, the rate of injury was 4.35 per 1000 hours training and competition. Injuries in this study were minor. Karate injuries more likely occur during competition, considering the time spent in training session and competition. Finally lower limb was the most frequent region of injury

[Prevalence of karate injuries in professional karate ka in Isfahan]

Background: karate is the most popular martial art in Iran. Karate has become a popular sport, not only among the younger generations seeking to learn self-defense and improve self-esteem, but also among middle-aged men and women as a sport to improve cardiovascular fitness and flexibility. Martial arts have a reputation for being a high risk activity, but severe injuries in karate are actually rare. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and incidence of karate injuries in professional karate ka athletes in Isfahan

Materials and methods: fifty individual from professional karate ka experienced at least one year of country championship participated in this study. Each athlete was asked to complete a questionnaire on karate injuries sustained during the two previous years with type, time, location, mechanism, season of injuries and number of days off training and competition

Results: from 185 injury recorded, lower limb with 64 [35%] was vulnerable body region. Head and face with 60 [32%], upper limb with 43 [23%], trunk and spinal column with 13 [7%] and internal organs with 5 [3%] were exposed to injuries. 46% of injuries were occurred during training, 40% during competition, 8% during warm up and 6% during weight lifting period. 43% of injuries were minor, 27% moderate and 30% severe. Opponent technical foul [26%] was the most common reason of injuries

Conclusions: according to our findings, the rate of injury was 4.35 per 1000 hours training and competition. Injuries in this study were minor. Karate injuries more likely occur during competition, considering the time spent in training session and competition. Finally lower limb was the most frequent region of injury