She said last time that happened with someone during sparing it broke her kneecap instead, so I guess I was 50/50 on that one.
People are shocked when I tell them that a sport where you try to hit other people in the head has a shockingly low rate of injury.
> Some places require head protection too, but I'm not sure if that actually protects you vs just giving your opponent a false sense of "it's okay to hit you harder".
Plenty of studies have come out showing that head gear increases the rate of injury, to the extent that head gear and padded gloves should just be banned in every gym.
The safest way to spare is bare knuckle with a mouth guard. No one in their right mind punches full force when bare knuckle, at least not more than once.
(Also, bare knuckle, still wrap up, and hit with the first two knuckles. Boxers in thick gloves learn to hit with the bottom two knuckles, which will shatter the shit out of any hand that tries to do that without gloves on...)
Most of those gyms also do BJJ, and I do very frequently see joint and ear injuries from those. Nothing major, but people will rotate in and out of injuries for a few weeks at a time.
With any gym, it's important not to rush into sparring before you get your bearings (and protection, like at least a mouth guard and shin guards). Some places require head protection too, but I'm not sure if that actually protects you vs just giving your opponent a false sense of "it's okay to hit you harder". You might be trading light grazing blows (and visibility) for heavier blunt impacts...? Not totally sure of the science there.
It's also super important to choose good sparring partners, meaning they are both adequately skilled at self control and not prone to bouts of anger that make them lose control. Watch other people spar for a while and talk to the coach about your own ability and theirs before jumping in. The absolute worst is beginners jumping into sparring each other without good self control, causing an unintentional slugfest where people don't know what they're doing and end up getting hurt. Don't do that, take it slow and play it safe. If you're not planning on competing there's no reason to rush through training or disregard safety.
I know I sound like an old geezer lol, but seriously, it's entirely possible to do martial arts safely if you just lower the aggro level and don't go all out.