Before allowing your child to join a sports club, you should not only think about the benefits of the sport, but also about the unpleasant consequences that sports training can have in time. And when I say unpleasant, I mean mostly injuries and unwanted body modifications. Everybody knows that sumo wrestlers are fat, gymnasts are usually short, basketball players are tall, boxers break their noses all the time and may be covered in scars and so forth. What about MMA fighters?

Before beginning a discussion about mixed martial arts, you should be aware that sports, pain and injuries are no strangers to each other. Most of the sports have a ton of injuries associated with their practice and going professional can have, in time, a serious health impact. Fighting sports have a particularly bad health aura surrounding them, especially because of boxing.

Boxing is probably the most well-known and advertised fighting sport, and if something bad happens in the ring, you can be sure everyone will notice it. There have been deaths in the boxing ring, and retired boxers are known to suffer from lots of diseases that were provoked by the hundreds of punches they took while active.

Fortunately, mixed martial arts are a lot safer than boxing, and a lot safer that other popular sports, such as football, basketball and soccer. Injuries do occur sometimes, but they are usually just accidents and do not entirely reflect the nature of the sport.

As opposed to boxing, a good knock down in MMA ends the fight. There is no countdown and, if a fighter is unable to intelligently defend himself, the fight is stopped. Being a lot more complex than boxing, in MMA you can win a fight without a punch and you can lose without being hit. The possibility of submitting an opponent is always a lot less destructive than knocking him out and can sometimes be even more spectacular. In boxing and other striking sports clinching is only allowed for a limited amount of time, and fighters are encouraged to hit continuously. In a boxing fight, more than 400 punches are thrown, and sometimes as much as half of those reach their target. You won’t see that happen in MMA.

But enough about the bad side of martial arts. Despite the pain and injuries that sports practice imply, training in mixed martial arts has lots of benefits for kids. The physical ones are probably the most obvious. As mixed martial arts training is a combination of wrestling, submission and striking techniques, they have access to the best of these very demanding sports. They will only learn techniques that actually work in a real situation, and will be prepared to deal with a physical challenge in more than one way. The physical training will make them complete athletes and they will develop a powerful body able to handle almost anything. And if they want to change the sport when they grow up, they will easily adapt.

From a psychological point of view, knowing how to fight can build one’s self-confidence and give him the tools to handle all sorts of challenges in life. With mixed martial arts training, your kid will learn how to control his body and emotions. And despite one of the popular views on martial arts and violence, knowing how to fight does not get you into more fights, but is more likely to avoid unpleasant incidents.

Author Bio: Teagen James is an avid participant, writer, and fan of MMA. He is also the owner and operator of CheapFightGear.com which is an online store and blog which is a great resource for anyone looking to get up to the minute MMA news or to purchase quality and affordable MMA Gear, MMA Training Gear and MMA Clothes.

Category: Sports
Keywords: mma,mixed martial arts,mma training,attention parents,is mma safe