As with any sport, kickboxing carries a risk of injury if you don't take the proper precautions and don't respect the sport. Most injuries occur if people haven't prepared properly for their training session or if they are not showing adequate respect towards the sport or their partner, and end up hitting too hard or hurting themselves by doing techniques inaccurately. There are a few simple ways to avoid injuries, to ensure that you can continue training safely.
1) Warm up properly
We really can't stress this enough - lauching straight into exercises without warming up properly (and stretching) is dangerous. In the best case scenario, you may just pull a muscle. In the worst case, you could ruin your joints for life. If you turn up for your training on time, you will be taken through a rigorous warm up and stretches, which help maintain your fitness levels as well as getting you ready for the techniques/sparring/working on the punch bags. If you happen to turn up late, your sensei will tell you to do a quick warm up before you join the class - it's imperative that you do this properly, or you risk injuring yourself.
2) Pay attention, and express techniques accurately
There are mistakes that a lot of beginners make, such as hitting with the wrong part of the foot. The techiques in kickboxing are designed to inflict damage to the opponent (if used at full strength) without hurting yourself. Work through techniques slowly at first to ensure that you are hitting with the right part of your body (your sensei will tell you to 'show your weapon' clearly to make sure you're doing this), and if you're unsure of how to do a particular technique then ask!
3) Show respect to your partner and those around you
This does not simply mean bowing and touching gloves. Showing respect to your partner also means not hitting too hard when sparring, not pushing too hard in partnered stretching and generally ensuring that you are not going to injure anybody around you. Good communication is key, but common sense should tell you when you are doing something dangerous. Try to be aware of what's going on around you to avoid falling on/over other people as well.
4) Don't push yourself too hard
As athletes, we often want to push harder than our bodies want to go in order to achieve results, and see muscle ache and mild discomfort as the price we pay. It's important to understand the difference between 'good, normal' pain (such as the dull ache you experience when stretching, or the muscle burn during intense workouts) and 'bad, damaging' pain. If you feel pain in your joints at any point, or sharp pains, ease off whatever you are doing and sit down if you feel the need to. Equally, if you are asthmatic and feel short of breath, don't be afraid to sit down and recharge.
We've recently put up some new punchbags, and it's great to see students really pushing themselves on them. When you first start punching and kicking at full-speed and strength, it's recommended that you wear wrist wraps and build up instead of simply throwing punches as hard as you can to ensure that you build enough strength in your joints to take the power of your strikes.
If you take these precautions, you should be able to kickbox and train for decades without suffering serious injury. Serious sportsmen and women often suffer injuries simply because they are pushing their bodies harder than they want to go - taking good care of yourself entails working out safely, as well as eating and exercising well.
