How are their Safety Standards?

As with any sport, safety is paramount. And naturally, with most Martial Arts, you will be pairing up with a partner or opponent to attack or defend them, sooner or later. 

When you are “attacking” another person, safety may not be a concern to you, but if you or your child are “defending” and are on the receiving end of strong uncontrolled attacks, you may wonder what you got yourself into! This is where you need good safety standards and controls. 

All reputable Karate or Martial Arts clubs should tell you what you can do and what not to do, and have a high degree of safety standards in place for their members. The amount of contact you receive should be a gradual process too, depending on your age, health, and capabilities. 

A good instructor should point out any safety concerns of any techniques you may be attempting ‘before’ you attempt it (not after). Generally, good duty of care is a legal duty to take reasonable care not to injure any other person that could have been reasonably foreseen prior to the event. For example, bad duty of care is ‘letting a brown or blackbelt beat up a beginner or yellow belt who has nowhere near the same skill set of the blackbelt’, or forcing a 5-year-old beginner to do 100 press-ups in one go.