[jessupjonesjnr87]

Olympic style boxing would be fine for kids with the head gear and point scoring system but the kids in those pics don't even have the head gear.

[layman]

I agree with jessup here. I have no no problem with full contact sport with kids but they need full padding, including head gear. Licensed instructors should be mandatory.

I can't really seak for other country's though. I am not going to go lecturing African tribes on letting their kids hunt lions or whatever.

[fuser]

There should obviously be a minimum age for theses sort of sports, I am no expert but these kids definitely look too young.

An lol @ people who think that if we don't allow 7 year old to hit each other they will grow pussy wimp or whatever, you guys really need to get out of your Internet and comic book fantasies.

[Azure Angel]

Looking at photos of these "fights" that are held in Thailand, it is clear this is simply abuse of children.

Fuser said

An lol @ people who think that if we don't allow 7 year old to hit each other they will grow pussy wimp or whatever, you guys really need to get out of your Internet and comic book fantasies.

Seconding this.

[Godstud]

No, you're right. It is abuse. Just like this is abuse, but you'd probably think it's OK because it's not somewhere else. Here's abuse of kids you conveniently overlook because it's part of YOUR culture...

Hockey:

Hockey linked to nearly half of brain injuries in Canada's kid, teen athletes
"But still 10 per cent of the kids with brain injuries -- and this amounts across Canada to several thousand kids a year -- are still getting their brain injury because someone hit them from behind," he said. "So they've been body-checked from behind either into the boards or into another player and sustained a brain injury."
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/health-hea ... -1.1216150

Football:

The Journal of Athletic Training reported in 2007 that an estimated 28 percent of the 5.5 million youth football players between the ages of 5 and 14 are injured each year. About 187,000 of these injuries require emergency medical care. In 2013, USA Football released preliminary findings after the first year of a multi-year study. They note that fewer than 10 percent of youth football players incur an injury, and of those injuries, 64 percent are considered minor injuries. In general, younger and lighter players are at less risk of injury than older, heavier players. This may be because heavier players exert more force on themselves and each other in the case of a collision.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/35882 ... -football/

Average 12 high school and college football players die each year, study says
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/h ... -1.1309671

Concussions From Youth Football
Results From NEISS Hospitals Over an 11-Year Time Frame, 2002-2012
http://ojs.sagepub.com/content/1/7/2325 ... 17860.full

Obviously these contact COMBAT sports need to also be stopped! Parents exposing their kids to this stuff are all guilty of child abuse.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

[Decky]

You say it like it's a joke Godstud but that is where it will go in the end. The middle class want everyone to be weak and pathetic like them.

[Godstud]

If we take a look at ourselves we see we aren't much different. Are you going to tell me that North American kids aren't doing dangerous things just to make those sports moms and dads proud? You're kidding yourself if you think it's any different... but alas, it's not the same... or is it?

Child abuse!

[SolarCross]

If we take a look at ourselves we see we aren't much different. Are you going to tell me that North American kids aren't doing dangerous things just to make those sports moms and dads proud? You're kidding yourself if you think it's any different... but alas, it's not the same... or is it?

I think the whiners complaining about Muay Thai also complain about American football. I'm guessing but the apple pie soccar moms & pops only complaint about Mauy Thai would not be because it is dangerous but only that it something foreigners do.

[fuser]

I love whataboutism. The best ideology ever.

[Ganeshas Rat]

The Journal of Athletic Training reported in 2007 that an estimated 28 percent of the 5.5 million youth football players between the ages of 5 and 14 are injured each year. About 187,000 of these injuries require emergency medical care. In 2013, USA Football released preliminary findings after the first year of a multi-year study. They note that fewer than 10 percent of youth football players incur an injury, and of those injuries, 64 percent are considered minor injuries. In general, younger and lighter players are at less risk of injury than older, heavier players. This may be because heavier players exert more force on themselves and each other in the case of a collision.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/35882 ... -football/

It is strange. Because we were playing football each year and each day after school lessons when we were children and nobody was injured. Oh, maybe it's because it was football, not ram-this-fucker-with-your-head-ball.

[The Clockwork Rat]

No, it's not, but since you don't agree with it, you call it that.

It was exactly that. At least in some of your posts you do attempt to put forward an argument, despite the needlessly vitriolic tone.

With respect to your reference of other sports, e.g. hockey and (American) football, I would again agree that the risks involved to children are poorly recognised. However, it is from studies of long-term players of both those sports that we are gaining more information about the effects of repeated concussion. Indeed, the same lines of research point out the dangers of excessive padding.

JJJ87 and layman suggest more padding, but in fact it's now being recognised that padding is actually counter-productive in reducing the risk of concussion. Because the striking limbs no longer suffer painful, relatively superficial damage upon impact, players and fighters in their respective disciplines hit with greater force that has more potential to affect the brain. The classic example of this is boxing; prior to the introduction of weighted, padded gloves, fights would rarely end in a KO. Since then, bouts have become far more likely to end in a knock-out (concussion).

Contrary to repeated accusations, I am not in favour of banning sports or martial arts (and I am in even less favour of increasing padding). I would prefer that people recognise that concussion is a greater risk than previously thought, and that we adjust our evaluation of the risk the children accordingly.

Furthermore, when it comes to whether child MT fighters are subject to abuse or not, I would ask: how many of these children come from wealthy families, and how many receive purses that provide a significant contribution to their family's income? One could ask a similar question of who profits most in the USA from having a ready supply of children, trained from a young age for a single sport.

[Political Interest]

Children don't need to be wtapped in cotton wool. Most are fine and don't die from any injuries they incur.

[jessupjonesjnr87]

JJJ87 and layman suggest more padding, but in fact it's now being recognised that padding is actually counter-productive in reducing the risk of concussion. Because the striking limbs no longer suffer painful, relatively superficial damage upon impact, players and fighters in their respective disciplines hit with greater force that has more potential to affect the brain. The classic example of this is boxing; prior to the introduction of weighted, padded gloves, fights would rarely end in a KO. Since then, bouts have become far more likely to end in a knock-out (concussion).

As for padding, fighting with gloves is actually more dangerous than fighting without them and does more to protect the knuckles than the head allowing boxers to punch harder for longer. Head gear protects the brain but I don't see those kids wearing any.

The damage boxers used to sustain to their hands before the introduction of gloves was far from superficial.

[The Clockwork Rat]

I beg your pardon, I misread you slightly. Regardless, even wearing headgear just lets you get punched in the head for longer without hurting the other person's hands. Hand injuries may not be superficial, but they're still more acceptable than brain damage.

Children don't need to be wtapped in cotton wool. Most are fine and don't die from any injuries they incur.

Incisive argument there. It demonstrates that you've really been reading the discussion so far.

[Decky]

Furthermore, when it comes to whether child MT fighters are subject to abuse or not, I would ask: how many of these children come from wealthy families

That goes without saying, middle class people are pathetic, their children are playing croquet or tennis. Of course working class people are more likely to do real sports and that's a good thing not a bad thing.

[The Clockwork Rat]

It's a good thing that working class families resort to risking their children's health in order to keep their household afloat?

Again,

[Decky]

Yes, there won't be any desk sitters on the barricades that's for sure.