Abstract - Injury in Martial Art Activities Focusing on Pencak Silat Athletes
Background. SUKMA is the biggest national biannual sports event in Malaysia for athletes between 15 and 23 years of age. Combat activities are classified as sports that have a high risk of injuries due to the application of specific techniques and are listed in SUKMA.
Problem and aim: The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of the types of injuries that occur during competition situations among Pencak Silat athletes and the cases of different gender-specific injuries in Pencak Silat.
Material and Methods. The data were collected using an adopted questionnaire. Respondents of the study were 186 Pencak Silat athletes who participated in SUKMA XIX Perak 2018. Male respondents were 100 and female 86. 58.6% of the participants were between 18 and 21 years old.
Results. Based on the result, the most frequent injuries that occurred in Pencak Silat are bruises (n = 69), and the least frequent injuries are fractures [n = 6]. The primary cause of most of the injuries in Pencak Silat is kicking (n =87). Other than that, the highest- rate recurring injuries that occurred during training and competition are bruises (n = 48, n = 21). In this study, the result also indicates that different injuries occur based on gender due to the capability of the gender.
Conclusions. This study presents the injury profiles in Pencak Silat. Injuries in martial arts are the result of kicks and punches that result mostly in bruises and occur frequently in male athletes. It is believed that understanding most risk factors will help to develop preventive measures for the safety of athletes.