MASS-12: Evidence-based Martial Arts Striking Sports Injury Prevention Programme

Despite a focus on contact injuries in martial arts, many injuries are non-contact, from ligament tears to ankle sprains, and could be prevented with appropriate prehabilitation. With an emphasis on tradition, recreational martial arts clubs have not yet widely adopted modern prehabilitation exercises. We reviewed the literature to identify injury prevalence and mechanism in martial arts striking sports (MASS). Given the lack of data on female martial artists, we also reviewed common injuries in female athletes. We then identified sport-specific evidence-based interventions using a combination of literature review and Physiotec and filtered this through the constraints of recreational MASS environments to develop a cohesive, useable prehabilitation programme. We propose a programme of 12 exercises for injury prevention (MASS-12). We emphasise the importance of biomechanical retraining to prevent common injuries in martial arts. Hip-knee-ankle alignment is key to injury prevention in MASS, while improved injury surveillance is needed for future intervention.