A review of injury assessment in Iranian martial artists: Systematic review

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the scientific framework of studies related to martial arts injuries and to provide a comprehensive review of the previous studies.
The search for articles was performed in specialized databases and 17 articles were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria.
The study showed that most injuries in karate occur in the head and neck, and in taekwondo and judo they occur in the lower extremities. Most of these injuries are contusions and bruises. It was also found that most of the reported injuries occurred during practice, but these injuries are generally mild. The study also showed that the opponent's technical foul is the most important cause of injuries in karate, taekwondo, and judo.
The present study revealed that there are clear differences between the method of research report related to martial arts injuries, that results in difficult conclusions, so matching the features seems to be necessary in future studies. However, it seems that the pattern of injuries in domestic investigations is similar to those reported abroad. Since none of the previous studies examined the effect of interventions on the reduction of injuries and the preventive suggestions offered are presented based on speculations or studies in other countries, it appears that many of these suggestions are not reliable and future attempts should aim to study the injury prevention strategies and interventions to control risk factors and injury mechanisms in Iranian martial artists.