Judo high level competition injuries

The aim of this study was to investigate the injury profile of male and female athletes competing at high level. We analyzed videos of 124 matches, fought by 83 different judoka, during 4 of the most important international judo competitions (International Tournaments 2006 and 2007) of all weight categories. We catalogued the injuries by type, level of severity (including the “minor injury” considered by IJF rules) and anatomical region. Among 124 fights analysed, we identified 27 injury incidents for 24 athletes (28.9% of the judoka observed). The 55.5% of the injury incidents was soft level of severity, 33.3% medium level and 11.1% serious level. We found that the most common type of injury was musculoskeletal stress to the fingers, and the most common mechanism of injury was during the standing fight when a competitor is being thrown. Parole chiave Trauma • Judo • Competizione Riassunto Lo scopo di questa ricerca è quello di studiare la peculiarità dei traumi subiti dagli atleti di judo, uomini e donne, che gareggiano ai massimi livelli. Abbiamo analizzato i video di 124 incontri di ogni categoria di peso, disputati da 83 differenti judoka durante 4 dei più importanti campionati internazionali (Tornei Internazionali 2006 e 2007). Abbiamo suddiviso i traumi a seconda della tipologia, del livello di gravità (includendo anche il “trauma minore” considerato dal regolamento dell’IJF) e della regione anatomica colpita da trauma. Dei 124 combattimenti analizzati abbiamo individuato 27 episodi traumatici accorsi a 24 atleti (28,9% dei judoka osservati). Il 55,5% degli episodi traumatici sono di entità “lieve”, il 33,3% “media” e 11,1% “seria”. Abbiamo notato che la tipologia di trauma più comune è lo stress muscolo- scheletrico alle dita della mano e la maggior parte dei traumi sono causati dal combattimento in piedi, quando l’atleta subisce una proiezione di judo. Introduction Judo is a popular and commonly practiced Japanese martial art and an Olympic combat sport. It is a fight where the competitors are in close contact, dressing a special uniform (judogi) and they try to throw down each other (Fig. 1). Judo has its roots in Japanese samurai martial arts Ju jitsu in the sixth century, and was founded by Jigoro Kano in 1882 in Tokyo. Currently 7 millions are almost the affiliate apprentices to the International Judo Federation. In Italy actually there are 50.000 athletes, 4000 trainers and 1100 judo clubs affiliated to the FIJLKAM, the Italian Judo Federation recognized by the Italian Olympic Committee. Since the first time judo at the Olympic Games, the skill level of judo players has been suddenly increasing together with frequency and seriousness of injuries. Even if popularity and professionalism of judo are growing because of the Olympic Games, the scientific literature on this subject is rare. The more important athletic qualities for a judoka player are: strength, speed, endurance, balances, flexibility, coordination. In the competition the judo athletes (judoka) are divided by gender, weight, age and grade (judo experience).