Page 135 - Safe Wrestling

Combat-Sport-Specific Preventive Warm-Up Programmes

MASS-12: Evidence-Based Martial Arts Striking Sports Injury
Prevention Programme
While programmes such as Wrestling Plus, IPPON, and IPW primari-
ly target grappling disciplines, MASS-12 focuses specifically on injury
prevention in standing and striking combat sports. The Evidence-Based
Martial Arts Striking Sports Injury Prevention Programme (MASS-12) was
developed by Bacon and Wilson (2024) for disciplines including karate,
taekwondo, kickboxing, boxing, and related sports. The programme was
designed to provide a practical, evidence-informed protocol for reducing
common injuries, with particular attention to recreational and female
participants, whose injury profiles remain comparatively underrepre-
sented in the literature.
The authors first reviewed the prevalence and mechanisms of in-
jury in striking combat sports. Non-contact lower-limb injuries, such as
knee ligament injuries and ankle sprains, were identified as particularly
common, alongside repetitive overuse injuries associated with explo-
sive strikes, jumps, and rapid changes of direction. Due to the limited
availability of injury data concerning female athletes in combat sports,
the programme also drew on broader literature addressing injury mech-
anisms and preventive strategies in female athletes from other sports
characterised by similar mechanical demands.
Based on this evidence, and using resources such as the Physiotec ex-
ercise database, the authors identified sport-specific interventions tar-
geting neuromuscular control, trunk stabilisation, knee alignment, ply-
ometrics, and dynamic balance. These interventions were subsequently
filtered through practical considerations typical of recreational training
environments, including time constraints, equipment availability, group
size, and coach experience. The final result was a coherent prehabilita-
tion and preventive warm-up protocol consisting of 12 structured exer-
cises designed to integrate seamlessly into standard training sessions.
The central principle of MASS-12 is biomechanical retraining, with a
particular emphasis on appropriate hip-knee-ankle alignment and con-
trol of knee position during loaded movements such as landings, lunges,
and rapid changes of direction. This emphasis directly addresses the
dominant mechanisms of non-contact lower-limb injuries observed in
standing and striking combat sports. The programme also incorporates
exercises aimed at improving trunk and pelvic stability, as well as dynam-
ic balance, thereby supporting efficient force transfer, postural control,
and resilience to high-intensity mechanical loads.

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