Its a safe bet that most martial arts schools integrate ( sparring ) into their training program.Sparring is a pratical way to apply the knowlege and techniques that students learn in martial arts class. In other words sparring is (controlled) combat.You may automatically presume that there are many accidents and injuries, and yes accidents do happen. But our training methods have come quite far with the help of good saftey equipment If you already have a student enrolled in a martial arts program, I suggest that if you want to prevent injury then invest in good training gear. For male students I require a groin protector and in addition all students must have a mouthpiece .In any given karate move that is interactive this equipment is necessary. When we do sparring I require shinguards, headgear, footgear and handgear(gloves) . I have recently started requiring Chest protectors which give a good scoring target and allow the students to train and sparr harder with more protection. Some students wear glasses , those students I require protective goggles. In training in the martial arts over many years, I can tell you without hesitation that saftey should be a priority at all times. Be a great martial artist and train with your brain. Questions and comments can be sent to my email at AAofSD@aol.com Yours in The Martial Arts,