Legal issues from injuries during sparring?

[Scott Ray]

You don't sue the baseball team if you hurt yourself sliding into home plate. Why be even starting this thread I you weren't thinking of taking legal action?? Zog is right. It's a combat sport... Expect to get hurt. And grow a pair, few hundred years ago this sport was done with swords... Legal action... Lol.

[Paul Hughes]

I think some people are misunderstanding what his thread is about.

I do not want to sue my school. I would not sue my school. I expect to and often do get hurt. It's fighting, it happens.

Maybe I wasn't clear, legally, should my school be having people sign waivers is the question I'm asking here.

[NameLikeNoOther]

You should have a bomb-proof, titanium clad waiver written by a knowledgeable and experienced lawyer or Sports Organizing Body to cover your ass from douche bags 100% and also some Liability Insurance wouldn't hurt as wll.

[Chris Herzog]

Chris I understand and agree with your statement completely, but there are lots of folks out there that take advantage of the legal system to sue over everything they can. I just wanted to point out to instructors to cover themselves very carefully against them. A prospering business can be wrecked by one little punk, that gets just the right judge and jury.

Oh of course, and some people don't know what they are getting into, its a instructors responsibility to make sure the student understands that, and obviously its also his responsibility to protect the well being of his academy via waivers and other legal protections.

[Chris Herzog]

And part of training is learning to deal with people better than you, take your ass beating like a man, its part of the processes.

Relying on someone else to protect you and keep you safe is foolish, if a submission is on tap.

[Paul Hughes]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to put it to my instructor on Saturday. He's worked hard to get us where we are and I wouldn't want to see all the hard work fail on a technicality.

[robster]

i see you train at Marc Walders, im very surprised he hasn't got this covered

[Chris Garry]

Its worth remembering that the UK and USA have very different laws regarding waivers with combat sport. In one country they are worth more than the other.

All legit clubs should have blanket public liability, public indemnity insurance including member to member accidents and instructor liabilities. Our insurance covers us for several million. That said we don't let guys on their free class spar, so they have to have signed up to spar, and we also recommend that they have at least 6 classes and watch as much sparring as possible so they know what to expect. That said if someone gets hurt sparring, well its sparring.. The main thing is we cover ourselves by having proper insurance and doing everything that can be reasonably expected in the event of a mishap.

[Paul Hughes]

i see you train at Marc Walders, im very surprised he hasn't got this covered

Like I said, as far as I am aware no-one signed a waiver. Not sure about insurance.

Its worth remembering that the UK and USA have very different laws regarding waivers with combat sport. In one country they are worth more than the other.

All legit clubs should have blanket public liability, public indemnity insurance including member to member accidents and instructor liabilities. Our insurance covers us for several million. That said we don't let guys on their free class spar, so they have to have signed up to spar, and we also recommend that they have at least 6 classes and watch as much sparring as possible so they know what to expect. That said if someone gets hurt sparring, well its sparring.. The main thing is we cover ourselves by having proper insurance and doing everything that can be reasonably expected in the event of a mishap.

Thanks for this info Chris, this is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. I'm sure my instructor will be interested to know this.

[Chris Garry]

Ours is called Martial Guard Policy from a company called Tower Gate www.towergatewarwick.co.uk

Your gyms owner should be pleasantly surprised by how affordable the insurance works out at.