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Jon Jepson
Jon Jepson's picture
The legalities of sparing

Hi all

Last friday evening during my regular kickboxing session , the subject of sparring and the law came up . One of the students asked the instructor (not me) , why sparring wasnt assault . After much debate we concluded that it proberbly was ! , the only differance being that within our group we chose to be there and are members of the club.

I was just wondering if the forum had any thought on this .

Regards

Jon .

shadowfax
shadowfax's picture

1. I'm not a lawyer. I'm also in the USA, if that matters

2. The tort, or civil liability, of assault, is predicated on consent. If I, as a doctor, perform surgery on you without consent, I have committed an assault and may be liable to pay you a large sum of money for touching your person (and presumably causing harm) without your consent. Sparring, being consensual, does not create this liability. (Though if you injure your sparring partner through carelessness or incautious behavior, you may be liable for damages due to negligence.)

3. The criminal liability of assault derives from intent, the mens rea, in which you are deliberately attempting to harm another person or their property. Sparring, being a controlled environment in which serious injuries are not anticipated, doesn't meet this definition. Indeed, as Iain has pointed out in the podcast, some municipalities don't even consider "consensual combat" to be a crime.

Cheers,

SF

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Not a lawyer obviously, but “assault” is defined in UK law (section 39 Criminal Justice Act 1988) as:

“An assault is committed when a person intentionally or recklessly causes another to apprehend the immediate infliction of unlawful force.”

There is no law prohibiting sparring (as we know from the fact our dojos don’t get raided by the police all the time :-))

The Crown Prosecution Service guidance also states that:

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/l_to_o/offences_against_the_person/

“On a charge of Common Assault, it is necessary for the prosecution to prove absence of consent”

Essentially then, sparring is both lawful and has the consent of all participants. The same could be said of all physical sports: Rugby tackle someone during a game and that’s perfectly fine … Rugby tackle an unsuspecting stranger in the street and you’ve committed assault.

If sparring was to get “out of hand” and move beyond what was consented to, then assault may still apply i.e. if one person lost their tempter during a judo bout and started punching their opponent.

The CPS website above is a good resource for more detailed information.

All the best,

Iain

Jon Jepson
Jon Jepson's picture

Thankyou shadowfax , Iain .

As i thought the presence of consent is a huge mitigating factor , but as you say Iain , if a light contact sparring session got out of hand one could proberbly be guilty of assault .

I guess its the intention that is the deciding factor .

Thanks again for your thoughts

Regards

Jon

jeffc
jeffc's picture

Hi everyone

In addition to what Iain wrote, it is not possible in the UK to legally consent to extreme violence. The case law is interesting and refers to sado-masochism. Hopefully that is not relevant in most Dojo!!!  :-D

Cheers

Jeff Capstick

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

jeffc wrote:
In addition to what Iain wrote, it is not possible in the UK to legally consent to extreme violence. The case law is interesting and refers to sado-masochism. Hopefully that is not relevant in most Dojo!!!  :-D

If I remember rightly, the case involved large nails, hammers, wooden boards and very sensitive areas of the body … not what you’d find in most dojo! Most people would tap out way before then! :-)

Although some of this stuff comes close!

All the best,

Iain

jeffc
jeffc's picture

Iain Abernethy wrote:
If I remember rightly, the case involved large nails, hammers, wooden boards and very sensitive areas of the body … not what you’d find in most dojo! Most people would tap out way before then! :-)

That was exactly what I was referring too Iain!!  Hopefully that only goes on at the most "hardcore" Dojo!! ;-)

See you soon

Jeff

Paul_D
Paul_D's picture

Street fighting is still illegal though I beleive, even if both parties consent. I am guessing it would be prosectued more under "breach of the peace" though.

Jon Jepson
Jon Jepson's picture

It is Paul your right .

It would be considered an action that would lead to a breach of the peace .

Regards

Jon