Could i get sued for this?

koreantiger81 · Blue Belt

I want to spar more..Therefore, I'm going to put a flyer to find people to spar with at my university...They can be from any martial arts background..

This is not an official club...I will not be the instructor...I will charge nothing...I just want to find a group of people to spar with.. My question is, could I somehow be liable for injuries???

ckdstudent · Green Belt

If you have insurance then you'll probably be okay, it should cover you for things like this even when someone does sue. The problem comes in with it not being an official club. Everyone should be covered for sparring, but you might want to make sure that you have one person who's got instructor's insurance at each session, just to make sure it doesn't get out of hand.

I'd imagine though that if you join a sparring club and then try to sue for injuries you'd be laughed out of court.
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ZeRo · Black Belt

if you make them sign a contract saying that you are not liable for any injuries that might happen as a result of this club then i dont tihnk they can sue because they signed a contract. not sure though.

Red J · Black Belt

Remember, you can be sued for anything, even if someone signs a piece of paper. The contract, if it is even legal, can only protect you if you have acted reasonably and not negligently. My advice is to go to your University's legal services, which are usually free and get some real legal advice, especially if you are going to have people in this club that you don't know or trust.

Now with you being a college student you may want to organize under an existing club. Usually these clubs are protected under the University's blanket of insurance.

If you are only looking to go to a park and spar with two or three friends, then I wouldn't even worry about it. Just make sure you have a level of trust and know each others abilities and limitations.

When I was in college, I joined a University club and worked out for free. I also met a guy in my dorm who I started to train with. We would go down to the park and spar. We used common sense and never had a problem.

koreantiger81 · Blue Belt

Do I really have to purchase insurance? Remember, this isn't even an official club. I"m not trying to run a business either. My university has open spaces available in the gym, where we can spar. My duty is not to teach sparring or to make any money out of it...The only role I play is bringing fellow martial artists together to spar. Here is is my add.
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What to spar?

This is not a sparring club and I am not an instructor. I'm a martial artist just looking for a bunch of guys or gals to spar with at the university, using both punches and kicks. There's no fee for this, and no I will not pay you to spar. I'm also not liable for injuries.

Requirements:

-Controlled, light to semi-contact sparring which includes: kicks to the head, punches to the head, and all other striking techniques above the waist.

-Can be from any martial arts background (Tae kwon do, Kempo, Kung-fu, Karate, Kickboxing) as long as sparring is conducted in the above mentioned manner.

-Intermediate to Advanced in any martial arts, utilizing the sparring targets mentioned above. (As this is not a sparring class, there will be no instructors to teach sparring for beginners.)

-Have sparring gear.

Red J · Black Belt

If your University has open space in the gym then you better check it out with the University. They will advise you to what they will allow. Also you have requirements. Do you monitor the requirements? Are you organizing this? What is light contact to the head? What if you kick someone in the head harder than that, then what? Who determines who is advanced or an intermediate? Hey, if the University goes for it then ultimately they will be responsible. If you are even remotely worried about your liability then check with the legal department on campus. If someone is going to sue, they won't go after a broke college student, they will hit up the big bucks University that sanctioned this event.

Doesn't your University have any clubs that meet on a regular basis? I would start there.

Red J · Black Belt

KT81, what did you end up doing? How about an update? Good luck at the University.
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ad · Brown Belt

i wouldnt think that it would be such a good idea,
i would say to u to keep it in a club, its best to be safe and not have a letter requesting u to court
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BlueDragon1981 · Red Belt

It is a good idea. You can have people sign a waiver that it is known that you may get injured and it is at no fault of anyone in the unofficial club. Of course you would probably have to have a notery there to make it official for it to have any legal binding. Or have at least 5 or 6 witnesses sign that they witnessed the person sign. Remember it is true that people can sue for pretty much anything.

fungku · Orange Belt

geez.... remind me to never move to the US
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