Lawsuits

In a Florida case, a student was sparring with another student at the defendant's home when he was injured by a takedown. The court held that, to determine whether a karate student assumed the risk of sparring, a jury must determine:

• whether the student either actually or subjectively knew of the risk, or, if not,
• whether the student, as a reasonable person, should have known of the risk of his activity, and
• whether the student voluntarily assumed the risk.

In this case, the court held that the plaintiff was aware of and voluntarily assumed the risk of injury. Since the plaintiff in this case only sued the student who injured him, the court did not address whether, under any circumstances, a karate instructor or school may be held liable for knowingly allowing, encouraging, or condoning students to spar outside of supervised class.

In Ohio, a court held that a student who fell on a slippery floor while kicking a bag was aware of the risk, and therefore was barred from recovery.