Ahmad Alhazeem
Argumentative Essay
Gianico ESL 15 001
04/12/2011
Extreme Sports
There are many types of sports that people are able to play; each sport has its own rules
and way of playing it. But as we are seeing now there are special types of sports being created
continuously and they are giving a new meaning to the word sports. These new sports that are
being created have their own way of playing them and most of them have no rules. These new
sports are called extreme sports because they are not as easy to do as the traditional sports that
we have been used to. Many types of extreme sports are being created frequently but the most
popular ones are Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), rock-climbing, skydiving, snowboarding,
skateboarding, motocross and BMX biking to name a few. There are also an increasing number
of events that host these extreme sports, one of which is the X Games, also short for extreme
games. The problem with extreme sports is that some people think that these types of sports are
too dangerous for people to engage in or even to watch so some of these sports are banned in
certain areas. Despite the claims that they’re dangerous, extreme sports are in fact not as
dangerous as some people think that they are seeing that they have high quality safety equipment
and safety teams for the sports that need them, they also have less injury and death rates than
some traditional sports and they mostly causes problems when some sports like MMA are
unregulated. Furthermore extreme sports have affected the society in a large way by allowing the
athletes to challenge themselves and push their own limits, and by becoming a big business
where a lot of companies spend a great deal of money to sponsor these types of sports.
Extreme sports are mostly about the risks and excitement that come with it. People who
seek to experience things in life that other people don’t normally experience do these extreme
sports. Clemmitt (2009) wrote that most athletes that do these extreme sports have “thrillseeking” personalities and that they do this for the challenge, the creativity and the risky
Ahmad Alhazeem
Argumentative Essay
Gianico ESL 15 001
04/12/2011
experiences. She also says that skateboarding, which is an extreme sport, is a way for kids to
express themselves and get away from any issues that they might have. Appleton (2008)
compares the traditional sports with extreme sports saying that traditional sports are mostly about
commitment and fair play while extreme sports are mostly about people challenging and pushing
themselves to further limits. Since most extreme sports have no limits people have the freedom
of doing anything they want so they do the sport for themselves and in any kind of way.
Appleton mentions the major benefit of doing these types of sports, which are, character
development and allowing people to overcome their fears when taking those risks.
Because of all the risks and dangers that come with it extreme sports require athletes with
high level of skills in the sport that they do. Clemmitt (2009) states that before doing most types
of extreme sports, beginners go through extensive training in which they learn everything they
need to know in order to do the sport safely. But some kinds of extreme sports require more
training than others due to higher risks that is something most people don’t realize when they
don’t go through the right amount of training for the sport they are attempting. Appleton (2008)
notes that there are safety equipment and complete safety teams that come with these extreme
sports so that they are fully prepared for any incident that may occur. Buxton (2008) argues that
when people do these extreme sports they should use extreme equipment to protect themselves
from any type of accident and that they should get high quality equipment to ensure the safety of
their lives.
There are a lot of people who like to see most types of extreme sports because of the risks
and violence that are involved in them. Clemmitt (2009) points out that some extreme sports like
MMA are very popular among many people but some states do not legalize the sport. The
problem with this is that when regulated fights like the ones in MMA are not legalized people
Ahmad Alhazeem
Argumentative Essay
Gianico ESL 15 001
04/12/2011
tend to go out and have dangerous unregulated fights, which causes problems to the area they
live in. Regulated fights are much better to have than unregulated ones because they are
supervised where they can take certain precautions, they have rules and they have certified
doctors who can take care of any injuries that occur during the fights right away.
Loads of people are attracted to extreme sports, with all the action and risks that take
place, so television channels and advertisers take advantage of this by selling their products with
an extreme sport attached to it. This lead to many extreme sport athletes being sponsored by
many different companies wanting to promote their product. So extreme sports gave the
marketing industry a new route of advertising. Appleton (2008) indicates that extreme sporting
goods have become “a bigger business than the sport themselves” (par. 8) with most goods
nowadays being labeled as extreme for promoting the product. Goods are also being labeled with
the idea of “living on the edge” and all sorts of other thrill that come with extreme sports.
Although extreme sports have a lot of fans and participants, there are some people who
oppose these types of sports due to the dangers and risks that come with them. Clemmitt (2009)
notices that the people who oppose extreme sports argue that these sports have high rates of
injuries and deaths. She also states that these people are claiming that wrestling sports like MMA
are barbaric due to the amount of blood that is exposed during the fights and the serious injuries
that occur so they are trying to ban these types of sports. Another thing these people argue about
is that although most athletes are fully prepared for these extreme sports with all their training
and safety gear there is till a high risk of danger in which anything can happen. It’s true that
extreme sports have high injury rates but some of them are actually safer than some traditional
sports where they would have a less likely chance of getting injured. An example of how some
extreme sports can be safer than some traditional sports is that boxers can get hit repeatedly in
Ahmad Alhazeem
Argumentative Essay
Gianico ESL 15 001
04/12/2011
the head because the gloves that cover their knuckles allow them to withstand the pain, but in the
MMA the gloves do not cover their entire hand so the fighters get hit in the head for only a few
number of times because the attacker does not want to injure his own hand. Also most injuries
that occur in extreme sports are from inexperienced athletes who get injured in their first few
years in the sport due to some rookie mistakes. Furthermore, these injuries can be minimized
when all athletes use the proper safety equipment, have a safety team when doing their sport and
go through the right amount of extensive training for the sport that they will engage in.
Other reasons Clemmitt notes of why some people oppose extreme sports are that some
sports like skateboarding can damage property when attempting them and they can also cause the
people who take part in them to acquire reckless and aggressive behavior. Moreover, she states
that these people are worried about the audience being exposed to the violence in extreme sports
because it can be harmful to them. When some people watch these sports they try to attempt
them, which can be very dangerous, like in MMA some of the audience start fights with each
other and in other sports like climbing and snowboarding when some people watch them they
immediately try to do the sport before they’re even ready. What these opposing people don’t
realize is that although some sports like skateboarding can cause minor damages, they can
actually help the community by making kids spend their time on something they are interested in
as a hobby which can be useful to them and it also makes them stay away from any crime related
activities. Building parks for these types of sports where kids can spend their time pursuing them
can lower the rates of theft and other crimes. Furthermore, exposure to violence does not only
exist in extreme sports but it also exists in some traditional sports like football, wrestling and
boxing so it is up to the individual of whether to attempt it or not.
Ahmad Alhazeem
Argumentative Essay
Gianico ESL 15 001
04/12/2011
The number of people doing these extreme sports is increasing constantly. The problem is
that some people oppose these extreme sports because they think that these types of sports are
too dangerous and risky for people to engage in. Extreme sports are actually not very dangerous
when the athletes attempting them are fully prepared. There are a lot of things which makes these
athletes prepared for the sport they are willing to pursue like having the proper safety equipment,
having a safety team with them and going through extensive training before attempting the sport.
There are also some traditional sports that are more dangerous than some extreme sports where
there is a higher chance of getting injured. In addition, extreme sports have affected the society
in many ways mostly by becoming a big business where a lot of money is spent forming a new
route for the market industry. Extreme sports are also a way where athletes challenge themselves
and push their own limits since in most extreme sports there are no rules or limits.
Ahmad Alhazeem
Argumentative Essay
Gianico ESL 15 001
04/12/2011
References
Clemmitt, M. (2009, April 3). Extreme sports. CQ Researcher, 19, 297-320. Retrieved from
http://library.cqpress.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/cqresearcher/
Appleton, J. (2008). Extreme Sports Hype Is Commercialism. In J. D. Ginn (Ed.), At Issue.
Extreme Sports. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Spiked, 2005, August 30; n.d.)
Retrieved from
http://ic.galegroup.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/Viewpoi
ntsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Viewpoints&prodId=OVIC&action=2&catId=&do
cumentId=GALE%7CEJ3010486208&userGroupName=psucic&jsid=0ac43481e9c62f81d
7e549674d984338
Buxton, B. (2008). Dangers of Extreme Sports Can Be Minimized with Proper Safety
Techniques. In J. D. Ginn (Ed.), At Issue. Extreme Sports. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
Retrieved from
http://ic.galegroup.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/Viewpoi
ntsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Viewpoints&prodId=OVIC&action=2&catId=&do
cumentId=GALE%7CEJ3010486203&userGroupName=psucic&jsid=31bb9c92daf78d7fe
5a6b9c312546ea3