It's a MARTIAL art, right. The whole purpose of it is to learn how to fight, defend, and get hurt. I think your neighbor has serious issues.
Hmm. The people I've known who took martial arts seriously, I mean beyond seriously, who didn't go to places that automatically passed out belts, where an 8 year old would be a rank beginner not an experienced person (like at the gyms that some of my friends have their kids taking classes, ugh), would definitely disagree.
There are competitive martial arts, definitely. But taking the competition out of it altogether, martial arts are about mastery of form, mastery of body and self, and how to be strong enough to AVOID the fight.
She rarely lets her kids out to play. And I hate to say it but they don't know how to play with other kids. There will be 8 kids out there and the daughter wants to talk to me and the son is kind of timid and just stands around.
I know everyone wants to use "helicopter" and "snowflake" and all those condescending terms, but what if you're seeing it the wrong way around? What if she KNOWS her children, knows that they are on the frail side, and doesn't want a problem? What if their nature is to side on the sidelines, and she's honoring that?
Maybe in college they'll take up Crew or cross country running, or something else where they aren't going to clash with others on a regular basis, and it will be good for them.
Hubby did competitive tae kwon do and football (while also being the "big kid", AND the A/V guy...a complicated guy!), got several concussions, and know sees the error of those ways. Especially now that they are finding out just how bad one or two concussions are, later on in life. He's also had two big-deal brain-related problems in his life, and he cannot help but wonder if they had something to do with the head injuries...nothin' like a roundhouse kick to the head that knocks you out for half an hour, obliterating your memory of the whole DAY, to end your TKD career and change your mindset on your child taking competitive martial arts...
If I have anything to say about it, DS won't do football, hockey (we couldn't afford to take part in that anyway), rugby (yes there are clubs around here), and various other sports until he's old enough to pay for it, take responsibility for it, etc etc.
Crew (what I did in college), running (what I did in HS, though not on a team, which was silly in retrospect), those sorts of solo and team sports without huge chance of injury (though there certainly ARE chances of injury, just usually non-catastrophic)...those are more the style that's good in our household.
As an aside...my brother once split a kid's mouth open on the kid's braces, in kung fu. We sparred, but we weren't supposed to hurt or really hit. This kid, an older kid than most of us, was a real jerk, a bully. The teacher put him up against my brother, who was youngest and smallest in the class. The kid moved wrong just as my brother made a move, and he connected HARD with the kid's mouth. Youch.
And I witnessed one of the nastiest injuries I've seen in kids while at symphony practice! The conductor would let us get all hopped up on sodas during our breaks (which was a mistake to begin with, because you're not supposed to, basically, blow sugar into your wind instruments!), and one day the French Horn player was running around like a crazy man, started running outside, slipped, hit his knee on the door hinge, and those of us close enough got to see what a patella looked like.....ew.
People can get hurt doing just about anything (DS can get hurt while walking!), a girl I met at DS's swim class was injured while messing around doing "bobs" when she split her chin on the pool deck. So if you have kids who aren't active by nature, it's possible she's just trying to protect them from MORE injury than necessary.
heck, we've got people who leave the Aikido class that DS takes because the teacher is LOUD and scary, when you first meet him...now we know that he's actually quite a cuddly sweet guy, but you definitely have to TAKE the class to get to see THAT aspect of him! He's a guy that teases, and he yells numbers while they are doing their practices...he doesn't yell at the kids, but some kids just can't take it. I think he should pass out earplugs (maybe I should bring some!)... But...it's a class at the Y, and most parents just don't expect a *serious* martial arts teacher there, so he confuses them. I generally try to encourage parents of scared kids, and I try to "warn" parents of new-to-the-class kids...just b/c I want them to keep trying so they can see his cuddly sweet nature, but I certainly don't fault them for taking their kids out for that reason. The dude is loud!
So we opted for tennis since it's not near as much running. High school tennis is NOTHING like the pro's. Some matches are down right S L O W
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But then again she wasn't safe in the house either-- she fell on a door hinge and had 3 stiches in her forehead. 
Raising a son was so different than the two girls....he was/is so much more of a risk-taker and DH also is the one to reel me back in when I get too over-protective of him. It's been a good balance. Then again, maybe I've become too relaxed: DS and a couple of friends found an old tire at the high school and got the brilliant idea of climbing inside and rolling themselves down a hill.
I have to admit it made me laugh when I saw the video he posted on his facebook, but when DS made plans to go and do it again, DH was the one who flipped and told him no. He is usually the one to allow the risks so it surprised me when he said no.
