article on the bbc http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6500087.stm What do you think? Strikes me as strange to pick out kickboxing, why not any other full contact martial art?
Professor Kelestimur added: "We recommend that people who take part in combative sports, like boxing or kickboxing, and are exposed to repeated head trauma should be screened to ensure their pituitary is working properly." This is important and i think most who take part in full contact know this anyway. Whenever your concussed you should get checked out. In a bout there should be medics on hand. When i was first concussed i went to the doc and he kept it on record but told me to get checked out often just to be safe. Its part of the risks, and you just have to accept it or don’t do it.
heh yeah, i've been sent that article by about 4 different people now. general rule i've always stuck to is, if you feel odd, get it checked out. which is why i once got home from guilford a&e at 6 the next morning (i got kicked in the eye)
I heard from someone that boxing with gloves is actually more likely to cause long term brain damage even though boxing bare-knuckles is more painful and likely to cause cuts and bruises. Supposedly it's because the bare knuckles mostly damage the skin while the gloves cause your head to be shaken more more violently. Don't know if any science backs this up, but it's something to consider.
I believe boxing gloves also allow you to punch harder, as they add weight to your punch and you don't have to worry about breaking your knuckles.
Well, they do serve that function as well, but that could arguably be bad for training self defense. If you have to hit with your own knuckles and it really hurts if you don't do it right, you'll get the right form faster, no?
there has been research to show that from wearing gloves and head guard, you are more likely to suffer from brain damage in the long term. This is because you can take more and is harder to get knocked out or down whilst your brain is taking damage, whereas with less protection you are more likely to get knocked out, and therefore you would rest before the next fight. I think that article is a bit biased saying kickboxing, it would apply to any full contact martial art, especially boxing.
Yeh i remember reading an interview with lennox lewis. He was totally against pros wearing headguards (in actual bouts) as he said all it will do is increase the amount of blows they take. He also said that he whished they could have small gloves, MMA style i assume. He also pointed out that boxing gloves are worn to protect the hands more so than the head.
Does being knocked out cause long term damage or is it constantly being hit in the head without being knocked out that causes long term damage?
Yer neither of them are particularly good but not getting KO'd means you've taken punishment for longer and therefore more damage is done to the brain.
why not western boxing causes brain damage? they place more emphasis on punching skills to fewer targets. or judo for that matter? by getting thrown down onto a hard surface the possibilty of brain damage could exist. there seem to be two schools of thought concerning this mentality. the first are represented by people who know nothing about martial arts. they seem to have this martial arts=harm way of thinking. the second are unfortunatly martial arts students that fail to understand martial arts is (usually) about getting hit or thrown. kind of general desciption. the first group (at the risk of sounding/being impolte) need to just stop talking about a subject they have done no research on. not to mention have never participated in. the second group needs to be capable of realizing that for intent and purpose the martial arts represent athletic activity. mountain biking,weight lifting or any other activity that represents athleticism has the potential for personal injuries. if they are so concerned about that why not learn to paint? as for the rest of us we enjoy martial arts despite the risk of injury. we are not clueless that someone including ourselves could get hurt. granted this is the very reason for practicing safely as possible. kind of like jumping into the lake. you could drown, swim or stay out of the water.
Whilst I obviously agree about Western Boxing, or any other full contact MA which emphasises striking to the head, i disagree emphatically over the judo thing. The issue is over strikes to the head. Judo does nothing of the sort. Now whether there are long term physical consequences of being repeatedly thrown is another issue. Whatever any consequences of being thrown regularly are, I'd put good money on them being less serious than getting punched in the head regularly. Getting punched bad M'kay..
ever been thrown on a hardwood floor and not been fortunate enough to keep your head up? beg to differ that does seem capable of doing serious damage. to ego or head. besides it really hurts. missed the point entierly there. some people could say any martial art causes brain damage for whatever reason. martial artists already know (as stated before) injury can occour from practice. what is the purpose of this news thread anyway? there is a good reason that we have protective gear. same as judoka being taught to raise thier head after being thrown. because taking a blow to your head by fist or floor can result in injury. to pride and body. the news media must have not realized as much or 'forgot' to mention that. again most any kind of athletic activity has the potential for injury up to and including brain damage. what are the odds that going over the handlebars of the fore-mentioned moutain bike will not cause brain damage? this just sounds like typical media garbage to me. and choosing kickboxing because they had some good footage. the subject of any injury (especially to head) is already taken seroiusly and saftey precautions made.
I dunno... I don't think by and large your going to find the same kind of head trauma in other martial arts that you find in boxing, kickboxing and muay thai. Pretty much in that order as well. It's a fact you have to accept and move on.
True, Most that have died after terrible beatings did not go down. The lighter weights are taking a pounding and still able to endure and then they die later or are damaged pretty bad it seems. The initial injury that really shuts you down is something that people seem most concerned with, when in reality it is the sustained beating to the head and neck that is bad. All shots to the organs are rough to live through they mention. Gary
ill just give my experiences. 1) i got thrown in a krav maga class, with no mats, and landed on my head, on a hard wood floor. I wasnt ko'd , but i defintely had minorvconcussion, and a headache for the rest of the day. and as for mountain biking, being a serious mtb'er, ive had numerous occasions where ive hit my head hard, and ive had concussion on numerous occasions.
I agree, i think its a bit unfair picking out only kickboxing to cause head injuries. Almost every MA can cause head injuries. But hey, who cares, kickboxing rocks!
Surely this is just a reason for not throwing on a hard wooden floor with no mats without learning how to fall properly? Any sport/MA where you routinely and as a matter of practice aim to strike each other in the head is going to be more likely to cause damage to the head than a sport or MA where you aren't.. yes, accidents can happen and people can recieve head injuries in other MA and even non MA sports and passtimes but in boxing, kickboxing and any other full contact standup sparring activities - Where the objective is to inflict head injuries, you are going to be at a far greater risk.
