STRIKING THREAD PART 2: Tips for avoiding permaneant brain damage?

Named in honor of this fighter.....

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB8bHqTHllE"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB8bHqTHllE[/ame]

 

So it simulates the effect of being dizzy from being hit and still sparring?

 

Yes, although this was a specific drill designed to try and keep the focus on fine motor skills rather than out and out sparring...so you knew what you had to do, you just had to try and co-ordinate whilst the room was dizzy

When you are KO'd you don;t know it....until that point it is as much a scramble for your senses as any pain (except bodyshots - they suck!)

 

Well I get that and it makes sense. They actually do the same in my gym but in a different way. You basically spin around in a circle as fast as possible.Then you spar like that.So it simulates sparring with a concussion but not actually having one.

But here is my question: how do you simulate someone getting hit hard in the ribs for instance and fighting through the pain?

 

Sprinting. Sprint like mad for a minute then spar when you're winded.

Or just wind them.

 

Would hitting the bag very hard and then sparring work too?

 

It was a way to say "don't get hit in the head" that was apparently missed.

 

Oh ok

 

Some camps still spar hard. Shark tanking is the term. But it's not an every week thing. Each camp does it different, they may do a only a few sessions a month of hard sparring. But in the end, it's the time and effort that is invested.

A great example is one of my favourite fighters. Donald Cowboy Cerrone. He no longer spars, just drills and sorta diets.
Its because he has sparred for so long and fought so many matches. He feels, all he needs to do now is padwork. But none the less, he has invested in a lot of time.

 

Okay, I really don't want to be mean and I am aware that this isn't exactly the point of this thread, but: Do you actually read the answers in the other thread or do only look at them?

Again, this will vary from person to person (as Hannibal said already, I know), and you expect something like a mathematical answer.

You seem to be missing the "fun"-part in the art and focusing to much on the "winning and fighting"-part.


Another answer would be, by the way: When your instructor tells you, you're ready.

And this makes me wonder, especially together with the question above: Do you actually talk to your instructor at times?

You know, they have a purpose, right?
Try asking him questions like that.
(S)He can tell you, when you might be ready for hard sparring and (s)he is certainly better to ask if you're actually ready for any form of sparring, than someone in a forum that never saw you doing anything.

When you trust your instructor ans (s)he says: "Only do technical sparring/ light sparring for the moment" - do so.
I'm sure you will be told, when you can go full contact or join hard sparring sessions.


Again: I don't want to be mean or anything!
Just stop looking at it from that tensed "I need to be awesome right away" point of view.
Training like that will hinder you more, then help you.

 

Fine I will ask the instructor

 

But really one of the main reasons I didnt ask the instructor about the permanent brain damage is it is quite hard to get the instructor all alone. You can ask them questions all day but its hard to get them alone. That being said just asking this question in this thread has scared the heck out of one person on this thread. I fear the same may happen in my real class

 

I'm scared because I want to be professional. What you have to understand is that I want to fight for a living, so I will be sparring hard way more often than most guys here.

Most hobbyists don't have too much to worry about save freak accidents. Spar hard once a month and be content.

 

Do you spar hard in class just in fight camps or at other times as well? Most pros I know have light sessions the majority of the time and only go really hard during camps, and as mushroom has said the more experienced the fighter the less they spar hard, also remember it's not boxing where you are getting hit in the head every day, you have technical wrestling and grappling sessions, the problem with boxing is all they are looking for is a knockout so there training is hitting the head every sparring session. And yet statistically boxing is on a par with American football and rugby when it comes to head injuries so it's not that much more dangerous, and MMA is even less dangerous.

 

Just for fight camps. Because one of the other guys is fighting too it means we spar hard a lot more often than I normally would. If it was just me fighting I'd only be sparring really hard once a week. In bjj I'm pretty much full out everyday.

 

So it's only for a short period of time and not every session, honesty that doesn't sound too bad,

 

Right now it's three times a week.

 

If by hard sparring you mean getting properly rocked, to the point where dizziness is a common occurrence from head shots, I'd say once a month was too often if you value your cognitive functions.

As for deciding to get into a career where people smash you in the head, you have a fair idea of the risks so you just have to decide whether the potential damage you are incurring is worth it.

Don't feel sad for yourself if you end up losing a dozen IQ points and gaining a lisp