Concussions/ brain damage

[thisispatrickmurphy]

I've had one KO and one TKO and felt concussed after sparring a couple times.

KO came from a head kick, came to seconds later ready to fight....clueless I'd just been knocked out.   Felt fine. 

The TKO came with a huge overhand right that took me down.  I was up and ready before the count but looking back, my mind was already gone.  Knocked down twice more that round before it was stopped.  I don't remember the fight after initial blow but everything immediately after.  Felt pretty shitty the next day. 

Only concussion type experiences were boxing sparring --- once felt pretty sick after, fine the next day.  Other just a bit rocked, fine the next day.

I'm just getting back to Thailand and been questioning competing a bit because of it. Can anyone shed some light on this topic? I've been trying to develop a much more defensive style where I used to be way more - probably too willing to trade.

Edited September 24, 2021 by thisispatrickmurphy
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[phyfey]

I recently was thinking a lot about this when I switched sparring partners to someone who is much larger and more experienced with me and got my bell rung a couple times. So naturally I took a look through Slyvie's youtube among others and found this discussion to be useful.

I think the thing that concerns me more than getting large blows is the repetitive "minor" blows you really rack up in sparring. Ive been experimenting with trying to keep a more playful attitude during sparring and communicating when a blow may be to hard, etc. This is difficult when you also want to be tough, but I like to think about this as strengthening my communication and self worth muscles.

Also discussed in that clip is research on heavy gloves affecting head injury occurrence.  I did find this anecdotal report of knock outs by punching increasing 10-fold after MMA required gloves. This is obviously for alot of reasons (fighters wanting to prevent hand injury, etc), but the point of getting hit with an added 16oz's of weight on the chin really makes sense to me.

These are good things to think about. You can mitigate risks like you would riding a motor bike or driving a car, but in the end combat sports will be always be a risk that you have to weigh the benefits of.

[Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu]

I've been concussed once. If I could know then what I know now, I would have gone HARD keto to recover from that. Carbs and sugar aren't good for the brain, aren't good for inflammation, and fats and ketones are very good for the brain during that time of recovery. Once you're sensitive to concussions though, there's nothing you can really do. You just have to make the call for yourself. If you're worried about it, you'll keep being worried about it and should devise a plan for whatever degree you're comfortable engaging in that kind of activity. You can't really "Google" your way to a resolution, it's a very personal choice and experience of what affects you or doesn't.