Cognitive function and getting hit in the head

[switch7]

Anyone here that plays a contact sport worry about their cognitive function? Last year I started kickboxing and although I find it difficult and im probably not the most gifted of students, I really enjoy getting to fight.

Last time I sparred I took a bit of a whipping off one of the more experienced guys and ended up with a black eye and had a problem chewing for the next days. My question is will getting hit in the head like this once a week give me problems down the line? I will be hopefully starting work as a software developer in a couple months time and need all the brain cells i can retain.. but id also like to carry on kick boxing because i really enjoy it.

 

[spinich]

Trama is accumulitive. Your brain literally gets bruised when head impact is sufficient. When you get "knocked out" the cranial trama is hard enough to cause you to short circuit neural function and you become unconscious. Concussive force causes the brain to slam into one part of the skull and then recoil and slam into the opposite area of the skull. It is referred to as cou and contracou. If impact is hard enough the brain will bleed. Blood literally kills brain tissue. That's what happens when people have a "stroke" or the more correct term of cardiovascular accident (CVA). And it can be lethal. So to answer your question should you continue to receive cranial impacts through fighting? Depends on how much you value your current, and more importantly your future cognitive function. If it were me, I would think hard and long about full contact martial arts. Choose wisely Grasshopper as your life can be massively effected by one blow or kick. Good luck.

 

[spinich]

Oops. Coup and contracoup. Damn auto correct!

 

[billtx49]

Anyone here that plays a contact sport worry about their cognitive function?
My question is will getting hit in the head like this once a week give me problems down the line?

Ask a NFL Pro or Mohammad Ali about CTE. My recommendation is don’t do physically and/or mentally damaging part time sports.…
Quite a bit different, but no difiference health wise, if you get paid millions to endure it…
Yolo, and you’re the only one to decide how that plays out.

 

[RickTheToad]

Anyone here that plays a contact sport worry about their cognitive function? Last year I started kickboxing and although I find it difficult and im probably not the most gifted of students, I really enjoy getting to fight.

Last time I sparred I took a bit of a whipping off one of the more experienced guys and ended up with a black eye and had a problem chewing for the next days. My question is will getting hit in the head like this once a week give me problems down the line? I will be hopefully starting work as a software developer in a couple months time and need all the brain cells i can retain.. but id also like to carry on kick boxing because i really enjoy it.

A few times, that is when you need to use ground attacks to get you out of trouble. Sweep the legs, then attack. I do not do kickboxing, but I do concentrate in muay thai and jujitsu, where it's still legal to do.

 

[glass half full]

Ask a NFL Pro or Mohammad Ali about CTE. My recommendation is don’t do physically and/or mentally damaging part time sports.…
Quite a bit different, but no difiference health wise, if you get paid millions to endure it…
Yolo, and you’re the only one to decide how that plays out.

Yes this sucks...I get a sudden grabbing pain in the left temple of my head about once a month, sometimes twice. Doesn't last long, but always feels like a repeat performance of getting hit.

 

[Bible_Belt]

A black eye is not a concussion, which are serious, but I dont think that is what you had.

 

[FairShake]

You don't have to be concussed or knocked unconscious to suffer the effects of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Unless you're getting serious, serious money to take this punishment I'd lift or ride a bike instead.

Whatever rush you're getting now is probably not worth the problems that COULD develop later on down the road.

This from someone who boxed for years by the way. I'd never let my son or daughter do the same.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Last time I sparred I took a bit of a whipping off one of the more experienced guys.

Anyone who beats up their sparring partner is a douche bag. And that goes as well for whoever was supposed to be in charge of that place, who should not have let that happen. Sparring is training, not fighting. It is moronic to beat up your own training partners.

I used to train with the best group of fighters near me, and one of the guys would bring his 9 y/o stepdaughter to train with us. And that girl never had a mark on her. Fighters with skill have control over the amount of force they use. Temper it down to spar with people of lower ability is the right idea. That is better training than beating up new people. Go somewhere that they have that mentality. Don't judge a martial art on one group of idiots who beat each other up for fun. That is not what it is supposed to be about.

 

[glass half full]

Would prefer train alone nowadays...too much attitude in the world in general. As in, at home with a trusted friend.

Never thought society would keep descending, will it be like a Mad Max movie in 25 years?
Sometimes I do wonder.

 

[markfromeurope]

Anyone here that plays a contact sport worry about their cognitive function? Last year I started kickboxing and although I find it difficult and im probably not the most gifted of students, I really enjoy getting to fight.

Last time I sparred I took a bit of a whipping off one of the more experienced guys and ended up with a black eye and had a problem chewing for the next days. My question is will getting hit in the head like this once a week give me problems down the line? I will be hopefully starting work as a software developer in a couple months time and need all the brain cells i can retain.. but id also like to carry on kick boxing because i really enjoy it.

You need to understand that head traumas are dangerous for your health, lot of pro football players have been diagnosed with CTE.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_traumatic_encephalopathy

Same goes for boxers or MMA fighters.

I consider american football a barbaric sport for players that participate - sure game looks awesome and very fast-paced but what happens with players heads after years of getting force-checked on the field by other players is very sad really.

Some guys consider suicides, some are just depressed, some have significant agression issues - your brain chemistry gets phucked up.

I'd stick to other sources of SMV-building and concentrate on sport activities that don't damage you to that extent (it's also the reason why boxers earn so much money - even if you are able to leave the boxing match on your own feets it doesn't mean that you are ok because your head traumas can show off after several years - it's also why some boxers prefer to don't get up or disqualify themselves (below-the-belt blows etc.) if the opponent is very strong as fear of another head trauma can be overwhelming (it's also one of the reasons why boxers that start to lose their winning streak quickly lose their market value in sports).