Can soft sparring on a weekly basis give you some brain damage?

If a person is aspiring to become a boxer, getting concussed is a situation they should get comfy with If a person is just doing soft sparring and is still worried, head gear and pillow gloves would be best

Appreciate it, man. Unfortunately, certain links are disabled by asterisks on this site. I couldn’t watch what you sent. Naturally... Was Floyd Mayweather talking about how he doesn't hit hard in sparring and just practices certain things.

Here is another guy discussing the effectiveness of light sparring... You might recognize him... https://******************/_poUKEEc4Pw I actually will often tell my sparring partners exactly what I'm working on just so I can get as much practice on it as possible. I think sparring is necessary, but hard sparring is best done sparingly (or sparringly, as the case might be?). Appreciate it, man. Unfortunately, certain links are disabled by asterisks on this site. I couldn’t watch what you sent.

What is Thai-style sparring? And not saying you’re wrong, but I find it hard to believe that high level MMA guys don’t spar. I don’t see how else one can develop the necessary pain tolerance/punch resistance. It’s like self-imposed ring rust. I’ll never forget the first time I took a shot to the head during sparring. I immediately understood why they call it “having your bell rung.” And you’re right: people think gloves are meant to protect the fighters — they’re meant to protect their hands and extend the battle. Also, as you said, headgear does little if anything to prevent brain damage. The gear just helps prevent cuts, and mitigate bruises and swelling. Combat sports are no joke. If more fans sparred, there would be a lot more respect for the athletes that have the guts to compete. Here is another guy discussing the effectiveness of light sparring... You might recognize him... https://youtube.com/shorts/_poUKEEc4Pw I actually will often tell my sparring partners exactly what I'm working on just so I can get as much practice on it as possible. I think sparring is necessary, but hard sparring is best done sparingly (or sparringly, as the case might be?).

What is Thai-style sparring? And not saying you’re wrong, but I find it hard to believe that high level MMA guys don’t spar. I don’t see how else one can develop the necessary pain tolerance/punch resistance. It’s like self-imposed ring rust. I’ll never forget the first time I took a shot to the head during sparring. I immediately understood why they call it “having your bell rung.” And you’re right: people think gloves are meant to protect the fighters — they’re meant to protect their hands and extend the battle. Also, as you said, headgear does little if anything to prevent brain damage. The gear just helps prevent cuts, and mitigate bruises and swelling. Combat sports are no joke. If more fans sparred, there would be a lot more respect for the athletes that have the guts to compete. Thai fighters do primarily light technical sparring. They get to see various styles and try things out without risking each other. Fighters who don't spar include the likes of Max Holloway, Robbie Lawler, Tim Kennedy, and more. GSP talked with Rogan about how he doesn't think hard sparring is a good idea, and how too many fighters end up leaving their careers in the gym because they sparred too hard. You develop the conditioning through other aspects of your training. Kicking a heavy bag, for instance, conditions the shins so that Thai fighters, who have been doing hundreds of strikes a day full force, every day, can kick down trees or break their opponents arms and legs as Tawanchai has done in some of his earlier title defenses. The point of sparring isn't pain tolerance. That can be accomplished in a lot of other ways. It's to experience having an opponent in front of you, and you can still get full benefit without going hard, especially if you go into every session with a goal. A lot of guys just go into sparring to try to hit more and get hit less, and end up progressing slower than they would have otherwise. Boxing is really behind the times with that. I think we'll see fighters rely more on technical sparring and they'll really lengthen their careers.

Wtf is soft sparring? Is that like dry humping?

If you're doing technical sparring, like Thai sparring, and going to just taps with good control, its not particularly dangerous. Hard sparring with idiots is the big threat. If you have a good gym with people who have the skill to be controlled, you'll likely be ok. If you don't trust your sparring partner, sit the round out. There's a lot of high level MMA guys that won't do any sparring at all, particularly striking. That's much less common in boxing still, and far more common to find guys who go too hard because they let their ego get into it. Ironically, gloves and head gear can lead to more brain damage than not because people think they're safer. But the point of the gloves is to protect your hands, not your opponent, and the head gear doesn't do much to mitigate your brain bashing against your skull. I'd be very cautious with it. I still spar, but very carefully and without ego, Thai style. There's a lot fewer Muay Thai fighters with lots of brain damage compared to boxers, even though they're hitting each other with kicks, elbows, and knees, and many of them have hundreds of fights. You'll also really help yourself by doing neck strengthening exercises. A strong neck and good vision for what you're getting hit by really helps. The really dangerous shots are the ones you didn't see coming. What is Thai-style sparring? And not saying you’re wrong, but I find it hard to believe that high level MMA guys don’t spar. I don’t see how else one can develop the necessary pain tolerance/punch resistance. It’s like self-imposed ring rust. I’ll never forget the first time I took a shot to the head during sparring. I immediately understood why they call it “having your bell rung.” And you’re right: people think gloves are meant to protect the fighters — they’re meant to protect their hands and extend the battle. Also, as you said, headgear does little if anything to prevent brain damage. The gear just helps prevent cuts, and mitigate bruises and swelling. Combat sports are no joke. If more fans sparred, there would be a lot more respect for the athletes that have the guts to compete.

Can soft sparring on a weekly basis harm you and still increase your chances of getting cte ? Does soft sparring become more dangerous without headgear ? Find a new sport.

The really dangerous shots are the ones you didn't see coming. dillion and an uppercut lol

If you're doing technical sparring, like Thai sparring, and going to just taps with good control, its not particularly dangerous. Hard sparring with idiots is the big threat. If you have a good gym with people who have the skill to be controlled, you'll likely be ok. If you don't trust your sparring partner, sit the round out. There's a lot of high level MMA guys that won't do any sparring at all, particularly striking. That's much less common in boxing still, and far more common to find guys who go too hard because they let their ego get into it. Ironically, gloves and head gear can lead to more brain damage than not because people think they're safer. But the point of the gloves is to protect your hands, not your opponent, and the head gear doesn't do much to mitigate your brain bashing against your skull. I'd be very cautious with it. I still spar, but very carefully and without ego, Thai style. There's a lot fewer Muay Thai fighters with lots of brain damage compared to boxers, even though they're hitting each other with kicks, elbows, and knees, and many of them have hundreds of fights. You'll also really help yourself by doing neck strengthening exercises. A strong neck and good vision for what you're getting hit by really helps. The really dangerous shots are the ones you didn't see coming.

I think everyone is different and that is genetic. You wouldn't really know how well your head can take a punch until it's too late. There are guys that go to absolute war in sparring sessions, even in their actual fights and come out relatively fine after retiring. Then there are others that, if they didn't receive severe brain damage, they got slurred words and whatnot. Look at Pacquiao. His sparring session footage was absolute wars. His actual fights themselves weren't much different. Yet if you watch him talk today in interviews, he doesn't seem much different at all than let's say 10-15 years ago. Now look at Mosley. He had absolute wars, I'm not sure about his sparring, but I'd imagine it was probably crazy, and the dude slurs plenty while talking. Then you wonder how they went through years of punishment and never had a brain bleed when another dude has like 10 fights and ends up leaving as a vegetable if they don't die following a particular bout early on in their career. It could be that either they never got hit hard enough in those first 10 fights, or the padding in the brain wasn't as durable as someone whose had let's say 65 fights (most of them wars) and was still fine (Barrera). When I say padding, I really mean, there is like less travel space for your brain to move before crashing into the skull. I think the fighters who have less damage have a brain that is right up against the skeletal wall or whatever it is that would prevent it from moving around often. I'm no Dr. so I have no idea what the terminology is called, but I have an idea of what I'm trying to explain. Basically, less brain movements when being hit are better for you and you have to ask, what is it that would prevent the brain from moving around that much when being hit.

I agree with all the sentiments so far. Having your brain knocked around inside your skull, which is what happens when you get punched in the head — headgear or not — simply isn’t healthy. I used to spar years ago. I’ve thought about doing some “light sparring” myself lately, but I’ve talked myself out of it for all the reasons listed. As someone already said, everyone is different. You don’t know which camp you fall into until it’s too late. If you’re young enough — say, under 40 —and you want to try it out, I’d say go ahead. But unless you have dreams of becoming a professional, I wouldn’t recommend doing much of it.

do a test ba'ng your head off a wall not too hard 50 times a day 3 or 4 days a week and take monthly mri scans and watch carefulkly, do it cant even say B A N G on this fanny site lol but i can type fanny

Can getting punched in the head be healthy for you?

Can soft sparring on a weekly basis harm you and still increase your chances of getting cte ? Absolutely.

Can soft sparring on a weekly basis harm you and still increase your chances of getting cte ? Does soft sparring become more dangerous without headgear ? Think about it ; some people never recover from bumping their heads innocently In that case , I’d say the probability is yes

they say headgear is not great for preventing damage your brain is still getting bounced around the place from shots

any smack on the head can do damage noone knows how much it takes for each person some get lucky some not lucky at all yeah obviously heavyweight sparring over years is at the top end of the scale for potential damage