Full contact sparring

Hello,

As a newbie on here I hope no one minds me posting another thread already but I value the great folks opinions on here greatly.

I am considering going into some sort of training again but I want it to be as close to training for the real deal as possible, to me this means it really should ultimately lead to full contact, but..

What about the dangers of taking full contact blows to the head ?, the possible risk of brain damage ?

This is a concern for me, I don't want to train to be able to defend myself only to end up being irreparably damaged in training.

Horns of a dilemma.

I'd like to add to this question if I may..

Are some people more susceptible to head trauma than others ?

I ask as I was sparring with a friend yesterday (trying to get back into the way of training) we used contact but not full contact, well I took a few backfists to the side of the head, there was some bodyweight behind them but as I say not full force, anyway..

A few hours later I had a headache, I also woke up with a headache today, so I don't know if this is something I should be concerned about.

I am no expert compared to many others on here, but I worry a lot about this too. I have done various martial arts all my life and I have been knocked out once. I am in my 40s now - much slower than I was whihc means getting hit and when I see films of Ali this really worries me. I do some scenario training which is a compromise between full contact fighting and still trying to get some realism and I do a lot of semi contact sparring - thats good fun but rubbish for self defence.. I would be really interested in peoples views on this because this is one of the things that is making me wonder about winding my training down. Which I don't want to do. But on the other hand put a video of Ali on you tube and however much you love training noone woud wish that on their worst enemy.

Simon

Simon wrote:I am no expert compared to many others on here, but I worry a lot about this too. I have done various martial arts all my life and I have been knocked out once. I am in my 40s now - much slower than I was whihc means getting hit and when I see films of Ali this really worries me. I do some scenario training which is a compromise between full contact fighting and still trying to get some realism and I do a lot of semi contact sparring - thats good fun but rubbish for self defence.. I would be really interested in peoples views on this because this is one of the things that is making me wonder about winding my training down. Which I don't want to do. But on the other hand put a video of Ali on you tube and however much you love training noone woud wish that on their worst enemy.

Simon

Hello Simon, to be more accurate it was more along the lines of scenario training me and my friend were doing, I wasn't familiar with the term and said sparring for simplicity. It was in the role of attacker that I took the head blows.

I was wearing a headguard but of course that does nothing (as I understand it) to protect from brain injury.

I find myself at the same crossroad as you.

To spar full contact to the head is of no advantage. The risk of brain trauma is always there in any contact sport the aim of the participant is to lower the risk of injury during training not increase it. Always avoid injury as much as possible when practicing you'll get enough injuries when you are competing.repetition of technique and training under pressure are enough to keep you sharp enough for the real deal.
This said good body conditioning and core strength are essential.
Train hard fight easy but train safely.

Thanks thats good advice. I probably worry a bit too much about it.

I probably ought to add that the scenario traning I have done with people on this board - FAST defence with Dik and co , some urban combatives workshops and the Simon Squires session at new blood were all 100% set up with participant safety in mind and I never had more than the odd bruise or three.

your in good company there because those guys are first and foremost safety concious even if it doesnt eem that way. One of the most important things is pressure testing your fight mentality.

Thanks Peter,

But is full contact not necessary for pressure testing ?

Not to the head which seemed to be your original concern.
You can pressure test your techniques without ever sparring,but like i say the pressure testing is mostly of the mind and your will to carry on under that pressure.
We used to full contact spar almost every session in the early days and the outcome was broken noses,broken jaws,broken fingers and toes, broken ribs cut eyes, it did turn us all feral but i'm not sure thats what you need.
Full contact sparring will without doubt cause injury and then effect your training regime in a negative manner IE: injury. The benefits of full contact sparring regarding training you are very few in my opinion as head trauma is bad and body conditioning can be done in many ways. One important thing you also have to understand is one mans full contact is not anothers...

Peter Skillen wrote:Not to the head which seemed to be your original concern.
You can pressure test your techniques without ever sparring,but like i say the pressure testing is mostly of the mind and your will to carry on under that pressure.
We used to full contact spar almost every session in the early days and the outcome was broken noses,broken jaws,broken fingers and toes, broken ribs cut eyes, it did turn us all feral but i'm not sure thats what you need.
Full contact sparring will without doubt cause injury and then effect your training regime in a negative manner IE: injury. The benefits of full contact sparring regarding training you are very few in my opinion as head trauma is bad and body conditioning can be done in many ways. One important thing you also have to understand is one mans full contact is not anothers...

Thanks again Peter

I wish I had a class doing what you guys do up here in Glasgow, I think it would be easier to see how you train than to grasp it from the written word (for me anyway).

But if I understand correctly it is a balance between realism and safety ?, It makes sense that when training I don't really want to end up with the injuries that I'm training to avoid in the street.