# turns out its fine to spar



## williamsdean02 (Nov 30, 2015)

I found out its rare to get severe damage from sparring. I have decided I'm doing boxing, just not for competition. Thanks.


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## drop bear (Nov 30, 2015)

Yeah.  Look if you are getting concussed call it a day.  Otherwise there might be some structural stuff that helps.  

Otherwise not every boxer comes out brain damaged.


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## Dirty Dog (Nov 30, 2015)

All depends on how you define "severe", I would guess...


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## williamsdean02 (Dec 1, 2015)

I mean krav is safe to look at too since the krav places also spar.


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## williamsdean02 (Dec 1, 2015)

at least the good ones


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## williamsdean02 (Dec 1, 2015)

so maybe I'll still do KM, but I've almost decided on boxing


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## JowGaWolf (Dec 1, 2015)

williamsdean02 said:


> I found out its rare to get severe damage from sparring


 This varies.  Injuries still happen so don't spar with the assumption that you can't be seriously injured.

Here are a couple injuries that I would consider as severe punching injuries because they take time to heal.  Anything that takes longer than a week to heal is serious in my book.
1. Hyper extended elbows,
2. Broken hands (hands striking elbows is always a risk)
3. Jammed fingers
4. Wrist Injuries (I always like the wrist wraps but it also means that wrist isn't going to be as strong as someone who doesn't use wraps)
5. Bruised Ribs.
4. Shoulder injures (from what I've read shoulder injuries happen as well.  I've never seen any personally)

Limit the amount of times that you are getting punched in the head.  If you are always getting hit in the head then you need to stop sparring until you can work on your head defense.  Getting hit in the head all the times means that you aren't defending your head properly.  If the gentle punches are able to hit the head then it means the power punches will get in with just as much ease.  Also repetitive hits to any part of your body will take a toil.


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## Tony Dismukes (Dec 1, 2015)

williamsdean02 said:


> I found out its rare to get severe damage from sparring. I have decided I'm doing boxing, just not for competition. Thanks.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


This is generally true, but a lot depends on the gym and your sparring partners. There are some places and some individuals that like to spar as if it was a real fight and they were looking for the knockout. Steer clear of these if you want to retain your brain cells.

Odds are, your club will be fine.

Generally for boxing sparring, it's okay for the impact to be hard enough that you know you've been hit and you have to respect the punches. If you're regularly getting knocked down or winding up with headaches after your sparring sessions, then I would recommend dialing it back a notch or two.


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## drop bear (Dec 1, 2015)

Tony Dismukes said:


> This is generally true, but a lot depends on the gym and your sparring partners. There are some places and some individuals that like to spar as if it was a real fight and they were looking for the knockout. Steer clear of these if you want to retain your brain cells.
> 
> Odds are, your club will be fine.
> 
> Generally for boxing sparring, it's okay for the impact to be hard enough that you know you've been hit and you have to respect the punches. If you're regularly getting knocked down or winding up with headaches after your sparring sessions, then I would recommend dialing it back a notch or two.



You might get a lot more of that when you start due to goober head.

A lot of knock downs with beginners is due to bad head position.


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## Tony Dismukes (Dec 1, 2015)

drop bear said:


> You might get a lot more of that when you start due to goober head.
> 
> A lot of knock downs with beginners is due to bad head position.


Yeah, but if that's happening with any sort of consistency I would say that either the beginner needs to go back to more drilling before they are thrown into sparring or else the beginner's sparring partner needs to lighten up until the beginner learns better habits. It is possible to learn good habits without having to get concussions in the process.


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## Danny T (Dec 1, 2015)

Tony Dismukes said:


> Yeah, but if that's happening with any sort of consistency I would say that either the beginner needs to go back to more drilling before they are thrown into sparring or else the beginner's sparring partner needs to lighten up until the beginner learns better habits. It is possible to learn good habits without having to get concussions in the process.


^^^^ This!!
I going to add; only go as fast and hard as you want to take. Sparring should be with no ego. It is about learning and developing. As a beginner if you are getting banged up get another partner. On the same note if your partner is working on your level and you start banging hard don't be surprised or angry when they start popping you hard as well.


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## The Great Gigsy (Dec 1, 2015)

If you are only sparring and not planning to fight at a competitive level you should be fine. You will get hit especially in the beginning, but it shouldn't be enough to cause long term problems. Of course there are always the chance for something happening. In four years since I began doing JKD, I have only been tagged a couple of times where I wow look at the stars. The key is know when enough is enough for the day.


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## Bill Mattocks (Dec 1, 2015)

williamsdean02 said:


> I found out its rare to get severe damage from sparring. I have decided I'm doing boxing, just not for competition. Thanks.



You may or may not be aware of this, but the cumulative effects of head impacts are only now becoming understood by the medical profession.  It would appear that repeated concussions (which are not that hard to get) can have a devastating effect on your long-term health and physical / mental abilities.  We know about 'punch-drunk' boxers who are debilitated by a long career of being hit in the head, but we also see it now in hockey players, football players, even soccer players.

Consequences of Repetitive Head Impacts and Multiple Concussions - Sports-Related Concussions in Youth - NCBI Bookshelf

In particular:

*"Findings from Boxing Studies*
_Many youth continue to participate in boxing even though several medical groups have called for its discontinuation due to the incidence of brain injury (Purcell and LeBlanc, 2012). Although many youth and amateur boxers wear protective gear and follow rules that are different from those for professional boxers, a primary goal of boxing is to attack the head and face of the opponent, which often results in a concussion or more severe brain injury (Jordan, 1987). Indeed, the association of boxing and traumatic brain injury (TBI) is very well-recognized in the medical literature. The so-called punch-drunk syndrome was first recognized as early as 1928 (Wilberger and Maroon, 1989), and it is associated with personality disturbances, dysarthria, or Parkinson-like disturbances.

There is ample evidence supporting the association of boxing with chronic traumatic brain injury. "
_
Now, I am not going to tell you what to do or what not to do.  It's your life, do as you wish.  However, if I were you, I would be very hesitant to make statements like "turns out its fine to spar" and I would at least consider the risk before engaging in boxing, even 'sparring'.  You may be lucky and escape brain injury.  You may experience issues much later in life that cannot be undone.

Life is full of risks, and no one suggests that it is possible or even worthwhile to attempt to avoid it all.  However, engage your brain for thinking about it before engaging your brain as a punching bag, that would be my advice.

Best of luck no matter what you decide to do.  As I said at the beginning, I have nothing against you and this is not personal.


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## Buka (Dec 2, 2015)

Getting hit in the head is never a good thing. Getting hit in the head a lot is very problematic.

I hope all you young guys are smart, lucky and careful.


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## williamsdean02 (Dec 12, 2015)

Is sparring really the same as competing?


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## JowGaWolf (Dec 12, 2015)

williamsdean02 said:


> Is sparring really the same as competing?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Depends on how you define competing.  Some people will say yes.  For me sparring is all about training and there are never winners are losers, just 2 fighters trying to improve their skills.


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