If you're not trying to be come a fighter, I'd stick to body sparring. Or light mma/muay thai sparring as the head punches are less due to the varied attacks.
In 2023 we all know these guys are gladiators. Science proves boxing is dangerous. Boxing is not for recreative purpose. It takes only one punch to send you to the hospital and give you depression/bipolarity problems for the rest of your life. I know a guy who got hit like that but that did not prevent him from finishing school and become a millionaire entrepreneur. He is just a lil fuk'd up, but IQ and success were imo unaffected.
Eventually it will catch up with you—be it migraines or more severe consequences. I recommend thinking of it like this: as long as you box, your mind and body ought to be treated with utmost respect. a) No sugar. Naught. Sugar is a brain killer and you want nothing to do with it. b) Dedicated diet, obviously. Nuts, fish, and other food for brain. c) Read a lot. Engage your mind a lot. Think about picking up languages and make it a habit. d) Meditation, mindfulness and the likes are a good habit because self-control and composed way of being benefit you all around. Serotonin good. There are boxers who lived long and intellectually healthy lives. I reckon alcohol, cocaine, and suboptimal lifestyle did more damage to many fighters than boxing which actually enforces great discipline. Also, spar in a smart way. Cuban touch sparring is a good sparring—you can train majority of crucial elements except reacting to strong pressure and harder slugs. That's what hard spars are for.
This I had stamina issues my whole life. No matter how hard i trained i couldn't get past a barrier. Then i saw Dr.Berg's youtube video that said Sugar makes it hard for your body to deliver oxygen in the muscles. Since i quit eating sugar i immediately noticed a difference. It was very hard for my body to recover from intense exercise with all the sugar i was eating like chocolate, juices and all the stupid ****. Now i'm ready to go again after a couple minutes of rest. As far as sugar damaging the brain, i wouldn't dispute that claim. Sugar really is a poison that should be avoided
Not even a team of doctors can predict will you suffer some significant damage because of the martial art (whether MMA or boxing). Nobody can predict what punishment will you take, how much and how often and how susceptible are you to consequences. Practice wisely, use protection equipment and aim for sparring partners that are cool, not the regular idiots who don't care to protect their mates. Good rest, proper food, exercising your brain might be helpful, but to what extent no one can tell just because the brain damage, caused by hits is irreversible. Sure, don't abuse sugar, but don't run from it like devil from incense - it's fine under moderate doses, ones we lost idea what they are. Also, some people are more tolerant to. And the biggest problem with the sugar is not the sugar you eat because you want sweet, but the sugar that is put everywhere else in the food.
If you're going to spar, find yourself a suitable sparring partner. Lay out what's allowed and not. Lay out that you want to go soft on the face and harder on the body. Youre looking to score POINTS, not hurt the opponent or get yourself hurt in the process. This is the time for you to figure out what you need to work on, without getting hurt, and going too easy. Its not until you fight professionally that you can't discuss this with the opponent(going easy on you). And when you go pro, that's when you need to have all the skills honed already. And yes, getting punched in the head will make you lose IQ points. That's why you need to be superior about your defense.
Of course there’s risk no matter what, but if you’re just doing it as a hobby and aren’t planning on competing, then chances are you’ll be fine. Any decent gym will understand and do their best to tone down the sessions. Also see how your head feels. If you’re feeling even a little buzzy after a session then take the safe route and have a week or two off. You have plenty of control over your well being if you’re not competing. If you’re still concerned then eat a healthy diet that benefits the brain, keep your mind sharp, get plenty of sleep, and absolutely no drugs or alcohol. I’m competing so I regularly spar hard and join the smokers at my gym so pray for me lol.
1) Talk to a doctor. There aren't many of them in this forum. 2) I am not a doctor. 3) Doctors seem to overwhelmingly agree that boxing is bad for brain health, to the point where many medical associations believe it should be banned: This content is protected 4) But as I said, talk to a real doctor. They will tell you the risks.
