Do you wear head guards for sparring?

[NickKnight]

I wanted to know if at your club you wear head guards when you spar, either by choice or by rule.

Starting form the beginning of the week my trainer and club owner has made the wearing of headguards compulsory for sparring. Before this nobody wore a headguard whilst sparring, not even during the full contact fighter style sparring sessions. Nevertheless they are not proving to be popular, and if given a choice I would not wear one.

I have got a Top Ten headguard without cheek or chin piece, purely becasue it offers the greatest visibility and is fairly comfortable. What head guard do you use?

[shakus maximus]

95% of my guys dont wear one
i leave it tothem to make their own choice

[hfa/boxing]

I think theyre pointless just make your head a bigger target and i dony think they offer great protection against cuts. just my opinion though

[MacAttack]

Not wear I train either, unless you want to.

[bestever]

i think there no good for training unless your a ameture boxer and have to fight in them , otherwise there no good , mainly if you train mma as it just makes your head bigger then when you fight without it makes it bit weird train with out the guard on ya head and just spar a bit slower 60percent power hands up high

[Torre]

We don't wear one at my gym, not even in the beginners class.

[Smiler]

Hmmm…a different perspective here?

I ALWAYS wear a headguard, even when body-boxing.

Headguards can increase concussion, being a slightly larger target area, offering more weight to the head, and not really slowing down head movement. They deaden some senses also. Restrict vision and hearing are the main two. They also can lead to a false sense of security.

They can help you out by reducing concussion if you hit the canvass or wall/ring post by adding protection.

But…

I wear the biggest, most protective I can find. Because they do help stop the lumps, bumps and all importantly the cuts you can receive in sparring – and as I know, these cuts can stop fights.

I was body boxing a few years ago and had a clash of heads. It knocked my partner out cold and ripped a cut open over my eye. This is the same cut that Edson Draggo opened during our MMA fight (didn’t get stopped fortunately!) and the same cut that Tyrone Spong opened during our fight (doctor stopped me). If I had been wearing a headguard I would not have received that cut which has plagued my career. I’ve worn one ever since I got that first cut.

And it is good that headguards reduce vision and hearing – it means you have to heighten your senses! And when you do, and take the headguard off for competition – wow!! You see and hear everything!

So I use headguards as protection from cuts, marks and bumps, and to help train my senses to be heightened.

What do you guys think?

Best regards,

Smiler

http://garysmilerturner.blogspot.com/

[Iconoclast]

So, do cuts never truly heal then? I'm not particularly au fait with scar tissue etc.

[NickKnight]

So, do cuts never truly heal then? I'm not particularly au fait with scar tissue etc.

A deep cut wil be more suspectable to opening up again at a later date

[bestever]

Hmmm…a different perspective here?

I ALWAYS wear a headguard, even when body-boxing.

Headguards can increase concussion, being a slightly larger target area, offering more weight to the head, and not really slowing down head movement. They deaden some senses also. Restrict vision and hearing are the main two. They also can lead to a false sense of security.

They can help you out by reducing concussion if you hit the canvass or wall/ring post by adding protection.

But…

I wear the biggest, most protective I can find. Because they do help stop the lumps, bumps and all importantly the cuts you can receive in sparring – and as I know, these cuts can stop fights.

I was body boxing a few years ago and had a clash of heads. It knocked my partner out cold and ripped a cut open over my eye. This is the same cut that Edson Draggo opened during our MMA fight (didn’t get stopped fortunately!) and the same cut that Tyrone Spong opened during our fight (doctor stopped me). If I had been wearing a headguard I would not have received that cut which has plagued my career. I’ve worn one ever since I got that first cut.

And it is good that headguards reduce vision and hearing – it means you have to heighten your senses! And when you do, and take the headguard off for competition – wow!! You see and hear everything!

So I use headguards as protection from cuts, marks and bumps, and to help train my senses to be heightened.

What do you guys think?

Best regards,

Smiler

http://garysmilerturner.blogspot.com/

thats a good point sometimes they do help and i think with a couple of gyms that i have been to have not let me wear the head guard and the main trainers there would hit there students 100percent power evern the people who was there for the first time and would knock them all over the place so mabey sometimes a head guard would come in handy but with mma sparring take down , submissions etc would be hard to do what you want when wearing one thats what i think :)

[yorkshire gripper]

Not many of our guys wear them, I do wear one if a fight is close and I'm getting in my last session, just to be on the safe side. I get what you mean though, about 5 years ago when I was boxing we never wore head gaurds and then one day they became compulsary and all anyone did for about a month was complain.

[steve_langford]

they are vile but a good move I reckon. One of us was due brain damage!

[lee kru]

We use them for the heavy sparring day at my gym, just for boxing though and only to help the guys throw more leather without cutting or bruising each other.

Really helps to get them to push each other a bit harder i find.

[kickboxingidiot1]

thats a good point sometimes they do help and i think with a couple of gyms that i have been to have not let me wear the head guard and the main trainers there would hit there students 100percent power evern the people who was there for the first time and would knock them all over the place so mabey sometimes a head guard would come in handy but with mma sparring take down , submissions etc would be hard to do what you want when wearing one thats what i think :)

The main trainers hit the students with 100% power???
Even people who were there for the first time :confused:

What kind of trainers are these?