B.C. martial artists fight to reduce concussion risk for combat athletes | 24CA News
In his final combat, kickboxer Greg Lamothe took a shin to the top. The strike despatched him all the way down to the canvas, the place he sat for seven seconds earlier than getting again to his toes — and rallying to win the combat.
The fighter and coach says his sturdiness could also be a blessing within the ring — however he is aware of it is not with out long-term dangers.
“I’ve been knocked on my butt a few times. I’ve never been out cold,” he advised 24CA News. “But that doesn’t mean you got away with it.”
Coaches like Lamothe try to boost consciousness throughout the world of fight sports activities, the place researchers say concussion data is missing. A 2020 examine revealed in The Physician and Sportsmedicine discovered that lower than six per cent of fight sports activities coaches “recognized the level of traumatic brain injury a concussion represents.”
Lamothe, 39, has been coaching in fight sports activities since he was a young person and, over time, has turn into more and more aware of the long-term dangers of repeat strikes to the top, his curiosity piqued by books like Concussion which have highlighted the troubling relationship between sport and mind harm.
Researchers have lengthy theorized a few causal hyperlink between power traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) or degenerative mind illness and repeat blows to the top.
Historically, main contact sports activities leagues have downplayed the dangers, however the tide appears to be turning. In November, the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) made the landmark acknowledgement of a causal hyperlink between bodily blows to the top and CTE.
Brain Injury Canada says CTE is related to disruptions to reminiscences and thought processing alongside adjustments in persona, similar to aggression and impulsivity. Eventually, individuals with superior CTE develop dementia. Currently, it could solely be recognized autopsy.
Lamothe, a kickboxer and martial arts health club proprietor, is within the educated minority and is the primary to confess he is one heavy blow away from hanging up his gloves for good. It’s a mindset he tries to instill in the scholars that stroll into his Victoria health club Martial Arts Unlimited.
“There’s risk in the ring,” he advised 24CA News. “But I think the major risk occurs in the gym, with poor sparring culture, with people trying to prove how tough they are … sparring is a drill, but for some people, it turns into a fight.”
Training safely
B.C.-based lawyer and Fighting Foundation director Erik Magraken is amongst these pushing coaches, occasion promoters and regulators throughout the globe to coach opponents on the dangers.
“It sounds ugly to say, but brain injury and combat sports go hand in hand, and it’s worth being blunt about it,” mentioned Magraken. “When you’re blunt about it, people understand it and do better.”
Magraken and Lamothe say the most important cultural shift must occur inside gyms and coaching centres, the place the vast majority of head trauma throughout a competitor’s profession takes place.
“One thing all gyms need to do is understand concussions and have a concussion protocol in place where students who have concussive injuries remove themselves from sport, and then they return safely,” mentioned Magraken.
WATCH: Scientist discusses how concussions can change the mind:
Neuroscientist Naznin Virji-Babul explains the science behind concussions and why they are often so harmful.
“The less you get hit in the head, the better it is, the safer it is. When coaches understand this, and they expose them to fewer and less severe head impacts, that leads to a better long-term outcome for their students.”
For Lamothe, that has meant making certain sparing periods give attention to gentle contact and monitoring college students and opponents who could take a heavy strike within the health club.
“If they get buzzed, that’s it for the night and maybe even for the week,” mentioned Lamothe. “Then we’re going to start looking for those [concussion] symptoms … and if you display any of those, you’re at least a week out, and you move to our return-to-play protocol.”
The Fight Foundation has additionally made posters accessible for gyms to assist inform athletes in regards to the indicators and signs of concussions.
Global marketing campaign
Magraken’s basis has efficiently lobbied B.C.’s athletic fee to advertise concussion consciousness. The security advocate even satisfied one among Thailand’s largest combined martial arts promoters to air a concussion consciousness section that includes UFC fighters on its dwell broadcast.
The basis is partnered with the Association of Ringside Physicians to induce main promoters, just like the UFC, alongside athletic commissions throughout North America, to do the identical.
Magraken says the final word aim is to make sure fighters make it to the top of their careers with minimal sacrifice to their long-term well being.
“We’ll get it done. I’m persistent, so we’re going to just keep knocking on the doors, and we’ll bring this messaging to everyone in the community.”
