This study is a few years old but came to my attention today when I was reading this recent article arguing that children under 15 should not be allowed to compete in full contact Muay Thai. In the article the authors cited a 2018 study of brain trauma in children who participate in Muay Thai. … More Study – IQ Progressively Decreases in Children With Each Year of Muay Thai
How common is doping in combat sports? Far too prevalent and laxly enforced according to an article just published in the journal of The Physician and Sports Medicine. In the article, titled Doping in Combat Sports: a systematic review, the authors reviewed all available English language published articles on the topic to review the prevalence … More Study – “Unsettling” Levels of Doping in Combat Sports
A recent study was published tracking weight cuts / weight gains for Muay Thai athletes to see if there was any relationship with weight cutting and winning. In short there was. In the study, titled Rapid Weight Changes and Competitive Outcomes in Muay Thai and Mixed Martial Arts: A 14-Month Study of 24 Combat Sports … More Study – Muay Thai Fighters Who Cut/Gain More Weight Have Advantage
When you design a “sport” intended to give defenseless participants brain injury you unsurprisingly get brain injury. A lot of it. Those are the findings of a recent research letter reviewing objective signs of concussion amongst participants in PowerSlap. These findings are important because the promoters of PowerSlap try to emphasize its relative safety compared … More Study – PowerSlap Has Absurd Rates of Brain Injury
A study was published this month in the European Journal of Neurology suggesting that EEG readings may have promise in showing early signs of CTE. In the study, titled ‘Knock down the brain’: a nonlinear analysis of electroencephalography to study the effects of sub-concussion in boxers, the authors selected 21 boxers. They seperated the athletes … More Study – EEG Readings May Help Screen for Early Signs of CTE
How safe is it to be strangled hundreds of times in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or other submission grappling arts? The latest research addressing this subject has just been published. Dr. Samuel J. Stellpflug, a US based physician and one of the world’s leading researchers of the medical consequences of serial strangulation in sport has authored … More Study – Serial Strangulation in Sport Does Not Lead to Increased Stroke Risk
How old is old enough to consent to brain trauma? I’ve tackled this subject here previously. Its a worthwhile conversation. Last month a paper was published in the Journal of Sport, Ethics and Philosophy addressing this topic in detail. The authors go so far as to argue that full contact/combat sports amount to child abuse … More Is Sport Structured Brain Trauma Child Abuse?
Combat Sports Law 