>>207902
U can ask for a protective helmet when sparring, but most of the time you will be doing mostly other types of exercise that dont require protections

>>207999
Proetcive helmets are meme

>>208044
No, they aren't. They are there to reduce bumps and cuts not eliminate concussions and brain trauma etc

>>208047
Fair, maybe OP could abstain from sparring and just do other exercises

>>208060
not really learning the "martial" part then innit?

>>207902
Just don't spar like 20+ rounds every week or take actual fights and the brain damage will be minimal at worst

>>207902
Don't train like a fucking retard

>>207902
CTE occurs due to trauma, that is, don't have concussions, simple.
Concussions occur by accident, in fights and especially sparring, you are not obliged to do sparring.
I have 2 professional fights (2010) in kickboxing for the WGP and I only did 3 sparrings when I was training to fight, today I only do light sparring (like nak muay) and it serves me very well, when someone gets excited and starts hitting too hard for the training objective I simply tell them to reduce the intensity.

>>207902
I have quite a few years of striking under my belt and i can tell you this:
EVERYONE HAS BRAIN DAMAGE.
This is not to scare you off, but if you're doing a striking art the brain will 100% be affected in some capacity. The good news is that for almost all amateurs, the brain damage is so insignificant that you won't notice any significant changes in your daily life.
Some ways to ensure you don't end up on a wheelchair when you're 60 are the following:
-ALWAYS spar light to the head. I'm talking light taps. This is how cuban boxers do it and this is how muay thai fighters do it. Contrary to what some people on here believe, this is also the best way to learn. Hard sparring won't "toughen you up". Your brain has a very limited mileage. You can go as hard as you want to the body and legs.
-Always be the one to de-escalate when things get heated. Don't be afraid to look like a pussy. Your brain health is more important than looking like a pussy in front of your gym buddies.
-change gyms if they always spar hard
-focus on drills and pads more than sparring
I've had a lot of gym wars and they were never worth it. Please don't be a retard like me

>>208354
>EVERYONE HAS BRAIN DAMAGE.

I mean this is true if you want to be literal about it but as you say it can be very minimal. When people hear brain damage they don't think oh literally getting hit in the head will kill some brain cells no matter how you look at it they want to know if there's a good chance they will become a retard. Honestly I would expect being a druggy or an alcoholic to do more brain damage than kickboxing as a hobby with as you say only light to the head generally. Sometimes "gymwars" are just straight up fun to do though so it's what's your pleasure. I hate seeing people criticize hard sparring on that ground because if it's not you it's none of your business.

>>208445
Oh you're absolutely right, i was just saying in case OP really needs to be at 100% of his mental capability at all times and can't risk any damage. The arguments gets even murkier when you really get into the details, since even a sedentary lifestyle will kill your brain cells and as you say, drugs and alcohol will do more harm to your brain than any martial art. Kickboxing in particular is a good choice to make if you're worried about CTE because your opponent has more targets to hit compared to boxing so you'll get hit in the head way less. Plus, there's a very old school mentality of always going hard in most boxing gyms that doesn't seem to be as prevalent in kickboxing.
As you say, hard sparring is very fun. I just feel like you have to be careful and weigh the pros and cons, then you can make an informed choice without letting all the macho talk get to you.
I will also say that people who obsess over CTE usually bring up BJJ or grappling as a safer alternative, which is absolutely not the case. Every since i made the switch from boxing to MMA one year ago i've seen more freak injuries in grappling than in all my years of boxing. So you MIGHT be gettng less brain damage but you're also putting some insane mileage on your body. I'd say kickboxing, if done right, is far safer.

Don't do hard sparing with strikes to the head all the time.

Spar light most of the time.
When you do spar hard do it with someone you trust to keep hard strikes to the body and still keep all strikes to the head light and fully controlled.
If you do full contact fights, a good chunk of your training leading up to it should be about protecting your head at all time.

It's that simple.

>>208334
>Concussions occur by accident
Two men stepping into a ring with the express aim of knocking the other one out.

Learn not to get hit? Sprinting and some track

>>212434
On a serious level if you want to learn to fight without the risks there's plenty of sports and stuff out there. Not everyone has to go mental in a class but if your worried about pain and damage just do something else that you may find fun

>>207902
Just listen to everything that this guy >>208354 said. Any gym that hard spars is pointlessly risking injury. You learn better with light sparring (just like the Muay Thai guys), and you pressure test better with full contact competitions (if that's your thing).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twE-zdUkB_U