Anyone else think Thailand doing it all wrong by allowing young kids to fight without full pads?

[kenpeters8]

Anyone else think Thailand doing it all wrong by allowing young kids to fight without full protection gears? Kids fighting without headgear and shinguards. No wonder so many Thai guys retire before they reach age 30. Their brains are already damaged, so easy for them to get concussions over and over again.

I think kids should not be fighting without headgear and shinguards. That's just too dangerous. What do you think?

 

[Mike K.O]

They fight multiple times durin a week sometimes, and spar hard almost all the time. Brain has no chance to regenerate. They are below 15yrs old, so it's even harder for the brain.

 

[sdjudoka]

Headgear only protects from superficial damage, not trauma to the brain.

 

[Broadcast]

Use the helmet, Thailand!

 

[Tayski]

Headgear and shinpads don't prevent brain damage, only superficial damage such as cuts, as @sdjudoka rightfully pointed out.

Making the kids fight with headgear and shinpads would not change anything to the problem of concussions you're talking about.

They spar hard almost all the time.

This is the opposite of true. Thais spar very lightly as they fight so often. They focus on light playful sparring and save themselves from injuries for the fights.

 

[Tayski]

Use the helmet, Thailand!

you're a helmet

 

[Mike K.O]

This is the opposite of true. Thais spar very lightly as they fight so often, they focus on light playful sparring instead and save themselves from injuries for the fights.

Thank you for correcting me. I've only heard about Thais sparring from the guys I know who have been there. They said it was hard, but it may depend on the gym, or the fact that they weren't there to fight.

 

[Tayski]

Thank you for correcting me. I've only heard about Thais sparring from the guys I know who have been there. They said it was hard, but it may depend on the gym, or the fact that they weren't there to fight.

They might have meant that it was tiring especially if you're doing a long clinch sparring session. But generally Thais almost never sparr hard. The only gyms where I've seen hard sparring are the commercial gyms full of farangs who sparr hard with each other like they would do back home, which isn't really typical of Muay Thai sparring.

Also, if I were you I'd avoid repeating what you've heard as a fact if you haven't seen/experienced it yourself. Just a general tip

 

[Mike K.O]

They might have meant that it was tiring especially if you're doing a long clinch sparring session. But generally Thais almost never sparr hard. The only gyms where I've seen hard sparring are the commercial gyms full of farangs who sparr hard with each other like they would do back home, which isn't really typical of Muay Thai sparring.

Also, if I were you I'd avoid repeating what you've heard as a fact if you haven't seen/experienced it yourself. Just a general tip

Yeah, I should've known better. Never been to Tahiland, so those guys werey my only source outside the internet. Still, thanks for educating me.

 

[Kanka]

The real problem is the weight cut. They shouldn’t be allowed for kids.

 

[ImmigrantMentality]

More kids die in the us wearing their helmets and pads playing football. What next should we just ban all contact sports until you're an adult? Maybe mid 20s since that's when your brain is fully developed

 

[Space Dog]

The real problem is the weight cut. They shouldn’t be allowed for kids.

Real talk. if they wore headgear I think it only would make things worse tbh. Your skull bounces around a lot more with headgear and you can also take more shots to the head. And when they spar hard it’s usually exchanging roundhouses and teeps to the body, not so much swinging to the head like u would imagine when thinking about “sparring hard”

 

[SuperLuigi]

I wish my dad made me fight other kids when I was young. Even when I signed up for wrestling in high school he didn't support it.

 

[Coconutwater]

Scientifically wrong but not morally wrong, the kids are literally fighting to feed themselves and their family, not to get rich. Headgear would only cost them more money and not condition them mentally for the brutality of their sport. Their brains are getting rattled regardless.

*dont get me wrong, I wish they didn’t have to

 

[AndyMaBobs]

Given a 13 year old in Thailand died recently I'm gonna lean on yes. In truth though it's more complex than 'fighting with pads' - although protective gear or a slightly different scoring criteria to discourage headshots would be useful. Really the problem isn't the how kids are fighting but the why, and that why is that Thailand often has the option of 'fight or slums' and in even worse cases prostitution. The problem is systemic in Thailand.

 

[Feardoesnotexistinmydojo]

Anyone else think Thailand doing it all wrong by allowing young kids to fight without full protection gears? Kids fighting without headgear and shinguards. No wonder so many Thai guys retire before they reach age 30. Their brains are already damaged, so easy for them to get concussions over and over again.

I think kids should not be fighting without headgear and shinguards. That's just too dangerous. What do you think?

The reason Thai guys don't fight until 30 is because by that age they could've had around 300 fights. That's enough for anyone

 

[opposity]

Thank you for correcting me. I've only heard about Thais sparring from the guys I know who have been there. They said it was hard, but it may depend on the gym, or the fact that they weren't there to fight.

If you want some hard sparring, then watch dutch guys. They spar like crazy as if it is a full-on sanctioned fight for money

 

[opposity]

If you guys also wanna see some documentary on child fights in Thailand, I definitely recommend watching this video by Unreported World:

 

[Deleted member 363827]

I like documentaries like this a lot because it humanised the child boxer s. You get to see brutal weight cut or parents verbally abusing their children or crooked promoters. But these are sides that are not shown to the Thai public, who only see the end products like Buakaw and Saenchai. I doubt there will be any change in muay thai.

 

[shincheckin]

I think full protection is a good idea, I am not sure when they should be allowed to fight without pads but I think 18 years old is too old. Maybe no pads by 15.