Competing in Judo is safer to head in the long term over competing in boxing.
Detailed:
Keep in mind I am using competition, in which in boxing you are taking repeated blows to the head, suffering concussive states (getting rocked) allowed to keep competing (standing 8 count) and doing it over and over again. Or even getting knocked out repeatedly (more than twice).
A knockout in boxing is caused by two things, enough force to induce a conconcussion, or a hyperextension of the neck that causes cerebal cortex to shut down (flash KO from getting hit on the button). The standing 8 count is probably the most irresponsible thing there is. It allows you 16-20 seconds to get it together enough to fight more... which means getting rocked (minor concussive event) then allows you to go out and get further concussed.
Every concussion you get means you are more succeptable to concussions in the future and means worst for your brain health in the long term.
Judo by comparison: First and foremost you spend a ton of time on learning how to fall properly so that you don't land on your head. Most schools this is drilled continously, it becomes second nature. It has literally saved my life. We can this breakfalls, you are going to do them as part of warm up drills and even then you are watched and any error in your form is corrected.
Most Judo throws can be easily amended to slam someone on the head, however in practice and in competition you will not run into that. In practice training partners tend to be more protective, in competition, rules and scoring mean that it is much better for someone to throw you with control flat on your back, any landing of the head would be a complete accident and likely not going to happen.
That said, sure in practice or in competition accidents do happen, however in Judo they are rare accidents, getting hit in the head repeatedly in boxing is its intent.
John is seriously mistaken about Dementia pugilistica. It is most certainly not a myth, it happens to amateurs and pros alike, similarly to the health risks the NFL is seeing with multiple concussions. Except in the NFL if you have ANY concussions symptoms (i.e. "rocked") then you are sitting out the whole game, and waiting to be cleared by a doctor. You aren't given time to recover and go back out and get a more severe concussion.
In the majority of all Judo schools there are mats that absorb the impact from throws and other takedowns. You would have to be slammed pretty hard and repetitively to get any kind of brain damage. Any good instructor will teach you how to fall 'properly' so you don't land directly on your head and you don't break your neck. Good instructors also control the amount of contact and the speed that you practice at in the beginning weeks of studying Judo.
Also, take in mind that as your skill level improves, you will be harder to throw or take down with a lot of force because you will be able to resist the throws and slams. A large part of Judo also involves grappling with locks and chokes, so you are not constantly being thrown or slammed on the mat. Between learning how to land properly and being able to resist being thrown or slammed, you will not have to worry about serious head injuries.
Judo's ultimate aim is to throw a person with power and control. With that end in mind the perfect score is only awarded to a powerful throw that lands the opponent flat on their back. So nobody's trying to damage the head at all so unless there is a big mistake there shouldn't be any brain damage. Also brain damage that you are concerned with is boxing like damage where head is building up damage over the years. Judo wouldn't build anything like that up, however a really bad throw and really bad breakfall(it's a technique that you use to lessen the damage from hitting the ground) could land you on your neck and snap something. But that's if you had a really bad throw, a really bad breakfall, and really bad padding. It's not very likely that all three of those would line up like that.
Short answer: No
Long answer: That is a myth. Unless you are doing boxing at the highest level the chances of you receiving anything but the occasional nose bleed is very, very slim. And judo has even less risk than boxing. So you'll be fine.
@judomofo
Injuries happen in all sports. I've done my share of boxing. Yes, it has some dangers associated to it and arguably it is the most dangerous of the fighting sports. However I've never heard, seen, experienced anything like what you are talking about. Can it happen? I'm sure it can. But as I said every sport has its risks. I personally don't think that just because something can happen you should avoid it completely. It's just like a while back some guy got his throat cut by an ice skate in a NHL game. Should people stop playing hockey because that can happen?
Chokes are the biggest concern. You more sacrfice your neck and spine then head so if you know what your doing your biggest risk is spine neck and back damage and don't forget the lower body knees hips ankles feet toes all also high risk injury areas head not si much.
What you really need to know is that Cheal Sonnen is one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world and if you don't agree with that you're just unamerican!!
Its not that you never need to have kids martial arts is better in Iso San quentin.
will there be a high chance of receiving brain damage compared to boxing, or is judo more passive when it comes to fighting and relies on submitting towards limbs rather than slamming someone on their head
