From sherdog but I thought it was pretty interesting as it relates to boxing. http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Fistic-Medicine-The-Biophysics-of-Getting-Hit-22134
That was an interesting article. This is a good thread. I wish that someone would do a serious and in-depth study on this with the mindset of what could be done to prevent harm from taking a blow to the head - leading of course to how someone like a fighter could increase their ability to sustain punches and recover better. For example - I know that hydration level right off the bat makes a difference. If you are dehydrated, even the liquid cushioning around the brain can be affected and blows to the head can have magnified effect. What about things like blood pressure? If you have higher blood pressure, or maybe just better raw blood flow rates, does it help the brain to recover faster from a shock? So for example, if a fighter did use some sort of stimulant before fighting, would it help or hurt in this regard? Would higher oxygen levels or indirectly higher red blood cell levels help speed-up recovery from a head shot? Could you at least get up faster if you did get knocked down? How about neck muscles? This article went into a bit of detail, but didn't really get into whether or not strengthening specific muscles would indeed increase a person's general ability to better withstand punches. People here talk a lot about how steroids can't help you take a punch.. but that may not be true. If you can increase muscle strength in key neck muscles to a greater degree during training than you otherwise could without anabolic steroids, then you may indeed be able to better your beard, so to speak. Also if you got into the anatomy of how neurons in the brain are disrupted when head trauma occurs, you could better understand why some people apparently are able to keep fully conscious after sustaining blows while others cannot. If you could compare brain activity, you may find that certain parts of the brain are affected more than others, and that head size or skull shape does or does not make much difference. Also, what if there were chemicals or drugs which could increase neuron activity or stabilize it such that you could recover more quickly from being stunned? Does the presence or abscence of sodium or potassium in the brain make a difference in neuron activity? PH level? Could any of these factors make a difference? Look at the EPO entry at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythropoietin Notice how it plays a role in the brain's response to neuronal injury and also aids in the healing of wounds. Perhaps even short-term response could be aided? If not with this drug, then perhaps with others? How about basic mechanics? For example, shots to the chin which have a different effects than those to the temple - are you better off if you are biting down hard when getting hit with such a punch? Or just the opposite? Does bone density or thickness really make a difference? Or is that really negligible compared to other factors? So if you tried hard through modern medicine and nutrition to maximize bone strength... would it do anything at all? These are the things I muse about from time to time. It does surprise me a little that at the higher levels of boxing there is no common practice as it relates to helping a fighter sustain punches. Maybe because nothing actually helps.
Good stuff as usual,.. in um,..Pacquiao's case,.. he's also got an expanded cranium, due likely to the use of HGH,.. to add into the factors you've already mentioned,... a superficially enlarged head and body would naturally help to absorb a heavy bludgeon, while working in tandum with the EPO,..and who the fuck knows what else is in his veins, for all we know, he could have the Phillipines finest government sponsored chemical engineers behind him.
Well according to the doctor who wrote the article, Pacquiao would be at a disadvantage because a large head and chin provides more leverage when getting hit on the chin. its the muscles that run on the side of the neck (sternocleidomastoid muscles) that are largely responsible for cushioning the blow. If your arguing that Pacquiao has an enlarged neck that would make more sense. Also it makes sense if you look at guys with thick necks usually have good "chins" (eg. Mike Tyson).
If that were the case, Baldomir's chin would have to be absolute glass,.. I mean, it's pretty obvious a lighter, smaller head, on a swivel is going to absorb more of the blow, a fist is going to go through it's course, with less resistance.
Yeah but a fighter with the head/neck of a lipop will get starched. A lighter head will absorb most of the blow IF the stablizing neck muscles are intact. A fighter with bobblehead will get KTFO.
Manny doesn't have a neck like it was once stacked with gold rings, his cheek and jaw bones have grown to the extent where he can shelter his neck behind them like a triceratops.
