boxing headgear: is it effective?

[MrPoopy]

I just picked up some nice everlast boxing headgear at wal-mart. I'm pretty eager to try it out. I wish someone was around right now that would be willing to put on a glove and pop me a good one!
Anyhow, I was just wondering if anyone here has trained with and without headgear and how much of a difference did it make?
I've heard that it can make a tremendous difference.
I let my wife punch me bare fisted on a padded part and it just shook my head a little. But she can't punch very well.

[Fighter]

Im looking to buy some sparring gear and would also like to hear what others have to say.

[Guest]

It depends what you want it to defend you from. Punches will still "rock" your head, and still subject you to the loss of brain cells. But you will probably not get cut.

Headgear is vastly over rated.

[MrPoopy]

I guy that used to come to my bjj class was teaching JKD concepts out of his garage, and he told me that he would often let guys put on full size motorcycle helmets and just go at it. Would that be any more effective than boxing headgear? I imagine a good punch could still rock your head, even with the helmet. I've also heard that helmets like that can cause excess torque on your neck when you're hit.
Has anyone tried a full size helmet for sparring?

[Fighter]

Once but then I got in trouble, I didn't own the helmet it was my dads friends.

[Szczepankiewicz]

We use various headgear in our Mostly full-contact sparring. It makes a big difference when you get punched or kicked in the head. It takes at least half of the impact force away (Statistical WAG Here).

I use one with a full face cage (similar to a football facemask on a wrestlers helmet) and it works well. I have been kicked in the head repeatedly by our resident TKD guru.

[Guest]

Can I have a go? (chortle)

[Szczepankiewicz]

Absolutely!

Just remember, what goes around comes around.

[Ryu (JKD?)]

I use boxing headgear now, and have used motorcycle helmets as well.

It is easy to hurt your knuckles with a motorcycle helmet depending on what kind of glove you are using (or if any). The motorcycle helmet is big and clumbersome, so it's a bit unrealistic because a person's head isn't really that shape. Other then that though you can go with some hard contact, but that doesn't necessarily mean the person on the inside is free of pain.

The helmet will definitely torgue your neck because of its weight alone. When you get hit repeatedly while wearing a helmet you can still get your brain rattled, your nose and teeth rattled, etc.
It's a good piece of training equipment, but I feel there's better ones. I use boxing headgear now for headbutting, elbowing, groundpounding, grappling with strikes, etc. Seems to work okay, but the traditional boxing headgear has a tendency to fall off in a grappling situation. I am looking into a face mask that covers the hole head and face for more full contact type sparring and scenario drills.

Ryu

[doubleouch]

People missunderstand the reason for boxing headgear. Boxers wear them to protect their faces and heads from cuts from butting and elbows and such. Not from the shock of blows. They do pad punches a little, but not much. You can still get knocked out wearing headgear. Having said that I reccomend them if you do alot of boxing. A good accidental headbut can leave a nasty gash that could require stitches and put you out of training for awhile.

[MrPoopy]

Can anyone recommend headgear that would allow for someone to take a full force punch without getting knocked out or injured? Last monday night we got to use my new headgear. One guy put on the headgear and another put on boxing gloves and we worked trying to get past the gloves, taking them down and trying to get a dominant position. It was a lot of fun but it still seemed like guys were trying to hold back a little bit. I didn't hold back at all and gave one guy a good hook to the head.
But in the end we all ended up on the floor. I'm glad I am a grappler, coz I can't punch worth a damn.

[kid lock]

Look into the headgear with the chin bar over it. Most headgears come without any chin protection and thats a big difference! I would suggest going to a boxing training center(Golden Gloves) and buying some from there. They are usually cheaper than most stores that carry them and are really good quality. Also Academy has an O.K. selection. The size of Boxing gloves also make a difference, try using the heaviest size you can find because the small ones don't protect as much and it is easier to cut with. I use 16 oz. gloves.

[kid lock]

Mr. Poopy go to fighttraining.com!

[Fighter]

I was reading MAI a week or two ago. They have this thing they call "Redman" its this full contact body suit. That a parterwears and you can beat the S*** out of him/her without him/her getting hurt.