6
The Importance of Head Position
In the world of combat sports like boxing, success when hitting and avoiding hits to the head is crucial. How you position your head during contact matters. The saying "set your jaw" isn't just about attitude; it refers to the proper chin position in the on-guard stance.
In boxing, a significant amount of time and effort is dedicated to perfecting the skill of landing headshots for a knockout. Equally important is the focus on teaching proper movement to avoid leading with your chin and taking it on the chin. Throughout history, knockout experts concentrated on two head areas: the chin and the temple, with the chin taking precedence.
The Warrior Tough helmet has a robust chin/jaw and temple padding for this reason. Recent research provided below supports these historical claims.
Figure A: Head in the neutral position. Boxer is leading with the chin.
Expect someone to knock you out if you don't follow proper boxing or combat sport techniques. The key to a knockout is hitting the chin because it provides maximum head rotation and acceleration. This is why chin placement is critical to a proper on-guard stance.
Keeping the chin down close to the chest has been a teaching point throughout the history of boxing. Coaches often instruct boxers to "set your chin" during the on-guard stance, using equipment like the Chin-down to reinforce this concept. In gyms across the world, you will hear coaches telling boxers not to "lead with their chin". Having your head in the neutral position as shown in Figure 1 when you are within arm's length of your opponent will most likely get you knocked out. Head position, especially chin placement, has been a vital aspect of boxing since its inception, and yet there has been little research on the topic.
Figure B: Head and Neck Alignment Affecting Angular Acceleration
With increased interest in concussions in sports, a 2018 Stanford research study explored the role of head position in concussive events. They determined that head and neck position play a critical role in bone and muscle alignment, affecting how force moves through the head, neck, and body during a hit or impact. Stanford's research shows that certain head positions can reduce concussion potential and certain positions foster it. It is this logic that fostered the invention of the free movement safe zone of the Warrior Tough Concussion Counterpunch helmet because some head movements are safer than others.
Chin Position
Coaches can easily assess proper chin position with the Warrior Tough helmet by looking at the angle of the top of the helmet. A helmet that is flat on top as shown in Figure E below indicates leading with the chin which is okay only if you are not in the engagement area. While in the neutral position, Figures A and E, the top of the helmet is flat. From the bar chart similar to the one in Stanford's research in Figure B, you can see this head position leads to concussive events because the bones and neck muscles are not aligned properly to receive the energy of an impact, this head position was found to increases the chance of a knockout. In contrast, a proper alignment shown in Figure B above and Figures C and D below show proper chin and head placement. In Figure C there is visible contact of the lower edges of the helmet with the shoulders. This ensures a secure on-guard position that will transfer energy, a feature only found in the Warrior Tough helmet. By applying Stanford's (2018) research, Warrior Tough helmets on-guard position proves effective in reducing rotational acceleration and the potential for concussion also supported by Warrior Tough's independent test results.
Figure C
Figure E
Figure D
The on-guard position head orientation of the Warrior Tough Energy Transfer Helmet provides the neck alignment found by Stanford's research team to be the best (out of the three orientations tested) at reducing rotational acceleration. Note: The research supports hundreds of years of boxing history that says if your chin is up (leading with the chin) as with Stanford's illustration, Figure B, Figure F above the athlete is more likely to be concussed.
The importance of neck tension, as discussed in Stanford's (2018) research, is not a new concept to boxing. Bracing with the Warrior Tough helmet is dropping the chin into proper position and lifting the shoulders into a proper on-guard position. This sets the helmet into contact with the shoulders making a connection between the head and torso which has important safety benefits. Bracing is placing the helmet in contact with the torso so energy can transfer and not be trapped in the head.
Energy transfer is key factor in avoiding a concussion. "For example, if the head is stationary or in contact with another surface, the kinetic energy from a blow (punch) will simply flow through it and be transmitted elsewhere, leaving the brain unharmed and its function intact" (Shaw, 2002, p. 287).
Figure D below shows the act of Hulking. Hulking is pulling down with your chin and pushing up with your shoulders to compress the lower padding of the helmet to create a connective pressure between the helmet and shoulders. It puts the chin into proper position and aligns the neck bones and neck muscles while connecting the helmet to the torso which increases the mass required for the hit to move or accelerate quickly. “It has been evident to boxers and most laymen and physicians that the essential feature of a concussive force is that it be sufficient to jar or shake the head and any connection thereto.” (Parkinson, 1982 p.132) Research supports that the more difficult it is to jar the brain the more difficult it is to cause a concussion.
Tensing your neck to avoid being concussed is a historic part of boxing and other contact sports. Bracing and hulking are a part of preparing for a hit. "Athletes are at greatest risk for brain injury when the neck is limp, such as when they do not see the blow coming or when they are stunned [a boxer with concussion] and cannot maintain neck muscle rigidity" (Cantu, 1992, p. 66).
The Stanford research study raises the question of whether head position is more crucial than tensing the neck.
At Warrior Tough, our in-house research suggests that both head position and neck tensing play vital roles in reducing concussion potential. We believe in a three step approach: Bracing, Hulking and Steeling.
The front bracing horn is made to fit in front of your trapezius muscles to brace against them while you move. It is a built in Chin-down made in the helmet where you need it to assists the combat sports athlete with maintaining proper form, helping athletes become better. The Warrior Tough helmet promotes proper technique which improves safey.
Figure E
Figure D
Figure C
Steeling
Steeling yourself for a hit is a historic term meaning to make yourself ready for the hit. This involves proper body mechanics and tensing the body at the appropriate time. With contact sports tensing or stiffening the neck has been recognized as a beneficial practice to reduce concussion and injury potential as reported by Cantu's research (1992). The Stanford study referenced here looks at the importance of body position during a hit and how that reduces injury potential. "...findings suggest that your head's position is more important than whether you are tensing your neck" (Kubota, 2018). Obviously, both body mechanics and tensing for an impact have relevance. The question is how to do it correctly? We believe the Warrior Tough helmet provides this answer. The helmet was designed to properly alignment the bones/muscles of the neck and shoulders while creating a method to maximize muscle involvement in the tensing or steeling process. The helmet becomes a tool used by the athlete to connect the mass of the head with the mass of the torso and can be used to practice and implement the steeling process.
"In the relaxed state the mass of the head is essentially its own weight whereas in the tensed state the mass of the head takes on an approximate of the mass of the body. Athletes are at greatest risk for brain injury when the neck is limp." (Miller and Cantu, 1990 p. 66)
Warrior Tough helmet's ability to facilitate steeling is unique. Steeling is using the helmet as a catalyst or focal point to involve multiple muscle groups: neck, shoulder, and back muscles in the process of tensing. The neck muscles are used to create a tension in the neck while pulling the chin to the chest. The shoulder muscles are involved by pushing up and forward, creating strength and a connective pressure between the lower edge of the helmet and the top of the shoulders to compress the lower helmet padding. When the athlete tenses, they can tense the neck, shoulders and back muscles all at once momentarily locking the helmet into place just prior to the hit. Adding the arms to brace the helmet in the high guard improves overall rigidity. This is a skill the athlete can work on with the helmet. Shown below in Figure F. The helmet connects all these muscle groups and assists them in working together. Through the bracing, hulking, and steeling process the athlete links their head mass to their torso mass which is beneficial in reducing head acceleration/deceleration and reduces concussion potential. “In all these examples, the mass of the head has effectively become too large to be easily and suddenly accelerated or decelerated by the potentially concussive force” (Shaw, 2002, p. 288). This makes it much more difficult to jar or shake the brain to cause a concussion. This is a great improvement over simply tensing the neck muscles in an old-style-headguard. This unique design of the Warrior Tough helmet lets the athlete combine multiple muscle groups to create the strongest muscle tension possible while reinforcing proper techniques as they link their head to the torso.
The Warrior Tough Concussion Counterpunch helmet is designed to promote proper chin placement, bone alignment and neck muscle tensing. Each of these are important factors in reducing concussion potential as the findings from the Stanford (2018) research support. Furthermore, in the high guard, the athlete can provide additional support by reinforcing the helmet with their arms as shown in Figure C above.
Figure F
The athlete in Figure F is working on: Bracing, Hulking and Steeling himself for a hit. A coach can easily assess a boxer's chin placement and muscle tension by looking at the angle of the top of the helmet and the compression of the bracing padding. Through practice, the muscles learn how to work together and muscle memory is created which enhances the athlete's ability to protect themselves.
"Proper training to prepare for contact on the sports field is also essential since unexpected blows or changes in velocity of the head can produce the greatest forces on the brain. The head, neck and upper torso are therefore used in unison to absorb the impact of the ball on the head, resulting in decreased velocity change of the head itself" (Barth, 2001, p. 254).