Hey fellas. Long time lurker here. I have a question for all of you fighters out there that have stopped getting punched in the face for a living. What do you do in the gym once you walk away? I had a fair amount of fights. Won a few, lost a few and got knocked the f*!&k out in few. Officially walked away in 2012. So without getting too boring, what I'm wondering is, do you guys still spar? Like I said, I did this for close to 20 years and definitely suffered some brain trauma. I see these young guys going at it in the gym and still want to throw a little bit. On the other side, I'd like to recognize my kids when I'm 70 (if its not too late). So just wanted to get some other viewpoints about what you guys do. Are the Thai pads and heavybag enough? Or can I let these young guys beat me up a little bit without speeding up my train to dementia-ville? Thanks ahead of time for any advice (including the mandatory underground razzing)
Hey fellas. Long time lurker here. I have a question for all of you fighters out there that have stopped getting punched in the face for a living. What do you do in the gym once you walk away? I had a fair amount of fights. Won a few, lost a few and got knocked the f*!&k out in few. Officially walked away in 2012. So without getting too boring, what I'm wondering is, do you guys still spar? Like I said, I did this for close to 20 years and definitely suffered some brain trauma. I see these young guys going at it in the gym and still want to throw a little bit. On the other side, I'd like to recognize my kids when I'm 70 (if its not too late). So just wanted to get some other viewpoints about what you guys do. Are the Thai pads and heavybag enough? Or can I let these young guys beat me up a little bit without speeding up my train to dementia-ville? Thanks ahead of time for any advice (including the mandatory underground razzing)
Sorry for the double post. Not sure what happened
Lots of bjj. Chase my black belt. 
For sure. Been focusing on that. Especially since most of my fights were stand up. Thanks for the reply.
Glad you noticed the double post and it wasn't an early sign of what you mentioned ;-) 
I'm by no means a proper 'fighter' but if I could offer advise it would be to do lots of BJJ, even compete so you get that buzz back. And if you need to spar, do it with smart people who won't try and behead you and wear head guards and 16oz gloves.
You can do what you love for longer when you do it intelligently :)
Browny85 - Glad you noticed the double post and it wasn't an early sign of what you mentioned ;-)Lol
I still train, haven't fought in 2 years. Its nice that I can still move like an animal but also nice that I'm not banged up to shit everyday. Chasing the black belt though for sure. 2 stripe blue under Vitor Vianna/Sidney Silva, can't stop, won't stop.
I have a handful of fights, my first being in 02, and last in 06. I tried to line a couple up since then, but ended up with some pretty severe injuries.
Since then I just grapple and on a fairly rare occasion spar.
I make a living with my brain and I figure I've done enough damage to it already.
Thanks fellas. Gonna continue to focus on the jj. Maybe i can convince some of the experienced guys to throw a little without losing it. And no, this double post wasnt dementia induced but if you guys see this same post from me later, help a guy out and remind me to re visit my Dr.:-) thanks again
What MMA mostly boils down to, physical advantages aside, is testing your own willpower against another human. Try getting really good at something else competitive. BJJ is great for that, boxing with 16 oz gloves and headgear against controlled partners should be relatively safe. Or just join the local bowling league and drink beer.
Have you experienced anything that makes you worry? Or are you just being cautious?
I like the bowling league and beer idea. Dont know if ill get the same rush though.
I had a bout of dizzy spells coupled with some crazy deja vu type feelings a few years ago. Would just come out of nowhere, last a minute or two and then go away. Had what felt like a million mri's and cat scans nothing came up. Just eventually went away. Feels like i forget things alot but dont know if thats just age or all the concussions. Ive just been trying to err on the side of caution.
And i see what your trying to do with the re post?? Im not that far gone yet??
Those ? marks were supposed to be :). My in eptitude with my phone has nothing to do with brain damage though
I just started BJJ (gi) love it , like a whole new sport , problem is my MMA gym is smaller and I still feel obligated to get guys ready so I spat only if someone has a fight and then it's rare
coach
the nervous sick at the stomach feeling is much worse when your guys fight than when you fight. at least thats how i feel
Paul Spadafora has a game called, "Go drink that beer".
You go drink a random persons beer and then it's ON if they have a problem with it.
That's how he still gets that itch scratched.
Hey Napout,
I'm in a similar situation. I used to compete and spar hard a lot back in the day until I started having episodes where I'd completely lose vision in one eye for a about a minute before it would return to normal. That made me stop hard sparring and I never had it happen again since. I still train often and do a lot of sparring but we always go light now. I look at it more like a cardio workout that is fun than any sort of fight prep. Plus lots of grappling and I will hopefully always be able to train this way even when I'm an old man. Time will tell. Best of luck to you.
My suggestion is to stay involved with events. Either coach or join your state athletic commission as a judge or referee. As a referee, you're still kinda "in there".
I still grapple, but I only include strikes on rare occasions. I just do it for fun, not competitive.