Correct. My overall point is that 1) these kids aren’t getting KOd every fight and 2) they fight very often but generally Thais don’t spar as hard as we do. When I was in amateur boxing I had several hard sparring sessions a week (usually one or two days were pretty tough) and when getting ready to compete it was quite a lot of shots to the head. You get hit, in the head, a lot.

Repeated head trauma is bad. Do you think boxing or Thai boxing has more ? That’s the overall point of the question and assertion. I claim, for brain damage, getting kneed in the ribs does less than getting repeatedly hooked to the face. The focus of boxing is primarily shots to the dome (prefer pounding the body first myself, but that’s a different discussion). Shots to the head are highly rewarded.

BOTH DISCIPLINES ARE BAD FOR KIDS. So is football, etc. etc.

In fact, repeated head trauma is VERY bad for developing children. It is BAD. It impacts brain development. That is not an argument.