The Biopics Of Taking A Punch

[Poncey]

An interesting medical article published by an MMA site that covers most combats sports

It’s hard not to be in awe of Tito Ortiz’s head. So imperious in its shape and proportions. So defiantly unbowed. So … well, frankly, so unbelievably mammoth.

It was only after I had been admiring Tito’s head for some time that I learned that in addition to its obvious aesthetic qualities, his cranium’s superhuman proportions gave him near invincibility in the ring. Amazing! And it was only after I had been believing that for some time more that I went to medical school and realized it was absolute nonsense.

If a strangely enlarged cranium doesn’t provide a fighter with infallible protection against knockouts, the so-called “iron chin,” what does? What allows one fighter to absorb a man-killing blow to the face and dooms another to crumple before it? The answer is straightforward and multi-syllabic: the sternocleidomastoid muscles.

The sternocleidomastoids (SCM) -- one on each side of the neck -- are paired muscles, composed of the sternomastoid component that runs from the sternum to the mastoid process of the skull, immediately behind and below the ear, and the cleidomastoid muscle that runs from the clavicle to the mastoid. When flexed, the SCM rotates the head toward the opposing side. Flexing both SCMs in alternation shakes the head “no,” as one might if waving off an overly concerned ringside physician. Flexing them simultaneously flexes the neck forward and extends the head -- in the right circumstance resisting the force of a blow to the face. It’s why fighters often seem to be ducking into a punch.

One can look in a mirror and flex his SCMs, looking a bit like Lou Ferrigno after someone has seriously pissed off Bruce Banner. The muscles are prominent. Unfortunately, they are also isolated; no other significant muscle supports them in resisting backward movement of the cranium.

Moreover, arrayed against them are the muscles used in throwing a punch: calves, gluts, lats, pecs, triceps, etc. These are some of the most powerful muscles in the body. It is not surprising then that we rarely see the thrower of a well-placed punch to the head grasping his hand in pain and stumbling back in amazement as his opponent casually flexes his SCMs and smiles; the muscular arithmetic is firmly in the thrower’s favor.

When a punch of sufficient force strikes the face, it accelerates the front of the cranium back into the frontal lobes of the brain. This is the irreducible sweet science of brain injury. A gentle blow to the frontal lobes causes various degrees of central nervous system sedation -- it stuns the brain -- and a blow of sufficient force simply shuts the brain off. Seizures are not uncommon.

When a blow to the head comes from an angle, as opposed to straight on, only one of the SCMs can resist the force: The resulting acceleration of the cranium and damage to the brain are thus much greater.

Worse still, when a fighter is struck on the chin, the mandible creates leverage that magnifies the force and damage. This is the phenomenon of a fighter being hit “on the button.” Incidentally, this is an argument why, all things being equal, fighters with large heads and Cro-Magnon-like chins are at a theoretical mechanical disadvantage in withstanding blows.

Lastly, the anatomy of the brain makes blows to the back of the head particularly dangerous. The extensor muscles of the neck are far stronger than the SCMs, but the part of the brain under direct assault is more delicate. The frontal lobes injured in a frontal blow control speech, movement and thought -- all the neurologic skills we see depleted in old boxers. The back of the brain, the hindbrain or rhombencephalon, controls respiration, heart rate, swallowing, blood pressure. Fighters who sustain injuries there never grow to be old.

Matt Pitt is a physician with degrees in biophysics and medicine. He is board-certified in emergency medicine and has post-graduate training in head injuries and multi-system trauma. To ask a question that could be answered in a future article, e-mail him at

[rhino222]

a good read but a load of boll0cks, the ability to hold a shot is a genetic thing, and its loosely linked to fitness, hydration and the familiarity of the feeling of being hit. its nothing to do with the sternomastiod muscle or any other structure. irritation/disruption of the brain floors you, not the blow on the jaw !!

police men hit their dogs with sticks, round the head, from being a puppy (shocking as it sounds, the guy opposite me does it and the bloody mad dog loves it).. to familiarise the dog with being hit, as the dog grows the sticks get bigger, as time goes by the hitting gets harder, all geared so that the junkie with the piece of 4x2 does not scare the dog, nor can its blows phase the dog. take your average home grown labrador, clonk him with the 4x2 and its game over.

a fit fighter, with good training holds a shot better. - fitness

a fighter who is not too dehydrated, holds a shot better. - hydration

a fighter could get KO'd with a shot early in the 1st round, that would not trouble him in the 7th (caught cold) - familiarity

[mike john]

a good read but a load of boll0cks, the ability to hold a shot is a genetic thing, and its loosely linked to fitness, hydration and the familiarity of the feeling of being hit. its nothing to do with the sternomastiod muscle or any other structure. irritation/disruption of the brain floors you, not the blow on the jaw !!

police men hit their dogs with sticks, round the head, from being a puppy (shocking as it sounds, the guy opposite me does it and the bloody mad dog loves it).. to familiarise the dog with being hit, as the dog grows the sticks get bigger, as time goes by the hitting gets harder, all geared so that the junkie with the piece of 4x2 does not scare the dog, nor can its blows phase the dog. take your average home grown labrador, clonk him with the 4x2 and its game over.

a fit fighter, with good training holds a shot better. - fitness

a fighter who is not too dehydrated, holds a shot better. - hydration

a fighter could get KO'd with a shot early in the 1st round, that would not trouble him in the 7th (caught cold) - familiarity

so why can two similarly built boxers meeting the factors you laid out differ greatly regarding punch resistance. there are obviously physical factors involved that no one can seem to put their finger on

[rhino222]

a good read but a load of boll0cks, the ability to hold a shot is a genetic thing, and its loosely linked to fitness, hydration and the familiarity of the feeling of being hit. its nothing to do with the sternomastiod muscle or any other structure. irritation/disruption of the brain floors you, not the blow on the jaw !!

police men hit their dogs with sticks, round the head, from being a puppy (shocking as it sounds, the guy opposite me does it and the bloody mad dog loves it).. to familiarise the dog with being hit, as the dog grows the sticks get bigger, as time goes by the hitting gets harder, all geared so that the junkie with the piece of 4x2 does not scare the dog, nor can its blows phase the dog. take your average home grown labrador, clonk him with the 4x2 and its game over.

a fit fighter, with good training holds a shot better. - fitness

a fighter who is not too dehydrated, holds a shot better. - hydration

a fighter could get KO'd with a shot early in the 1st round, that would not trouble him in the 7th (caught cold) - familiarity

so why can two similarly built boxers meeting the factors you laid out differ greatly regarding punch resistance. there are obviously physical factors involved that no one can seem to put their finger on

nope, that is where the genetic factor comes into it, good chins are born, not developed

[yiddo14]

Good chins come in all shapes and sizes.

From a squat, stocky, round headed, no neck fighter to a slim, tall, long faced fighter.

[mike john]

a good read but a load of boll0cks, the ability to hold a shot is a genetic thing, and its loosely linked to fitness, hydration and the familiarity of the feeling of being hit. its nothing to do with the sternomastiod muscle or any other structure. irritation/disruption of the brain floors you, not the blow on the jaw !!

police men hit their dogs with sticks, round the head, from being a puppy (shocking as it sounds, the guy opposite me does it and the bloody mad dog loves it).. to familiarise the dog with being hit, as the dog grows the sticks get bigger, as time goes by the hitting gets harder, all geared so that the junkie with the piece of 4x2 does not scare the dog, nor can its blows phase the dog. take your average home grown labrador, clonk him with the 4x2 and its game over.

a fit fighter, with good training holds a shot better. - fitness

a fighter who is not too dehydrated, holds a shot better. - hydration

a fighter could get KO'd with a shot early in the 1st round, that would not trouble him in the 7th (caught cold) - familiarity

so why can two similarly built boxers meeting the factors you laid out differ greatly regarding punch resistance. there are obviously physical factors involved that no one can seem to put their finger on

nope, that is where the genetic factor comes into it, good chins are born, not developed

nope. im aware the genetic factor plays a part, but which part? dna doesnt just go " right, you can take a punch, no questions asked " or vice versa. genetics determine whether a person is good or bad at something by promoting the presence of the nessacery factors in the body or mind.

take a power lifter for instance his dna doesnt doesnt state " your a power lifter ". it would see to it that person has thick and long muscle bellies with short insertions, robust joints, perhaps a squat frame with short arms. these qualities allow said person to be a good power lifter.

so which factors make up a good chin? no one seems to be able to provide a definitive answer

[righthook]

this is a good debate.

personally im sitting on the fence. i think both have good points.

the only thing il say is iv spoken to allot of boxers and they all say the same thing.

your born with a good chin, youv either got 1 or you havnt.

[mike john]

this is a good debate.

personally im sitting on the fence. i think both have good points.

the only thing il say is iv spoken to allot of boxers and they all say the same thing.

your born with a good chin, youv either got 1 or you havnt.

i can appreciate its something youve got or you havent, but what makes a chin 'good'?

[Poncey]

George Kimball thought it was related to skull density.

[Counter-puncher]

take a power lifter for instance his dna doesnt doesnt state " your a power lifter ". it would see to it that person has thick and long muscle bellies with short insertions, robust joints, perhaps a squat frame with short arms. these qualities allow said person to be a good power lifter.

'squatter and benchpresser', not 'powerlifter'. remember 'the competition hasn't started till the bar's hit the floor', short arms = difficult to deadlift