GET
SAFER
Introducing Warrior Tough Concussion Counterpunch helmet, a new look and a new safety standard. Engineered to transfer energy away from the head, neck, and brain, minimizing concussion potential and whiplash trauma. This Concussion Counterpunch design encourages proper movement, empowering you to safeguard yourself before, during, and after an impact.
This is the first helmet designed to reduce your chances of getting a concussion
Warrior Tough
ABOUT US
Get Safer - Break the Concussion Cycle
How are Headguards and Helmets Different?
The old-style headguard hasn't changed much since it was first designed in the early 1900s, over 100 years ago. Designed to stop superficial injuries such as scrapes, cuts, and bruises, they are often top-heavy, potentially causing brain and neck injuries because their padding adds to the weight of the head - actually promoting concussions. Unfortunately, this design unintentionally creates a situation where energy gets trapped in the head, causing injuries to the brain and neck.
When there's a sudden force, like a punch, the old-style headguard's design traps energy. Trapping this force can cause bruising to the back of the brain (concussion) when the neck bends backwards and the head hits the shoulders or whiplashes. Unfortunately, the headguard meant to protect you can make concussive damage and neck injury more likely because of the headguards weight.
Concussive reduction helmets are designed to reduce superficial injuries in addition to protecting against concussive injuries. Warrior Tough is the only company that makes and sells this type of helmet for combat sports, so they patented the design. These helmets represent the next generation of safety helmet design using scientific research principles with interventions to actively reduce brain injury potential and promote proper technique.
Warrior Tough offers a new helmet design that breaks the cycle of whiplash and concussion. You can get safer with a Warrior Tough helmet that offers ten special features designed and patented to lower the risk of whiplash, head acceleration, and concussions. This way, you can engage in your sport with enhanced safety and greater confidence.
Education
Parkinson (1982) Illustrated energy transfer with a three billiard (pool) ball example. In this scenario, when one ball strikes another, "the energy is released from the first ball, transferred through the second, and absorbed in the third, and if these were heads, the first and third would be concussed (p. 136)."
Applying this idea of energy transfer to the Warrior Tough Concussion Counterpunch helmet, a punch is like the first ball delivering energy. The second ball represents the helmet braced on the shoulders, similar to the second ball touching the third ball that allows for the transfer of energy. The third ball represents the torso receiving the transferred energy, dispersing and absorbing it.
Warrior Tough Concussion Counterpunch Helmets Transfer Energy:
What is Energy Transfer and Why is it Important?
The skull is the bridge that transfers energy to the ground so the potential for concussion is reduced
Energy transfer is a key safety intervention of the Warrior Tough Concussion Counterpunch helmet. Once you experience energy transfer, you will no longer want an old-style headguard that doesn't have it!
Why does an MMA fighter, who does not wear a helmet and gets hit hard in the head while on the mat, not get a concussion? Escaping the concussion occurs because of energy transfer, as Parkinson (1982), Cantu (1992), Shaw (2002) and other professional research shows. If the head is supported or in contact with another surface, the kinetic energy from a punch will flow through the head, leaving the brain unharmed. The skull acts like a bridge, allowing the energy of the punch to pass through the brain to the ground, avoiding a concussion because it is in contact with the mat. Bracing is part of the main design and safety feature of the Warrior Tough helmet. Bracing creates the connection to transfer the energy of a punch or kick through the head to the torso using the helmet as the bridge between the impact and the torso to reduce concussion potential.
Believing in the application and potential of the concept of energy transfer for safety, we created and patented the Warrior Tough Concussion Counterpunch Helmet. Energy transfer coupled with reducing head mobility is a proven method to diminish the risk of concussions.
The crucial part of the energy transfer equation was to create a helmet that follows a simple process: support the head and let it make contact or touch the shoulders so the energy from an impact can transfer through the helmet/head, like the second billiard ball in Parkinson's example.
The Warrior Tough helmet does not always touch your shoulders. A gap is created that the athlete can close. This provides an area called the free movement safety zone which allows for completely free movement without the athlete noticing that the helmet is next to the shoulders. This free movement safety zone provides enough space to do your sport without interference. The gap can be closed instantly by the athlete when they need to take a defensive position, or when bracing for an impact.
Bracing closes the gap in the free movement zone by lowering your chin and lifting your shoulders (as in an on-guard stance) creating a connection between the helmet and the athlete's shoulders. This stance establishes a bridge or pathway for energy to pass through the helmet to dissipate (spread and reduce) in the torso.
In addition to energy transfer. Bracing creates the connection that adds the mass of the torso to the head, decreasing mobility and making it more difficult to accelerate the head which reduces concussion potential.
Linking helmet mass to the torso mass is just as important as energy transfer! “Unarmed combat experts and street fighters have long known that it is virtually impossible to knock out an opponent whose head is fixed against a wall or on the ground. They do not possess the force in their limbs to move both the head and the wall or the ground behind it.” (Parkinson, 1982, p.132).
When an MMA fighter puts their head on the mat, this links or adds the mass of the ground to the mass of their head so it cannot be accelerated, jarred, or shaken to create a concussion. "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).
There is a connection between energy transfer and connecting the head and torso mass that is created when contact between the head and another surface takes place. The Warrior Tough Concussion Counterpunch helmet was designed to take advantage of this unique connection addressed by concussive research experts to include the most notable Parkinson, Cantu and Shaw. Through bracing, we create this connection so it can be used to safeguard and reduce concussion potential, benefitting the athlete.
Because bracing changes the effective mass of the head, it becomes more difficult to concuss. “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). The Warrior Tough helmet also uses bracing to reduce head trauma and soften the impact of a punch or kick while it encourages the correct head position and proper form.
Shock Absorbent
Padding
Warrior Tough Helmets Look Different
Because They Are Different
The Warrior Tough Concussion Counterpunch helmet looks different from old-style headguards because it functions in a new and unique way to reduce concussion potential along with brain and neck injuries. "Brain injuries are one of the most common catastrophic athletic injuries and a leading cause of athletic death" (Miller and Cantu, 1992, p. 64-74). The new look brings with it new advantages. For example, the special padding around the neck acts as a shock absorber, reducing the risk of whiplash, a movement known to cause brain and neck injuries. This new structure influences its function, in other words, how the helmet is designed changes how it works. Its appearance must be different to achieve different outcomes compared to old-style headguards that actually increase the risk of concussion potential.
Changing What it Feels Like When Hit
With the Warrior Tough Concussion Counterpunch helmet, if you are on the receiving end of a punch, instead of a sharp quick snapping back of your head, you feel the padding compress and support your neck. This compression and support work together to reduce the power of the force that is typically trapped in your head as it moves backwards in response to the punch. When braced, this transfer of energy experience is referred to by boxer's as a "softening of the punch." The neck support and shock absorber totally change what getting hit feels like as energy is transferred away from the head and neck. Once you experience the power of energy transfer, you will never want to be without it when sparring.
The support provided by the padding significantly decreases potential head trauma by acting as a bridge, enabling energy to transfer through the helmet to your torso. This is crucial for safety because "... 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).
The key safety advantage of the Warrior Tough Concussion Counterpunch helmet is its ability to link the head to the torso to transfer energy and artificially increase the mass of the head, making it harder to move upon impact. The user engages this ability by bracing the helmet on their shoulders. The act of bracing allows the athlete to take a protective posture, making themselves safer while actively reducing and redirecting concussive forces away from the brain, neck and head.
Revolutionizing Helmet Design:
Redirecting Energy for Enhanced Head Protection in Combat Sports
"In football, a player may escape being concussed or dinged if they tense their neck muscles prior to collision, decreasing head mobility and allowing kinetic energy to be dispersed throughout the whole body and not confined to the head" (Shaw, 2002, p. 288).
However, if the force of an impact surpasses the strength of the neck, there's no place to redirect the impact energy. This is just one of the problems with old-style headguards used in various sports. While neck strength is essential, it alone cannot prevent all concussions, as long as the head can move, a concussion can occur. This is why no helmet currently on the market can eliminate all concussions. Old-style headguards fail to transfer energy but the real problem is that their design enhances the neck as the pivot point, so whiplash occurs, the helmet collects energy that is transferred to the brain causing concussion.
At Warrior Tough, we applied research from concussion experts to include Parkinson (1982), Cantu (1992), Shaw (2002) to create a helmet that transfers energy and can link the head to the torso. This new design increases the mass of the head, making it more difficult to move the head and jar the brain to create a situation to avoid a concussion. When the Warrior Tough Concussion Counterpunch helmet is braced, it creates a pathway for kinetic energy to flow through the helmet to the torso so it is not confined to the head but disperses throughout the body so it may leave the brain unharmed and its function intact.