The boxer at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games saw the biggest change for more than 30 years

An object not separated from the boxers at the Olympics since 1984 has been removed.

Do you realize something that this year's Olympics is not compared to every year? It was that people were able to easily see the faces of male boxing players - grimacing, angry or smiling when they won after the match. This year, for the first time since 1984, the Olympic organizers have removed the first protective helmet in the match , making it more like a professional match.

According to statements from the amateur boxing management organization - International Boxing Association, AIBA - this decision was made for safety purposes. According to AIBA's study, unlike conventional thinking, referees must stop the match because of more brain concussions when the boxers wear a helmet to protect their heads. But does removing this hat really make martial artists safer? - especially with injuries not related to the brain - however, this is quite complicated to conclude.

The Olympic organizers have removed the top protection caps in the match.

"Changing this rule really surprised many people. There are still many other studies that need to be done." Cynthia Bir, a biochemist researcher at the University of Southern California, who evaluated boxing equipment for USA Boxing, said. In fact, Olympic boxers will still wear head guards when playing, due to the lack of data to assess safety. (AIBA does not respond to requests for comments on this decision).

What most people can agree on is that air bubbles have very little role in protecting against brain tremors and knockout blows. With enough punch, you can crush the energy absorption of foam. " Now the helmet becomes less useful and then useless." Blaine Hoshizaki, a leading trauma researcher at the University of Ottawa.

In addition, the boxers with protective helmets still have the ability to get injured when being punched into the jaw, which also causes brain tremors, because the punches will cause the head to rotate to the side."The fighters know that in order to knock out the opponent, they need to punch their heads to turn away . " Mr. Bir said. "Straight punches don't have much effect on that."

Your brain will normally be in liquid state in the skull, so when your head is shaken to the side, your brain will also follow. At that time, the tissue will be stretched and compressed. This will cause brain tremors.

Two Olympic boxing athletes in 2012.

But why wear a protective helmet increases the rate of such concussions? AIBA's research offers a few hypotheses about this: It is possible that the protective helmet makes the team harder to observe, so the boxers cannot avoid it. Or perhaps the helmet will make the boxers feel wrong about safety and take more risks. In addition, the hat also made the fighters' heads become bigger targets, more easily hit.

However, there is another issue to consider: Brain tremors are not the only damage to the heads of the boxers."Many of the long-term consequences of head injury can come from a lot of subtle concussive blows over time." Charles Bernick, neurologist at Cleveland Hospital, said.

Bernick has been following a group of professional boxers and MMA fighters since 2011, and he realized that even the brains of MMA fighters, who do not suffer from concussion, also show vulnerability. when magnetic resonance scanning (MRI scan).

The hat also made the fighters' heads become bigger targets, more likely to be hit.

Underground shocks, which do not have immediate and immediate symptoms, can also lead to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) . "With brain tremors, you can see it and can diagnose it." Mr. Hoshizaki said. "The challenge here is that you don't see it, don't feel it. That's what I think is the most frightening here."

Protective helmets can reduce part of these blows. But it is difficult to study because it is difficult to measure how these underground shocks can damage the brain. The same punch can cause different damage to each person due to differences in muscle structure in the neck or head.

AIBA is working hard to become more professional in recent years - the "A" at the beginning of the organization's initials, originating from the previous "Amateur" . This organization has made many other changes for this year's Olympics. They changed the way of scoring so that it was more similar to professional boxing matches, which allowed experts to evaluate matches (Even if there were only three matches in Rio this year). However, along with the scientific research that the organization has just implemented, at least the boxers have a reason not to use the helmet . "They are trying to promote their brand." "The face is their brand," Bir said .