Martial Arts Injury
Hi, I am new to this but some issues I've been having have pushed me to post here. Anyway I am a karate point fighter. A few months ago I was sparring with someone who had very little control and was trying to prove something (any martial artist knows the type) and as I was trying to pause our sparring session I was slammed to the mat, hitting the back of my head on the mat. I saw a flash, much like a camera flash but I thought I was okay. I did not see anything wrong with me until a day or two later. I started to feel foggy and for the first couple of weeks it felt almost like I was drunk. The drunk feeling eventually went away but the fogginess stayed for months. I have improved a lot since then but some of the fogginess is still there. I also have been forgetting simple things, been having headaches, and have a hard time paying attention to conversations. This injury has effected me greatly and no one seems to understand what it feels like, with a couple just calling me a hypochondriac. As an athlete I am no stranger to injuries and this is by far the worst feeling I have ever had in my life.
I do have a history of playing contact sports, like football in high school. I was never formally diagnosed with a concussion but looking back I'm pretty sure I had a few. However, I never felt bothered for long periods of time from playing football.
I chose karate point fighting because it is not nearly as rough as many other martial arts. But after this head injury, I'm afraid that I can't take many more hits, even light ones. Knockouts still happen in point fighting, albeit accidentally, so I am concerned of the risk I take. This is hard for me as I love competing and I know I have a lot of potential. Last year I won a world championship in my weight division for an amateur organization, I've trained with very high level athletes, and it has been my dream to try out for the karate national team, especially now that karate has been added to the Olympics. I love martial arts and I wont quit training in it, but now I wonder if maybe I should give up fighting and even light sparring and maybe just focus on the self defense aspects of karate. I'm only 22 but this injury has made me concerned over the long term effects of continuing contact sports, even those deemed as "light contact". So I am hoping that someone maybe has some advice for me, thank you.