So what happens when martial artists read an article that quotes a national champion as saying that he drinks lots of beer and eats lots of pizza just like that champ described above? What happens when fans of a martial art movie hero hears that their idol uses cocaine? The sad answer is that some will emulate their hero.
One big-name, irresponsible tournament champion, who conducts numerous seminars, brags about how he loves fast-food burgers. This from a fighter who holds advanced college degrees. It’s our unasked for opinion that there is an ethical responsibility that goes along with the role of champion or movie martial arts hero. These people fought for that position and once there, they should conduct themselves as leaders under the microscope, especially when people attend their seminars to learn from them. Many do accept the responsibility, but many others don’t.
Whenever people talk about the importance of eating a good diet and following a healthy lifestyle, inevitably someone says, “Yeah, but my grandpa ate fried food and drank beer every day and he lived to 85.” Okay, the speaker has a point, not much of one, but a point nonetheless. It’s true that some people can break all the rules of healthy living their entire life and get away with it. To top it off, they live longer than the average person and appear to be in perfect health. We call this the George Burns syndrome.
Comedian, actor, writer, singer, dancer - Burns did it all. He was rarely sick, worked constantly, and every day drank two martinis and smoked 15 to 20 cigars. Whenever someone asked him in his later years what his doctor said about his heavy smoking, he would answer that his doctor wasn’t saying anything because he was dead. Around the age of 80, Burns appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine surrounded by a bevy of beauties. He died two months before his 100th birthday, probably with a smile on his face.
So how is it possible for some people to blatantly violate all the rules and live long, seemingly healthy lives? Uh … we don’t know. Actually, no one knows.
Medical science is advancing faster today than at any other time in history. People are now able to survive illnesses and traumatic injuries that would have been fatal only 10 years ago. Still, there is so much that is not fully understood. Medical science simply doesn’t know everything about disease and the effects of certain factors on the human body. It’s known what increases your risks of developing a specific condition but it’s also known that not everyone is affected by these risks. This is because there are so many factors involved, such as what you eat, how it’s prepared, the environment in which you live, your genetic predisposition, how you handle stress, and so on. The more exposed you are to these factors, the greater the risk of incurring problems, though as we see with George Burns and others like him, it’s not an absolute.
It’s similar to martial arts competition where few tournament fighters go through their career without at least one loss. This is because each new match exposes the unbeatable fighter to one more competitor who just might be the one, for any number of reasons, to defeat him. For most it eventually happens, but for a rare few, despite the ever-pending risk, they maintain a flawless scorecard their entire careers. They are the George Burns of the martial arts world.
Nothing Lasts Forever
A mesomorph martial artist who eats poorly and doesn’t follow any of the healthy guidelines we discussed in this book is doing a great disservice to himself now and in the long run. He might look great on the outside, but he is slowly destroying his insides. The life of a martial arts star, no matter in what area he shines, is one of hard training and continuous vigilance to stay on top. Month after month, year after year, he pushes his body to the limits of its capabilities, and then he pushes even more. Even when blessed with all that is a mesomorph, there is only so much his body can tolerate.
If he is blessed, his body might last his entire career, or if he really is mortal, it begins to fail midway. Though it can’t be scientifically proven 100 percent that his eventual health problems are a result of bad nutrition and general wellness habits, it most likely is a major factor. It just makes sense: When a genetically blessed fighter pushes his body through all the rigors of the martial arts but doesn’t feed it the necessary macro and micronutrients, it’s going to erode and even cannibalize itself for the nutrients it so desperately needs. If he is super blessed and his body holds up until he reaches middle age, all the injuries and dietary abuse will come back to bite him, sometimes like sharks in a feeding frenzy. So many people, especially athletes, spend the last half of their lives doctoring the abuse they did the first half of their lives.
Old George smoked his first cigar at the age of 12 and was rarely seen without one in his mouth until the day he died. Why do some people die at age 40 from lung cancer but Burns smoked for over 85 years and never got it? Who knows? Might he have had a genetic potential that shielded him from the risks of smoking? Maybe. So, should you deliberately smoke like a chimney or practice your kata on the freeway? No. Likewise, when you see a champion martial artist following a diet or lifestyle that flies against all that you know is healthy, consider that he just might be the exception to the rule. You, however, might not be. For every one person who beats the odds, there are millions who don’t. Since you can’t see into the future, there is no way of knowing if an unhealthy habit, even a small one, will strike you down in your prime. Live your life with intelligence and with respect for the body you have been given.
Be Careful Whom You Emulate
Two drunks are sitting in a bar located on the top floor of downtown highrise. One of them says, “You know, I can jump out the window, fall all the way down to the sidewalk and bounce all the way back up here without a scratch.” The other drunk doesn’t believe it so they bet each other to do it, the winner getting another drink.
The first drunk leaps out of the window, lands on the sidewalk and bounces all the way back up to the window where he lands gently on the sill. There isn’t a scratch on him.
The second drunk jumps, falls all the way down to the sidewalk and lands with a Kaaasplat!!! Instant death.
When the first drunk orders another drink to celebrate his win, the bartender leans forward and says, “You know Superman, you can be kinda nasty when you’ve been drinking.”
Moral: Just because one exception to the rule can do it, doesn’t mean you can.
Most champions do get it though, because most aren’t anomalies but hard-training fighters. They understand that there is very little difference at the top between Number One and Number Two. They know that having a bad day or having trained just a little less than their opponent can be enough to cause defeat. The skill level of fighters at the top is so high that every advantage is critical, and each one knows that if he doesn’t take it, his opponents will.
The advantage of eating well is a no-brainer. While the rare champion, the anomaly we have been discussing, can get away with eating junk food and still perform outstandingly, consider this: How much harder could he train if he fueled his body with top-quality nutrients? How much better could he perform? How much faster could his injuries heal? How much longer could he compete at the highest level?
We encourage you to read about champion fighters and movie martial artists, but never emulate them 100 percent, especially those anomalies who do everything considered bad for their health. You are an individual. Read and study everything you can on health, nutrition and training, and then create a wellness and training plan that works for your particular needs. The study of the martial arts and all that it involves is about self-knowledge. Self. Yourself.
Know what works for you.
Fast Facts
If you have a job where you sit at a desk