Drugs in the dojo

Originally posted by nightingale8472
My dad used to smoke, and he quit (because I was having breathing problems and my doctor told him to quit or move out, so he quit) and now when he smells stale smoke on someone he says "I can't believe I used to smell like that... I never noticed it"

My father smoked most of his life.... He died in '97 from cancer. I don't like it....... and I'm once again totally with you...... I HATE BREATHING it too!! And that goes for ANY kind of smoke from any type of material!!

:asian:
 
another point to make, if the instructor in question is/was training people for competition than I would argue that they shouldn't drink or smoke either, they obviously have very hash affects on your athletic ability and in my opinion an instructor or an assistant should lead by example.
 
the question i often ask is "why would you train to develop yourself, and then put something bad into it?"
that just totally defeats the purpose!
 
another good point, would you say a black belt should have a sertain level of commitment to the art? if so would smoking show a lack of commitment to the optimisation of their fighting potential?

counter point being, Speaking relativly is the ocational smoke any worse for the body than a given level of physical training is good for the body? that is to say if smoking say 1 cigarete a day degrades your lung copacity (or rather your ability to extract oxogen from the air) as much as say running 1 mile a day would increase it, wouldn't smoking one cigarete a day be equivalant of not running 1 mile a day? (hope this made sence)
 
that is to say if smoking say 1 cigarete a day degrades your lung copacity (or rather your ability to extract oxogen from the air) as much as say running 1 mile a day would increase it, wouldn't smoking one cigarete a day be equivalant of not running 1 mile a day? (hope this made sence)

I don't know if I'd really consider those two things to be equivelant. One of them would be adding a negative, the other subtracting a positive. It works in math terms, but I don't think in the example given.

Both of them are a choice, but one is choosing to do something damaging, while the other is choosing not to do something helpful. But choosing not to run isn't damaging your lungs, it's just not helping them get any better.
 
by choosing to do something else besides running you choose not to improve your lungs. I realy don't see much of a diffrence. Both ways you see an other activity as more important than the pursuit of your martial potential.
 
choosing not to run doesn't cause lung cancer.
choosing to smoke one cigarette a day can.
exposing others to the smoke from your cigarette can give them cancer.

I've heard people say that second hand smoke doesn't cause cancer... tell that to Marisa, the seven year old girl I used to babysit. I don't babysit her anymore because she died five years ago today from lung cancer complicated by severe asthma because both her parents had a two pack a day habit. Her parents split up after her death. Her mother still smokes. Her father had to watch his child die to have a good enough reason to quit.


Please, folks, You have a right to smoke, but if you smoke, think about what you're doing. If you don't care enough about yourself to quit, think about the people around you.

The Great American Smokeout is the third thursday in November, every year. This year it falls on Nov 21st. If you smoke, please consider participating. If not for yourself, for your children, your family, your friends, or if you still need a reason, do it for Marisa.


respectfully,

Nightingale

-stepping off the soapbox-



PS. sorry. I'm a little emotional right now. I just got off the phone with Marisa's dad. He told me that his wife of a little more than a year is pregnant with their first child.
 
you are missing the point, running and smoking are just examples, you could just replace them with variables if you wanted to. and although choosing not to run won't give you cancer smoking won't nessisaraly give you cancer and not running could lead to other health problems (if you arne't active enough that is). And the rate of cancer is reduced from second hand smoke but is still there, but I tihnk it's more common to get other side affects from inhailing particulate matter, things like asthma and various kinds of pneumonia.
 
makes perfect sence sweeper, but hard to answer. i dont smoke so i don't know what kind of effect it would have on me. i guess it would effect everyone differently.

some people who smoke outlive the ones who don't, but i'm not willing to take thoses odds.
 
well the question realy is what should a school's requirments be for a black belt or coach regarding their physical health.
 
i would say that there needs to be a certain standard. if you can not or will not abide by those regulations, then you should not be allowed to represent the art or school.

i take my training very seriously, and i know that if i owned a school i would not want someone with these "bad" habits to represent me or my organization.
 
Originally posted by sweeper

the statement that drug use is not recreational is incorrect.

it means to refresh or to restore, it can mean either physicaly or mentaly, it doesn't matter if it's illegal or not it can still be recreation. now It may not be recreational for you but that's diffrent than simply not being recreational.

If "Recreational" means,"to refresh or to restore", then drug usage, by its very nature cannot be recreational. Drugs destroy healthy cells. There is nothing refreshing or restoring about drug usage. Sure, they might make you happy for a short time, but in the long run they F*** you up, period!

I don't instruct yet, but when I have my own school, I will do as my instructor does. He makes it quite clear how he feels about certain subjects. You either conform or you are out! For us it is a matter of choice, I can either abide by his rules or I can train elsewhere. After all, when I acheive my black belt, I will be representing him and his school.

I do not wish to bear false witness!
--Dave :soapbox:
 
Originally posted by D.Cobb



If "Recreational" means,"to refresh or to restore", then drug usage, by its very nature cannot be recreational........ they F*** you up, period!


Very well said here, Cobb. In my school, in the end of every class, we recite a student's creed. The first stanza is "I will develop myself in a positive manner, and avoid anything that would reduce my mental growth or my physical health." Something such as tobacco, or anything stronger, pretty much fits in there. I just don't see how an assistant instructor, unpaid or paid, is able to say those lines despite drug use. I feel that a person who can't put forth an honest effort to make the recitation true doesn't have a place in the school, period.

Does this mean our black belts aren't allowed to smoke? Well... that's hard to say..... aside from the assistant in question, I can't recall seeing any of our black belts smoke.... guess it's a catching habit not to.


Personally, I'm wondering if I should make the instructor aware of what this assistant instructor is doing despite my instructor's warnings. Any suggestions?
 
If your head instructor isn't aware of what's going on, he has a right to know, because this person, by wearing his black belt and teaching in his studio, is representing your instructor and your instructor's good name.
 
well the way I see it is it is obviously of concern to you otherwise you wouldn't have posted it, so yeah I think you should bring it up.


Recreation cvan refer to either physical or mental. People do all kindds of things that are considered recreation yet are dammaging, look at almost any contact sport, I would consider it recreational but after practice or a game you are beat to heck, alot of drugs don't f*** you up long term unless you REALY abuse them, I'm not saying ti's healthy and there is a big diffrence between recreational use and an addiction, all I'm saying is if someone finds it fun/entertaining or thinks it releaves stress than it is recreational.
 
Just curious but for you instructors what is your stance on students smoking? Regular cigs, I mean. I apologize if this starts getting off topic of more serious substances, but I was curious.

Do you let your students smoke? Do you encourage them to stop? Do you feel differently if it's an adult versus a teenager or borderline adult teen (as in college?) If you encourage them to stop and they don't, are they punished since they're hindering their performance?
 
Just curious but for you instructors what is your stance on students smoking? Regular cigs, I mean. I apologize if this starts getting off topic of more serious substances, but I was curious.

Do you let your students smoke? Do you encourage them to stop? Do you feel differently if it's an adult versus a teenager or borderline adult teen (as in college?) If you encourage them to stop and they don't, are they punished since they're hindering their performance?
You might want to start a new thread on this, rather than resurrecting a very old one to swerve.
 
You might want to start a new thread on this, rather than resurrecting a very old one to swerve.

Yes, thanks. I was planning on it once I saw the dates on this thread. (Sorry, new here, just figured out where the dates are!)
 
I think it goes the same with any sport. Drugs will just harm your performance so naturally your coach/sifu/sensei wouldn't want you to be doing them.
 
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