Vegan martial artists...?

[taitsechien]

just wondering if there are any vegan martial artists out there... if your training is better or worse because of your diet... that type of stuff... i personally am vegan and train in muay thai, fu style tai chi, and gen-jitsu karate... and i think that veganism has really picked up my game...

 

[chinto]

just wondering if there are any vegan martial artists out there... if your training is better or worse because of your diet... that type of stuff... i personally am vegan and train in muay thai, fu style tai chi, and gen-jitsu karate... and i think that veganism has really picked up my game...

well where I live in the past there was a name for vegans ... dead in the winter.
vegans are a modern thing in the world except for very very mild climates. you can not survive on only plant produced food in colder climates and with out some sumplaments is unable to provide you with all the nutrients needed. Humans are omnivores and need the mix of animal meat and fish and vegetation and nuts in variety to be healthy.

 

[Doc_Jude]

Some vegan guy named Danzig (yeah, I know. It's cool) just won his weight class on that Ultimate Fighter show. Serious competition, all those guys are serious athletes.
I read his diet posted somewhere but I don't remember where, look it up.

 

[Doc_Jude]

well where I live in the past there was a name for vegans ... dead in the winter.

Yeah, I've heard that old joke too.

vegans are a modern thing in the world except for very very mild climates. you can not survive on only plant produced food in colder climates and with out some sumplaments is unable to provide you with all the nutrients needed. Humans are omnivores and need the mix of animal meat and fish and vegetation and nuts in variety to be healthy.

Humans aren't omnivorous. Higher order primates get no more than 5% animal protein in their diets (see Goodall) and the majority of that is insect matter, which happens to be twice as bioavailable to our rather long digestive tract. They only rarely eat anything larger, occasionally bushpigs & the like, about 2% of their diet annually being meat. Who knows what we could do if we ate like our primate cousins that we share almost 99% genetics with (apes, chimps, bonoboes, orangutans). A chimp half your size can tear your arm off & beat you to death with it if he wants to. Raw foods, mostly greens and fresh fruit.

"Omnivorous" is a bit of a misnomer. 95+% Raw Vegan would be more accurate.

 

[Shuto]

link

It's not exactly what you are looking for but here's a link to a WSJ article about Tony Gonzales, an NFL athlete who is a vegan.

 

[Jin Gang]

Yes, I know many vegan martial artists. Back in Boulder, Colorado, there is practically a whole commune of them. I have been vegetarian, but not vegan. I don't know that it affected my training one way or the other, it didn't have any negative effect.

 

[kaizasosei]

im not a vegan or even a vegetarian...actually i love a good steak, roast beet and even raw things like various sashimi. however, in my experience, there are countless troubles that can be avoided by not eating meat. from digestion issues to viruses and disease, one should look to eat meat for its nutritional value, but in my opinion that is more like a once/twice/three times ok, but not everyday. another reason is you can't know the exact quality unless you know the land the creature and how the meat was handled or treated. this applies to fish also, although it is probably the healthier meat in most cases.
best to have diverse eating habits and eat tons of vegetable and fruits.


j

 

[taitsechien]

who said dead in the winter... ha ha... i live in utah... it gets pretty cold out here during the winter and i survive just fine... If your vegan you can survive as long as you eat right and take conscience steps towards getting everything you need out of your diet... i admit when i first became vegan i didn't pay much a attention to my body... i just ate pp and js all day... and i got sick... but now i feel much better... and i train pretty hard... i box Monday Wednesday and friday mornings... i do muay thai tuesday and thursday nights... i do fu style tai chi on wednesday nights... and saturday mornings i just open train... i'm also on an indoor soccer team... far from dead in the water... in fact i'm probably swimming faster than some of my non vegan friends... haha

 

[Doc_Jude]

who said dead in the winter... ha ha... i live in utah... it gets pretty cold out here during the winter and i survive just fine... If your vegan you can survive as long as you eat right and take conscience steps towards getting everything you need out of your diet... i admit when i first became vegan i didn't pay much a attention to my body... i just ate pp and js all day... and i got sick... but now i feel much better... and i train pretty hard... i box Monday Wednesday and friday mornings... i do muay thai tuesday and thursday nights... i do fu style tai chi on wednesday nights... and saturday mornings i just open train... i'm also on an indoor soccer team... far from dead in the water... in fact i'm probably swimming faster than some of my non vegan friends... haha

The thing about eating meat... we can survive on it, yes, we can get plenty of nutrients out of it. But, try eating 95% meat and 5% fruits&veggies, see how long you last. Reverse that to 95% fruit&veg and 5% meat, you'll have a optimum body & great health.

I think he was talking about being vegetarian in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word. The shift towards more meat allowed us to get out of East Africa, allowed us to survive the last Ice Age and circumnavigate the globe, since you don't know what plants are poisonous or not from one place to the next w/o experimentation. On the other hand, a deer is a deer, a pig is a pig, a duck is a duck, a rat is a rat, a fish is a fish(for the most part). The only rule is if you don't know the animal well, stay away from the organs.

 

[Sanchin-J]

I can't imagine much would change in regards to your studies and practice, as long as your diet kept in mind some of the more important things you need as a physically active person. You'll want your calcium, vitamins, some protein, etc, all of which can be obtained without eating meat.

Speaking as the guy who in his younger years rose to the challenge in our local steak house of consuming "The Big One" however, I think I pretty much lose all real credibility when speaking about vegetarian diet so that's an issue in itself you'll have to explore hehe.

 

[taitsechien]

oh... hunter gatherers... that makes sense but i we have come along way since the times when we needed to hunt to survive and progress... if you look at things for what they are... you don't need meat to survive... i'm definitely not here to preach... veganism is a personal choice... i just strongly believe that cutting meat and diary from my diet has helped me grow in my martial arts... it might just be in my head...

 

[HelloKitty]

I think the really important think for a vegan thinking on training hard in martial arts is going to the doctor and ask about it. It's not just a thing of just only vegetables or related, stop eating meat, etc. Because OK you don't need meat to SURVIVE, but intense physical activities such as MA are very demanding.

 

[chinto]

who said dead in the winter... ha ha... i live in utah... it gets pretty cold out here during the winter and i survive just fine... If your vegan you can survive as long as you eat right and take conscience steps towards getting everything you need out of your diet... i admit when i first became vegan i didn't pay much a attention to my body... i just ate pp and js all day... and i got sick... but now i feel much better... and i train pretty hard... i box Monday Wednesday and friday mornings... i do muay thai tuesday and thursday nights... i do fu style tai chi on wednesday nights... and saturday mornings i just open train... i'm also on an indoor soccer team... far from dead in the water... in fact i'm probably swimming faster than some of my non vegan friends... haha

actually if you are a strict vegan and in a cold environment with out central heating and modern helps like that ... dead in winter is reality. in a cold environment you need more calories then vegetable matter can give you. think of the kind of calories that a combat troop would burn in a snowing freezing aria .. that is the kind of calories you need to have to survive with out central heating... before all the modern conveniences . humans do not have the gut length that any of the other primates have, and so can not get as much nutrition out of vegetation. Our brains need more nutrition and meat and fish are very very high in nutritional density. so before all the modern conveniences and vitamins and other supliments a vegen would not make it.. a vegetarian who did dairy might with enough butter and cream and eggs in the diet as they provide the calories from the fats and the proteins you need in a high stress environment like a cold climate. tropical ones you could survive possibly.

 

[Carol]

Personally, I am very uncomfortable with "promoting" a type of diet. I have a helluva lot better things to do than to micromanage what someone else eats.

But for me? I went (back) to being a vegetarian on New Year's. My kitchen is vegan (except for the cat food), and I'm happy with the choice. If I wasn't, I wouldn't still be following it.

 

[chinto]

Personally, I am very uncomfortable with "promoting" a type of diet. I have a helluva lot better things to do than to micromanage what someone else eats.

But for me? I went (back) to being a vegetarian on New Year's. My kitchen is vegan (except for the cat food), and I'm happy with the choice. If I wasn't, I wouldn't still be following it.

good for you! just thank technology, and our modern conveyances for the fact that you do have that option. up until about 1920-25 for most people in the United states and the rest of the world the problem was to get enough calories to survive. today it seems that for much of the world that is very much not the problem.

 

[Carol]

good for you! just thank technology, and our modern conveyances for the fact that you do have that option. up until about 1920-25 for most people in the United states and the rest of the world the problem was to get enough calories to survive. today it seems that for much of the world that is very much not the problem.

Completely agree.

For me, the choice I made is possible because of technology, but it was also made in spite of it. Technology has brought about many wonders, but along with it came overly processed foods and a sedentary lifestyle. I see it as my body reacting to the environment I'm currently in. I feel better with the diet that I'm following. If I were to relocate up to...say...Alaska, and had to live life out on the Bering Strait....I suspect my vegetarian habits would go out the window quite quickly

 

[taitsechien]

actually if you are a strict vegan and in a cold environment with out central heating and modern helps like that ... dead in winter is reality. in a cold environment you need more calories then vegetable matter can give you. think of the kind of calories that a combat troop would burn in a snowing freezing aria .. that is the kind of calories you need to have to survive with out central heating... before all the modern conveniences . humans do not have the gut length that any of the other primates have, and so can not get as much nutrition out of vegetation. Our brains need more nutrition and meat and fish are very very high in nutritional density. so before all the modern conveniences and vitamins and other supliments a vegen would not make it.. a vegetarian who did dairy might with enough butter and cream and eggs in the diet as they provide the calories from the fats and the proteins you need in a high stress environment like a cold climate. tropical ones you could survive possibly.

... i happen to know a few overweight vegans haha
i think being a strict vegan in a primitive place without heat or modern conveniences has plenty of problems... for example if you don't kill animals you won't have fur to wear and keep you warm... but things, like tofu (which is high in vitamins), have been around much longer than "modern technology"... and foods like pasta for example are a good source of calories, and carbohydrates... also mans ability to create fire is a wonderful way to keep warm... about gut length the human digestive system is twelve times the length of the body... Carvivores animals have a very small digestive tract... meat takes much longer to digest... and creates excess waste... the idea of... in a cold environment feeding an animal grains and vegtables so you can later eat the animal seems a bit silly... when you could just eat the grains and vegtables for yourself... although eating meat was a necesity for surival when we where in a very primitive state(before the invention of tools)... i feel that we, or i personally, do not need meat in my diet it all, or any animal byproduct for that matter...

if i ever come across as offensive please let me know... i'm only trying to explain my beliefs... and learn about others... since becoming vegans i've realized there are flaws to my diet... and by discussing it with nonvegans... i can learn to better my diet...

 

[geezer]

actually if you are a strict vegan and in a cold environment with out central heating and modern helps like that ... dead in winter is reality. in a cold environment you need more calories then vegetable matter can give you. think of the kind of calories that a combat troop would burn in a snowing freezing aria .. that is the kind of calories you need to have to survive with out central heating... before all the modern conveniences . humans do not have the gut length that any of the other primates have, and so can not get as much nutrition out of vegetation. Our brains need more nutrition and meat and fish are very very high in nutritional density. so before all the modern conveniences and vitamins and other supliments a vegen would not make it.. a vegetarian who did dairy might with enough butter and cream and eggs in the diet as they provide the calories from the fats and the proteins you need in a high stress environment like a cold climate. tropical ones you could survive possibly.

In modern times, couldn't you get enough calories and remain vegan by eating massive amounts of chocolate...or ....donuts? --mmmmmm

 

[taitsechien]

In modern times, couldn't you get enough calories and remain vegan by eating massive amounts of chocolate...or ....donuts? --mmmmmm

haha... way good idea...

 

[chinto]

In modern times, couldn't you get enough calories and remain vegan by eating massive amounts of chocolate...or ....donuts? --mmmmmm

in modern times you provably could.. but there are other nutrients that may or may not be lacking depending on diet.. once agian modern technology is your savior that way.