Smoking?

[glockmeister]

Anyone here who trains in MA also smoke? I myself do not, but have met some who do. There was someone who posted a topic on another discussion board asking if you could be a smoker and a good fighter at the same time. My question is not so much could you, but why would you want to?

I feel that it's soemthing that usually gets in the way of your stamina and could negativly effect performance. Are there any here who do smoke anyway and could you offer any feedback?

[orion82698]

I can tell you that I smoked for over 13 years. I quit 15 months ago, and have never looked back. Before, I was a pain to climb steps, now I'm running 3-4 miles a night and doing heavy lifts. I would say to anyone who smokes, that there is no benifit from it, you will die one day (probably caused by it) and it's a waste of money.

Cold turkey is the best way to go!

[Patrick]

Good for you, Chris.

[ninjanurse]

Smoking is detrimental to your health. Period.

[cleung]

I don't smoke but have met a few martial artists who do smoke. Let's just say that they do not seem to be the top competitors and endurance is not their forte. This is especially evident during tie breakers in forms competitions. It must be an really hard habit to break. I'm also a scuba diver and have also met divers who smoke too. Very weird.

[jperk1966]

As a instructor I have had several students that have smoked. One who even won the Show Me State games in fighting. I often told him he would be a even better fighter if he would quit. Smoking is very detremental to ones health and it stinks! I have told my students that I better never catch them smoking while in uniform.

[June1]

He he. That reminds me of a girl I know who used to teach karate, and on her breaks, she'd run outside and hide to have her smoke. Amazingly, she was quite good with respect to technique, and her stamina didn't appear to be very affected. Go figure.

[ninjanurse]

A new student of mine, who has only taken 10 classes, announced to the class that he quit smoking (cold turkey) because of what he has learned so far. To me, that is more important than any technique I could've taught!

[glockmeister]

One of the things that prompted me to quit smoking a long time ago was when I took up kickboxing. My first time in the ring, getting winded and then having my rear end handed to me was enough.