# Do you smoke?



## Loki (Aug 16, 2005)

I hope no one's posted this before, or I'm gonna look pretty stupid.

 Do you smoke? If you do, why do you continue to do so despite knowing that it's bad for your martial arts? I ask this regarding cardiovascular performance, not getting into cancer and the likes.

 I post this question here because of its relevance to our common denominator, martial arts. Being an intense physical act (by some definitions a sport), performance can be severely inhibited by smoking habits.


----------



## Loki (Aug 16, 2005)

Ooookay, just noticed MT has a "Health Tips for the Martial Artist" section as well as the top post in that section being smoking-related. Time to feel stupid and beg mods to move this post there. Save me, Mike!


----------



## still learning (Aug 16, 2005)

Hello, We all love hero's and other known role models (parents/friends) also and many of us want to be like them. Monkey see - Monkey do! That's how I got started. That was High school days and I quit a very long time ago. Dumb Yea!

 Today even our goverment promotes smoking by allowing the tobacco companies to keep making more smoking products. This business makes too much money for the government. 

  This is why many people are mad.....Wrong things can be right if the government allows it!

  This is sponsor by ( Lucky Strikes) ............Ah.....Ka-ra-ta-te?  Kicks are so fast....even they smoke.......ah....Aloha


----------



## rutherford (Aug 16, 2005)

I'm not really sure why I still smoke.  Inertia?

Good quote poorly remembered from a bad movie:  "I smoke in hopes that these things will actually kill me before things get too bad!"


----------



## MA-Caver (Aug 16, 2005)

I'm trying to quit... right now it's just a matter of WANTING to... I'm looking at going cold turkey in a few weeks...right now I'm in that (mental) build-up phase ... :erg:


----------



## karatekid1975 (Aug 17, 2005)

MACaver said:
			
		

> I'm trying to quit... right now it's just a matter of WANTING to... I'm looking at going cold turkey in a few weeks...right now I'm in that (mental) build-up phase ... :erg:



Arrgggg. Me too. I have actually learned in the past few months that I REALLY need to quit. It is starting to affect my MA training. I mean, it always has, but more so than ever. I'm in the advanced class, and they work harder and faster than the inter, and beginner students. It's getting rough.

I have tried to quit 5 times before (with the gum, the patch, cold turkey, ect). Any advice will be welcomed


----------



## arnisador (Aug 17, 2005)

Gradual cessation. Count how many you smoke tomorrow. Smoke one less cigarette every three days until done.


----------



## MA-Caver (Aug 17, 2005)

arnisador said:
			
		

> Gradual cessation. Count how many you smoke tomorrow. Smoke one less cigarette every three days until done.


Ya that's what I've been doing for the last few years... I *was* a pack -n- half a day kinda guy then now I'm down to 1/2 to 1/4 a pack depending upon stress levels... :lol:
But patches and gums and whatever else... (I've said this in another related post...) don't work until one WANTS to. Like I said... I'm working on that.


----------



## MJS (Aug 17, 2005)

* Mod Note

Thread moved to health tips.

MJS

MT Mod*


----------



## Gin-Gin (Aug 17, 2005)

arnisador said:
			
		

> Gradual cessation. Count how many you smoke tomorrow. Smoke one less cigarette every three days until done.


Good advice! 


			
				MACaver said:
			
		

> Ya that's what I've been doing for the last few years... I was a pack -n- half a day kinda guy then now I'm down to 1/2 to 1/4 a pack depending upon stress levels... But patches and gums and whatever else... (I've said this in another related post...) don't work until one WANTS to. Like I said... I'm working on that.


I'm sure you've read all of the tobacco threads & done your homework, so *Good Luck * - remember that it's never too late to quit!  Please let us know how it goes whichever method you choose.


----------



## Flatlander (Aug 17, 2005)

I told myself so many times that I would quit before I turn 30.  I have 11 months left.


----------



## Gin-Gin (Aug 17, 2005)

Flatlander said:
			
		

> I told myself so many times that I would quit before I turn 30.  I have 11 months left.


If setting a deadline works for you - great!  :ultracool  As I said to MACaver, let us know how it goes whichever method you choose.  

You can also do "MT Therapy" - whenever you want a cigarette, pop some gum in your mouth & get online until the craving disappears...you might also want to keep a punching bag or a pillow close by when you're moderating & one of the "special members"  decides to act out! :lol:


----------



## ginshun (Aug 19, 2005)

I'm right in there with MACaver on this one.  I probably smoke 2 packs a week right now, but I just can't put them down altogether.

 Someday.


----------



## ed-swckf (Aug 20, 2005)

Flatlander said:
			
		

> I told myself so many times that I would quit before I turn 30. I have 11 months left.


Why put off till tommorow what you CAN do today.


----------



## karatekid1975 (Aug 20, 2005)

arnisador said:
			
		

> Gradual cessation. Count how many you smoke tomorrow. Smoke one less cigarette every three days until done.



I have been doing this actually. I have cut down a lot. I went from a pack and a half a day to 15 cigs a day  artyon:


----------



## Gin-Gin (Aug 23, 2005)

karatekid1975 said:
			
		

> I have been doing this actually. I have cut down a lot. I went from a pack and a half a day to 15 cigs a day  artyon:


*Great*--keep up the good work!!  artyon:


----------



## bobster_ice (Dec 4, 2005)

i used too smoke, it really did screw my fitness up.


----------



## Navarre (Dec 4, 2005)

bobster_ice said:
			
		

> i used too smoke, it really did screw my fitness up.



Your goal, expressed elsewhere, of being one of the best martial artists in the world is obviously contradicted by smoking. I'm glad you quit.

Having a goal or compelling reason to quit is important. My wife quit before we got married because I couldn't, in good conscience, devote my life to someone I expected to die from such a vice and who was more devoted to her addiction than our lives together.

I could never start smoking because, likewise, I want to make sure I'm here with my children for as long as possible. I might die tomorrow stepping off the curb but I'm not going to help destiny along with a pack of Camels.


----------



## OnlyAnEgg (Dec 4, 2005)

I still need to quit.  I have a box of patches in front of me right now...but, I'm still weak...pleh


----------



## mantis (Dec 4, 2005)

Loki said:
			
		

> I hope no one's posted this before, or I'm gonna look pretty stupid.
> 
> Do you smoke? If you do, why do you continue to do so despite knowing that it's bad for your martial arts? I ask this regarding cardiovascular performance, not getting into cancer and the likes.
> 
> I post this question here because of its relevance to our common denominator, martial arts. Being an intense physical act (by some definitions a sport), performance can be severely inhibited by smoking habits.


i smoke AT martial arts


----------



## arnisador (Dec 4, 2005)

OnlyAnEgg said:
			
		

> I still need to quit.  I have a box of patches in front of me right now...



Dude, please go for it! Emphysema will sure ruin your martial arts career.


----------



## terryl965 (Dec 4, 2005)

Well I never understood any athlete that smokes it is a great way to end your careers smelling like a chimney. To answer the question no not at all and never will.
Terry 
P.S. for those of you trying to quit stop trying and just do it----- just like Nike.
My prayer goes out to all that wish to stop may the new year bring you the strength to stop.


----------



## bobster_ice (Dec 5, 2005)

some advice on quiting...lock yourself in a room intil the cravings go away


----------



## Drac (Dec 6, 2005)

Yes..Curse me...I know ALL the risks..I push myself harder during cardio and lifting because of this addiction..Not that it will help...


----------



## OnlyAnEgg (Dec 6, 2005)

arnisador said:
			
		

> Dude, please go for it! Emphysema will sure ruin your martial arts career.


 
And Congestive Heart Failure and Lung/Esophageal/Mouth Cancer.

At least I've severely reduced the possibility of cirrhosis and brain damage.


----------



## arnisador (Dec 6, 2005)

Drac said:
			
		

> Yes..Curse me...I know ALL the risks..I push myself harder during cardio and lifting because of this addiction..Not that it will help...


 
Yeah, I don't think exercise has a big effect on throat cancer. Make  the change!


----------



## arnisador (Dec 6, 2005)

OnlyAnEgg said:
			
		

> And Congestive Heart Failure and Lung/Esophageal/Mouth Cancer.


 
Yes, if memory serves, cancer kills slightly more people from cardiovascular problems than from cancers. But at least heart disease isn't usually as painful as cancer.


----------



## OnlyAnEgg (Dec 6, 2005)

arnisador said:
			
		

> Yes, if memory serves, cancer kills slightly more people from cardiovascular problems than from cancers. But at least heart disease isn't usually as painful as cancer.


 
I dunno...I've worked hospital ers and such throughout my life and watching someone succumb to CHF is not at all pretty.


----------



## shesulsa (Dec 6, 2005)

Gotta agree with Egg.  Neither is pretty nor fun, I'm sure.  And I believe arni is correct that many cancer patients experience cardiac arrythmia and arrest as a secondary condition to cancer though the final causation of death.

On another note:

You folks are working SO VERY HARD on quitting for yourselves - as well you should.

You might want to know that you will also be doing your immediate family much good as well.  In my family, my father and brother smoked.  My brother and me both have allergies - I am missing cranial sinuses (severely atrophied), have COPD and reduced lung capacity.  I have never smoked.  My mother has congestive heart failure and she only smoked for a year herself.  Children of smokers are at higher risk for obesity even as early in life as 3 years old.

You folks who are quitting ... you are honoring your family with your strive for life.

:asian:


----------



## Gin-Gin (Dec 6, 2005)

shesulsa said:
			
		

> You folks are working SO VERY HARD on quitting for yourselves - as well you should.
> 
> You might want to know that you will also be doing your immediate family much good as well. In my family, my father and brother smoked. My brother and me both have allergies - I am missing cranial sinuses (severely atrophied), have COPD and reduced lung capacity. I have never smoked. My mother has congestive heart failure and she only smoked for a year herself. Children of smokers are at higher risk for obesity even as early in life as 3 years old.
> 
> You folks who are quitting ... you are honoring your family with your strive for life. :asian:


Very well said! :asian: 
Don't give up!!​


----------



## bobster_ice (Dec 7, 2005)

I wish I could get my parents to quit, the house smells really bad because of it.


----------



## ashkin (Dec 11, 2005)

Cancer sticks, not good for you.


----------



## MickeyC (Dec 18, 2005)

I started smoking when I was 15 (a year before I took up martial arts). I smoked around a pack a day for 33 years, tried and failed to give up several times. I quit on September 15 this year, last ciggie at 0335 in the morning (I was going away on holiday, taxi to the airport booked at 0400). I used Nicorette Inhalators - they're basically nicotine inhalers. The advantage over patches and gum is that you have something to hold in your hand and suck on, and basically get a bit of a hit.

It's not easy to give up unless and until you get in the right frame of mind - I think if I hadn't WANTED to give up the inhalers wouldn't have worked. As it was, I haven't had too much problem - and I've been dieting at the same time, lost 12 pounds, so there's no need to put on weight.

My cardio-vascular fitness has already noticeably improved, and I no longer find myself coughing. I've probably already damaged myself irreperably, what an idiot, but at least I'm not making it any worse now.

It's never too late to stop, unless it stops you first - if you're even thinking vaguely about it - go for it! You won't regret it.


----------



## green meanie (Dec 18, 2005)

Hi. I used to smoke 2 packs a day many, many moons ago. I quit cold turkey and never looked back. I wasn't very friendly for the first few weeks (or months) but I got through it. It ain't for everyone, but for me, it's one of the best things I ever did.


----------

