Martial Arts - Self Preservation

Hieroglyphics on a tomb at Ben-Hasan, Egypt depicting Nuba Wrestling

Martial Arts, as the name itself suggests is a form of art practiced and adapted by the military, or at least have its roots in the armies of the olden days. Martial arts involve a combination of specific moves with or without weapons with an intention of attacking an opponent or defending oneself from such an attack.

Everything must have started at some point of time. Where does the origin of these martial arts lie? We can trace the origin of certain forms of martial arts to different regions of the world, but these forms are all relatively new, dating few centuries back.  But, if you ask me the same question, I would say that the origin of martial arts is as old as man itself. The first time a man faced a threat from another, the birth of “pre-historic” martial arts took place. The reason for which is none other than nature itself.

Yes, you heard it right… It came “naturally” to man. Every organism is programmed by default to work towards the only two aims of life and try to achieve it by any means necessary. The two aims being Self preservation and continuation & preservation of species. In other words:  Trying not to die and “making out” with the members of opposite sex with the intention of procreating. But yeah, when it comes to humans the second act serves the purpose of both procreation as well as recreation.. Damn..!! It is getting interesting but got to focus on the topic here.

So, coming back to the martial arts, hope you still remember that I mentioned about the man who is under threat by another. In that kind of “fight or flight” situation the need of self preservation would have kicked in and in fight mode they would have traded blows while defending oneself from the opponent’s blows, jabs, kicks or whatever he throws at him, and hence giving birth to what would later turn into an art.

The martial arts, as we know I today has undergone a long process of evolution since its inception to transform from a crude way of fighting for food, shelter or mate in the prehistoric days to the art as we know it today, used to attack/defend in warfare and also as a sport and self defense technique in day to day life.

There are numerous forms of martial arts, varying from one region to another and the effectiveness of these martial arts depends upon the conditioning of the body and biomechanics in combination with the natural forces. Each form has its own tradition and codified practices. 

Now this is just about how martial arts originated, there is lot more to it once one starts studying individual forms and I hope to check out at least two or three forms sometime soon. 

Source: Image

Shaken,not stirred

One question I recently came across while working out at the gym: How does protein shakes and increased protein intake helps in burning fat? (He was talking about Whey Protein supplements) Now, I thought the answer is simple for that question as one or two possible explanations popped into my mind at that instant which I told my friend. But after some time, I was myself not so sure about it, even though my reasoning was scientific enough but still I just had to be sure about it. So, I turned to the omnipotent, all knowing internet. And guess what, I managed to find information regarding it, in the form of numerous articles and published research papers. It gave a lot of possible mechanisms through which the body may lose fat as well as reduce weight by using whey protein supplements or including it as a part of the diet. Damn..!! Wasn’t I surprised….???

According to the various studies conducted, it is found that the whey protein may bring about fat loss and reduce weight by following ways:

1) Through the chemical channel, by regulating the hunger and satiety mechanism in the body, which is regulated by various chemicals. These chemicals, better known as hormones along with physiological and psychological factor controls a person’s urge to eat and also the feeling of fullness. One such hormone involve in this is cholecystokinin, which is responsible for the satiety or the felling of fullness one feels after a meal. The cholecystokinin (CCK) is released in the gastrointestinal tract and it interacts with the CCK receptors in the central nervous system and its periphery along with other hormones.

The whey protein intake is found to increase the CCK levels by 60 percent in plasma along with glucagon like peptide [GLP]-1 and glucose dependant insulinotropic polypeptide, post-absorption. CCK and [GLP]-1 are found to bring about satiety and hence check the food intake.

2) It is also found I certain studies that insulin sensitivity improves with high protein diet, which also plays an important role in weight loss. (Higher the insulin sensitivity lesser the amount of insulin required by the body. Increased secretion of insulin leads to increased food intake – happens in case of insulin resistance. As compared to other protein sources, including a diet rich in red meat, whey protein is found to reduce tissue lipid levels and increase insulin sensitivity.

3) In a certain study it was concluded that protein intake a hour prior to exercise maintains the lipid oxidation rate and also increases protein oxidation, supplying energy from both protein as well as lipid sources and simultaneously increasing the lean muscle mass and reducing fat. And this is proven in rats also, so even rats can hit the gym after taking protein supplements and dodge the cats effective afterwards, or even make those cats run for their lives.

4) Whey protein also has considerable effect on the levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter. Serotonin affects the moods and behavior of a person. Higher levels of serotonin means relaxed, calm mood, free from anxiety. An added benefit to all fitness enthusiasts, martial artists and especially the people on diet cutting down their calorie intake who tend to become easily irritable and others whose moods tend to swing like a monkey from one branch to another due to various reasons, whey protein supplements lets people around them breathe easy.

5) A study on people trying to lose weight whose diet is cut down by 500 calories per day and were given a specialized whey fraction or an isocaloric ready mix drink 20 minutes prior to breakfast or dinner over a period of 12 weeks have shown that the subjects who were on whey supplement lost more body fat mass and showed a greater preservation of lean muscle as compared to those who were on other ready mix isocaloric beverage.

Dairy proteins, like the whey protein has calcium in it which is also believed to regulate adipocyte lipid metabolism and storage of triglycerides and in turn reduce fat mass and body weight.

Now, after going through all these, I could breathe easy as whatever reasons I gave to my friend was right, even though I did not know some additional details which I have come to know by the end of this entry.

By the way, if anyone has read or heard about these studies or by chance stumbled across this entry of mine (usually by accident) and decide to binge on whey protein or any other protein supplements to gain lean muscle mass or lose body fat mass, be warned that excess proteins will do no good than burning holes through your pockets, screwing up your liver and kidneys and also increase the fat cells in the body.

I guess I’ve started sounding like a nutritionist or something and all these talk about proteins and supplements reminds me of my old job which I don’t miss at all. But it’s all fine as long as it is for a good cause..

ref: Source-1 

      Source-2 (PMCID: PMC2289832) 

     Photo by: buzzthrill shared under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)