Meat comes from animals

A quick one today on the subject of food.

Meat comes from animals. I hope that statement didn't blow your mind. What most people don't spend enough time thinking about, though, is that the animals we eat don't magically transfigure themselves into the bloodless little bundles we buy at the grocery store.

This was one of the very first things I ever blogged about. If we are to eat animals (and we really should, for a variety of reasons) we owe it to the animals and ourselves to understand the process.

Which brings me to today's subject: Melissa McEwen recently tweeted a link to a video in which a man dissembles and bones a deer in 8 minutes. It's pretty amazing.  Unfortunately, embedding is disabled on the video so you'll have to watch it here.  Go ahead, I'll wait.

***

Back? What did you think? How'd it make you feel?  Personally (and perhaps not too surprisingly) it made me hungry. As an amateur chef, I was also blown away by this guy's knife skills. Even if you're not the type to obsess over youtube videos of onion dicing (not that I do... much...) you have to admit there's a certain riveting quality to watching something done with skill.

While I'm not recommending that we all go running out to find our own deer to dismember, I do think we could all benefit from connecting a little bit more with our food. I've said it before, but when we eat meat we should deal with the blood, guts, and bones. Stop buying those individually wrapped chicken breasts. Start buying the whole chicken. Learn how to carve it. Learn how to use the bones to make stock. Learn how to prepare chicken livers. Learn where the oysters are.

I really think you'll enjoy the process of learning. And you'll blow away your next dinner guests.

On play and fighting

Those of you who have been reading this blog for some time have heard a lot about Play.  Play is a potent developer of creativity, neuroplasticity, etc. etc. etc. Play is (in my opinion) the key to “success” in any health/fitness practice. I’ve built Fifth Ape on this premise.

Most people’s first thought when they hear the word “play” is light-hearted fun - silliness.  There’s nothing wrong with that, but Play covers a lot more. “Right Colin,” I hear you say, “this is where you talk about taking risks, being ‘in the moment,’ and serious play.”  That’s also really important, but there’s even more.

Long time readers will remember some conversations on the darker side of play, and how important it can be. Let’s go deeper. What about violence?  What about fighting?

Fighting was my introduction into this whole big world of movement/skill-based fitness and primal lifestyle. Without fighting there wouldn’t have been any serious strength training for me. No exploration of functional fitness. No kettlebells. No Parkour. Without fighting there would be no Fifth Ape.

When I was and undergrad, I would wake up at 4:30AM to make it into the gym by 6. I would stay there until noon. I did that for years. Not because I was crazy. Fighting meant that much to me. It was that important.

Most people who come out to Fifth Ape classes do so because they’re interested in fluid movement and/or Parkour. That’s great. But generally, when I ask them about martial arts, they’re less interested. I really think they’re missing out on something crucial.  I’ll put it this way: Trying to live a paleo/primal lifestyle without practicing some kind of fighting is like going on a hike without water - unsustainable.

I had a whole list of points to make on this subject, then I (finally) got around to watching Tucker Max’s Ancestral Health Symposium talk on MMA... and he made basically all the same points much more coherently than I could have.  Make the time to watch the video of his presentation - it’s right on (Warning - foul language):

I’d like to elaborate briefly on something Tucker touches on. Untrained muscles are not only weak, but spastic.  There’s no control. The same is true with emotions, particularly strong emotions like fear, anger, and aggression. Ignoring or suppressing these emotions doesn’t eliminate them - it makes you more vulnerable to their influence.  There is a potent physiological component to your fight/flight response - if you are unfamiliar with it, you will lose control, just like you lose control of an untrained muscle. You’ll freeze. Or overreact. Or lose focus. In a violent conflict, this can be fatal.  Facing a real threat of violence is an awful, horrible, terrifying thing. I can only imagine how much worse it is without any kind of preparation. I don’t like to dwell on my own personal experiences with violence much, but I will say that my ability to remain calm and alert kept me safe in a terrifying situation.

There are more practical applications. Controlling anger will help you during the petty annoyances of daily life - traffic, rudeness, disappointment, etc.  It will help you when you’re arguing with your spouse or disciplining your children. MMA training will make you better at strategic and tactical thinking. It will make you a better problem-solver.

I’ll leave with this:  If you’re not currently participating in some form of fighting training, you should strongly consider it.  If you’re a member of Fifth Ape, I expect to see you out there for martial arts classes a few times. It’s that important.

Check out our awesome video!!!

ZOMG! Our big fancy marketing video is done! Check it out:

(you watched it in HD on fullscreen, right? If not, you need to watch it again...)

I really think it turned out great - what do you think? Drop a comment to let us know!  If you think it's good, please please PLEASE share it with all of your friends. Post it on your blog. Tweet it, +1 it, print out each frame and send it to your grandma.

This video will be popping up in various places around the site - we're hoping it serves to "show" people what Fifth Ape is rather than trying to "tell" them.

A HUGE thanks to our video production team over at Cirque. They were an absolute blast to work with, from beginning to end.  If you need any video production services, I strongly suggest you check them out.  If they can make me sound concise, you know they're up for any challenge :)

This is super exciting - Please take a moment to let us know what you think?

Update on Friday, September 16, 2011 at 11:27AM by Colin Pistell

New version of the video is up - we forgot the EA title card at the end... whoops! You should really check out the Exuberant Animal website and think about attending an event.