Post: #1

It always boggled my mind how a country of over a billion people produces no athletes whatsoever ( Cricket is not a sport ).

Watch this vid !

It can't be genetics only ... there has to be something in the culture that discourages sports and physical activity.

Post: #2

Post: #3

I think a big part of it is the diet. Very few people over there eat beef, and a significant portion don't eat any meat at all. It's a very carb heavy diet (and sugary chai tea doesn't help either). This produces the soft bodies and physical lethargy that you see all too often over there. Not to mention the culture itself is more education and spirituality oriented vice physicality oriented.

A side point about cricket. Alot of south asians don't like the new Twenty20 format, whereas it's more populart amongst the anglo teams and the west indian team. The twenty20 format just happens to be a more athletic form of the game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty20

Post: #4

(04-08-2013 06:51 PM)LibertarianBootyHunter Wrote:  It always boggled my mind how a country of over a billion people produces no athletes whatsoever ( Cricket is not a sport ).
It can't be genetics only ... there has to be something in the culture that discourages sports and physical activity.

You are right, in India there is absolutely no incentive or push to be an athlete or to even be physically conditioned. The fighters are bad because of a lack of proper martial arts facilities. In Bollywood movies some characters are jacked but their high physical conditioning is seen as a fact of life; something that they were simply born with.
But one has to take a step back and think about the plight of a majority of Indians; they are working simply to have enough food. You cannot become jacked if you are malnourished. The mentality of being fat as a safeguard against starvation is still there for a large number of Indians. Of course this does not account for the almost complete lack of athletes in sports that require substantial physical prowess (i.e. MMA) but it takes time for such a culture of physical activity to be developed and India is still a relatively young nation.
It is not genetics, as you correctly dismissed. Most Indians are short with small frames but there is a physically well-built portion of the population that has athletic capabilities. I stand at 6 feet and my brother is 6 foot 2, with both of us possessing large frames, the capability is there but it is not being utilized.
Hope this gave you some insight.

Post: #5

(04-08-2013 06:55 PM)LibertarianBootyHunter Wrote:  

Oh man, there are tons of Indian MMA fights on youtube, never even knew about it. You've just provided me with a whole evening of entertainment.

Post: #6

Hey! What made those "customer service reps" square off and go at it like that?

Post: #7

(04-08-2013 07:37 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  

(04-08-2013 06:55 PM)LibertarianBootyHunter Wrote:  

Oh man, there are tons of Indian MMA fights on youtube, never even knew about it. You've just provided me with a whole evening of entertainment.

This fight was hilarious! Gave me a good laugh! Thanks!
By the way,yoga came out of India! Thanks to them I have a weekly yoga workout with hot babes! If you don't think yoga is a sport - try it!

Post: #8

Wicked knockout in this video.


Embed not allowed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bribV8m-E&t=1m35s

You kind of already know who is going to win based on the footwork/bounce step coordination.

Post: #9

back in the day they knew what was up
http://chaosandpain.blogspot.ca/2012/09/...f5353b5773


***NSFW

Post: #10

LBH what is your definition of an Athlete and what do you consider a Sport ?

Post: #11

(04-08-2013 08:04 PM)Lothario Wrote:  LBH what is your definition of an Athlete and what do you consider a Sport ?

Great question brah !

About 2 years ago, we're in some bar in Denver ... my buddy got drunk, claimed that skating is not a sport & asserted that only socially awkward white kids who cut themselves do it. Pissed off a couple of dudes and got beat up pretty bad .

Since then, I thought about what constitutes a " sport " and here is what i have come up with.

A sport has to be competitive , physically taxing and involve either explosiveness, endurance, precision or any combination of the three with an element of technique to it

I do not consider Cricket a sport because it is not physically taxing enough ! Out of shape men can get good at it.

I do not deem Cheerleading a sport since it is not competitive. ( Might as well consider Stripping a sport then)

I like F1 but Formula 1, NASCAR ... Motorsports in general are NOT sports. (In that case you can also consider four-wheeling and mudding sports )

Shooting & Archery ... are definitely NOT sports.

Post: #12

(04-08-2013 08:38 PM)LibertarianBootyHunter Wrote:  

(04-08-2013 08:04 PM)Lothario Wrote:  LBH what is your definition of an Athlete and what do you consider a Sport ?

Great question brah !

About 2 years ago, we're in some bar in Denver ... my buddy got drunk, claimed that skating is not a sport & asserted that only socially awkward white kids who cut themselves do it. Pissed off a couple of dudes and got beat up pretty bad .

Since then, I thought about what constitutes a " sport " and here is what i have come up with.

A sport has to be competitive , physically taxing and involve either explosiveness, endurance, precision or any combination of the three with an element of technique to it

I do not consider Cricket a sport because it is not physically taxing enough ! Out of shape men can get good at it.

I do not deem Cheerleading a sport since it is not competitive. ( Might as well consider Stripping a sport then)

I like F1 but Formula 1, NASCAR ... Motorsports in general are NOT sports. (In that case you can also consider four-wheeling and mudding sports )

Shooting & Archery ... are definitely NOT sports.

F1 then meets your criteria for a sport as it is certainly physically taxing, requires precision, endurance, and is extremely competitive. Withstanding those G forces for an hour is a feat of it's own.

Post: #13

Sports are defined as:

Quote:An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others.

That's it. End of story. All the subjective judgments about which sports are and aren't competitive don't really mean anything.

Post: #14

Post: #15

SMH at me wanting to see some cute brown ring girls ... Of course they have where girls doing that over there.

The diet is a cop out. It's a cultural and circumstance thing. You trek to Sheikh parts and dudes are jacked out of their minds and I have met a a bunch of Sri Lankan dudes whom got no issues lifting and knocking dudes out. You go farther east in Asia and those folks whom have a myth of being some how super physical deficient in comparison to others excel at many sports.

Even poverty can't be blamed as the poorest villages and shack towns pump out soccer an baseball tablet in Africa and Latin America respectively. It cultural. Because it seems per there people would rather chill and be spoiled by their mothers versus playing soccer in the streets.

Here in Canada you have a shit ton of South Asian Men playing hockey from the GTA. In 10 years or less I predict a Sidney Crosby level of player will exist from that community and will take the league by storm. It's long over due. I just think they culturally never found sports important or held any special sport in high regard other then cricket. I wonder since of its colonial past if Rugby had its time over there as a high quality sport?

Post: #16

(04-08-2013 10:21 PM)kosko Wrote:  I wonder since of its colonial past if Rugby had its time over there as a high quality sport?

Rugby's only played at very exclusive schools. Cricket is dominant, in fact too dominant, to the detriment of other sports.

The average Indian is too hungry to bother about competing for UFC or MMA etc. Even rich Indians are malnourished, as many of them are vegetarian so don't get enough protein.

An Indian who's raised with a proper diet is just as tall as anybody else. This is what happens to a lot of guys raised in the west. I know a lot of British Indians guys who are at least 5'10", and many over 6" tall. The tallest I know is 6'6".

Here's a 6ft+ British-Indian kickboxer from the 90's. He was world champion 4 times:

Kash "The Flash" Gill

Post: #17

Do most ditch traditional vegetarian diets when they move to the UK or Canada? I'm confused about that argument of diet & nutrition as there are many other places where children and young people do not get enough food and still manage to perform at sport. I ask if there is a deep cultural reason to this aside from the preference/dominance towards cricket.

More times ten not what happens if a person can excel at sport they are swooped up and sent to Europe to school and train. Does this culture exist in India ?

Post: #18

(04-09-2013 01:25 AM)kosko Wrote:  Do most ditch traditional vegetarian diets when they move to the UK or Canada? I'm confused about that argument of diet & nutrition as there are many other places where children and young people do not get enough food and still manage to perform at sport. I ask if there is a deep cultural reason to this aside from the preference/dominance towards cricket.

Yes, they do ditch the vegetarian diet, unless the family is religious. Some people in India are only vegetarian because they can't afford meat. Once they move to the west they eat it. I know first cousins where one set is raised in India, and one set is raised in the US. The American ones are 3-4 inches taller.

(04-09-2013 01:25 AM)kosko Wrote:  More times ten not what happens if a person can excel at sport they are swooped up and sent to Europe to school and train. Does this culture exist in India ?

No, because the biggest sport in India is cricket. All top cricket players stay in India. You don't get scouts from any other major sports such as soccer visiting India.

I'm not from India, but I am very familiar with Indian stuff.

There's not a big Indian sporting culture except for cricket. Poor families want their kids to get a job and earn money. Rich families want their kids to become doctors, engineers etc. Sport is way behind in their priorities.

Some guys from my company from India told me that a lot of people there are starting to get into soccer, but cricket is still no.1.

Post: #19

Could there be a correlation between the encouragement of sports in a country and the percentage of betas produced?

Post: #20

I personally would love to watch a mma event consisting of IRTs fighting to the death. Be the funniest fights ever.

Post: #21

I know its a different country, but Pakistan has a burgeoning MMA scene and I was fortunate to train with the guy (at Team Quest Thailand) who introduced the sport to his native country. His name is Bashir Ahmad, he grew up in the USA but decided to relocate to his Pakistan a few years ago and opened up an MMA gym there, you can read more about him here: http://www.pak-mma.com/

He's a pro fighter signed on with Asian's OneFC and recently fought his first fight there, you can watch the video here:

http://www.onefc.livesport.tv/vodplayer/...Champions/

Post: #22

Hey give the indians a break. At least some guy is trying to bring MMA into the mainstream in India by staging big events. Of course they are not going to be up to the standards of MMA elsewhere as it's a new sport in India, look at the first MMA events in the US - only a few guys knew what was going on.

As for cricket not being a sport is bullshit, if it's not a sport then baseball is certainly not a sport. Cricket requires a lot more athleticism.

(04-08-2013 07:06 PM)nek Wrote:  A side point about cricket. Alot of south asians don't like the new Twenty20 format, whereas it's more populart amongst the anglo teams and the west indian team. The twenty20 format just happens to be a more athletic form of the game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty20

20/20 is more popular in asia! I don't know why you think it is more popular among anglo teams. The Indian premier league gets huge crowds when I watch it on UK tv. India is the reason that 20/20 cricket has taken off around the world. The game is suited more to the big hitting batsmen but not all the big hitters are muscular guys and some of the best 20/20 batsmen are from India and Sri Lanka.

Post: #23

I think the Indian thing is cultural. I don't think it's diet. You can get strong off eat ing lentils and butter chicken or whatever.

As kosko said, you have places in Africa where the main staple is provisions, grain, cassava with one piece of fish or meat every now and then yet you have some very strong cats emanating from there with athletic endeavours.

I know an Indian guy in Toronto who is 6'9 and 280 pounds. A looming cat, strong to match his height. He grew up in Toronto naturally so he pushed towards sports.

The other cats that I know fresh from India are not so inclined.

I guess due to the caste system there, certain sports are seen as pauper sports such as football, ruggers and MMA hence the social snubbing of that there.

P.S. I just watched the MMA fight and it looked alright.

Post: #24

A measure of the physicality of cricket is that it's common for top-level players to last until their late 30s and occasionally, to the early 40s. So that's about 5 years longer than many other sports, and shorter than the potential career of a golfer. As in golf, a top cricketer has incredible skill and mental focus is a big part of it rather than raw physicality. But don't discount the athleticism of players, either.

Post: #25

Bowling is a different story and it takes a toll on the body. Really fast bowlers get a lot of injuries are usually broken by their early 30's or they are a shadow of their former self. Examples being Pakistanis Shoaib Akhtar and Waqar Younis.