The Pussification of America

 

The Pussification of America

February 4th, 2010

· by Zach Even-Esh · Filed Under: Announcements · Articles

No photos or art work today, just a straight up rant…..

Something has been irking me lately and it’s exactly what I coin “The Pussification of America.”
On the flip side, I’m sure this article will get me in a lot of heat, mainly by those who are contributing to the weakness.
There is a rare breed of people out there who are also ranting about this and will understand where I am coming from, regardless of being male or female. I have a funny feeling it’s on the minds of many and I do not stand alone.
Not sure what’s going on in other countries, but in the states we’ve got one too many strained hamstrings, too much “I’m tired”, too much “I just gotta get my mind into it” B.S. floating around.
Weak Bodies have become common place and the age range is REALLY starting to stretch. Did you ever think there would come a day when a 6 year old would say he / she doesn’t want to play? Did you ever think that running 2 minutes would exhaust someone? I NEVER imagined such days would come, but they have come and they are HERE.
Physical Education is getting crushed in the states, especially in the middle and high school level where one too many PE Teachers (I should not even call them Physical Education teachers) are allowing students the option to walk on the track and consider this exercise.
If the teacher is allowed to describe such slow movement as “walking”, which is actually slower than a 8 month old baby crawling, then guess who allowed this lackluster effort to be accepted as “Physical Education”? Look at the top. The Administration gave the OK to allow the teachers to give options for those who are motivated to move and for those who are unmotivated to move.
Guess what happens to the Teacher or Athletic Coach for creating a challenging Physical Education environment? He / She will be reprimanded by the Administration.
Challenge the students enough (i.e. make them work outside their comfort zone) and the student tells Mommy & Daddy he doesn’t like you. Next in line? Mommy and Daddy call the school and complain about the teacher and get little Johnny transferred into a different class.
Lesson learned? Push beyond mediocrity and you get reprimanded or perhaps fired. My High School Wrestling Coach took a position at a different high school this past season and in the first week nearly 10 kids quit.
Maybe they said he was too mean, but the translation, which is clear as day, is that it was too hard. These kids will fit perfectly fine into the gyms that have dumbbells no heavier than 50 lbs and 95% of the exercises allow them to sit down, lie down or push and pull on a time wasting machine.
Then again, these kids will NOT be entering any gym as they have proven they are against hard work, or any work at all for that matter.
Teachers and Coaches are becoming the enemy to those who are expected to work hard or earn their way on to the starting line up. Many Administrators allow the parents to complain or cry about the required work of their child and then the Coach is reprimanded and asked to lessen the expectations.
This sends the WRONG message and a poor lesson is learned. Complain enough and you get your way is what they learn.
What happens when they grow up and become part of a large company / business, or even a small company / business?
Does the conversation now look like this:
Employee: “Hey Boss, I don’t really like to work, can I take it nice and easy today, tomorrow and the rest of the year?”

Boss: “Oh sure, as long as you’re doing just enough to get by we should be good.”
For the parents and administrators who are supporting the requirement of hard work, dedication commitment and consistency I salute you and thank you.
For the parents who are interfering because they have become experts at the sport by watching the sport and never having participated in the actual sport, you are screwing up the future of this country.
This shit is spiraling out of control and if you try to become part of the solution your co workers and the Administration will hate you for trying to rock the boat.  For those supporting the new path of mediocrity, you are screwing things up across the country now AND for the future.
By the way, “rocking the boat” means you are trying to be progressive and stretch beyond the poor standards that have been set so low and are being accepted. Don’t rock the boat, because then you’ll be forcing other people to do that strange thing called WORK!
Take a look at what society has done to the large number of gyms popping up around the states. Dumbbells are not allowed heavier than 50 lbs and how dare you grunt or use chalk or break a sweat because some ridiculous alarm will go off and you will be removed from the gym. This sounds like insanity to me.
The person who created such a philosophy can not truly go to sleep at night knowing he has done wrong for so many and is now creating a society of straight up weaklings.
Punishment for hard work, that’s the lesson here.
Little do “They” know, that being removed from such a lame ass gym, and I dare stretch my vocabulary and call such a place a “gym”, this is the BEST gift one can get from these places. Removal from a place that supports mediocrity and lackluster effort. In a nut shell, they want you to be weak.
Now this individual will have to hide in his basement, garage or backyard with a 300 lb weight set pieced together from E Bay or Craigs List. He has no bench, no leg extension, no squat rack….. just a raw barbell.
Boo Hoo.

Thank You, Sir, May I have another!?!?
Do we need to have required military service from age 18-21 as they do in Israel and other countries? This could be the trick we need and the younger generation can no longer tell you, “I’m not going to school yet until I figure out what I wanna do.”
Response: No problem, Dude, you’re going to the Army so you have the next 3 years to learn discipline, responsibility, accountability AND your future aspirations.
My Grandfather was in the Russian Army, then the Polish Army and then the Israeli Army. No wonder why he was so damn tough. He never owned a car, instead, he rode his bike, walked and chased buses to make his travels.
I remember my Grandfather jogging with my brother and I or riding our bikes over 1 mile to the pool to get us swim lessons where my older brother usually attempted to drown me on a daily basis. After swim lessons we would jog or ride our bikes back home.
He didn’t tell us to take it easy, have a nap, stay inside, it’s too hot outside to play. And mid summer at 1 or 2 PM the heat climbs near 100 degrees.
We played soccer on a cement playground with other kids and falling on the cement was NOT fun. But we got up every time we fell. I still remember the best goalie was playing in his flip flops! I know of elementary schools that have disallowed running during recess due to some kids falling.
The next step is to tell them to crawl….. where do we go after that? Lay down and wait to die? Perhaps Lunch Aides will have taser guns and start zapping kids who dare to run.
This teaches the young kids to NOT get up after they fall down. This lesson carries over in life. Forever. The kids grow up and become adults, who fear trying new things or taking adventures and they live a boring, safe life. They view running as evil and they view action as evil.
What happens to these kids as they near the end of high school? Are they motivated to study harder to get into that school they always dreamed of? Or, do they lack the mental toughness to wake up early or stay up late so they can do the necessary studying and make better grades?
5 years later you run into Johnny or Susie and they’re still trying to figure out what to do, and they have a kid, but they’re a single parent because being a parent and married at age 19 isn’t what they wanted to do.
They were never encouraged or taught to handle adversity, accountability, responsibility or decision making skills.
Ask most high school kids why they don’t eat breakfast. They’re answer will more often than not be, “I woke up late.”
Translation: I’m too lazy….. I lack the mental toughness, discipline and dedication to wake up 20 minutes early and make my own breakfast.
Boo Hoo
Let us raise the bar for life. Expectations have dropped so low and excuses are common place for why we can not achieve excellence. We have young kids with high blood pressure and signs of early heart disease. We have varsity athletes who don’t know how to perform push ups and adults who prefer pills over exercise.
Will Physical Education transition into something that challenges all and moves away from accepting mediocrity? Exercise is what my Dad was doing when he was a young kid in Romania, which was the REAL PE back in the early 60’s.
Here’s a taste of the required “Physical Education” my Dad & each kid had to perform before being allowed to organize a game. And YES, they organized games on their OWN!
- Sprints on the track
- Hurdle Jumps on Track
- Throwing of small shot puts
- Gymnastics Movements: tumbling, jumping on, over and off of
objects such as benches, boxes and gymnastics equipment
- Crawling on hands
- Climbing Rope
After the required 30 minutes of challenging activity, a large field was available with various sport activities for the kids to organize on their own. This taught them responsibility AND accountability. Problems with the score? Figure it out on your own and learn to settle differences without calling for a mediator.
Some of the games played were:
- Hand Ball
- Soccer
- Basketball
- Track & Field Races
Some kids continued to practice gymnastics, others ran the hurdles and others rotated to and from the various sports games on their own.
Why has Physical Education become less physical, less challenging and basically less of EVERYTHING compared to 50 years ago? Doesn’t this strike anyone as being strange?
Donald Trump said that all the “feel good” lessons kids have learned through school has produced less business men / women who can succeed in tough times, or succeed at all.
Why do we have Varsity high school athletes unable to perform 10 pull ups, 25 push ups or even
ONE freaking full range of motion bodyweight squat.
I left my teaching job behind, and now, with my own business and my own gym, I can create a TRUE Physical Education program through my gym, also known as Physical Culture.
Our athletes run, jump, climb, use Kettlebells, perform Gymanstics drills, etc.
There comes a time in life where you must stop allowing society to do a shitty job and cheat the health and future life success of our kids. This means you will have to go against the norm and rage against the accepted mediocrity.
I hope it’s not this embarrassing outside the states.
Lead from the Front!
–Z–

I lost my Grandmother this morning at 12:30am.  My vow to her is to fight and scrap, get stronger, faster, smarter, more wise, but most importantly give my all everyday of my life and never give up!  I love you Grandmother, I'll see you on the flip side!

CFFB
SWOD:
Squat 5x5 @ 90% of 5 RM 243lbs
Bench 10x3 @ 65% of 1 RM (30 seconds rest) 163lbs
*work on bar speed, move the bar as fast as possible

DWOD:

On the minute: 203lbs
Perform 2 Power Cleans on the minute for 15 minutes.
*Start the clock. At the top of every minute perform 2 (did 3) Power Cleans.
*Use a maximal weight 85%+ of 1 RM Power Clean.
*Perform 1 burpee for every miss.

I don't plan on missing, so I will do 30 burpees for time once I finish my last power clean.
No misses, 30 burpees in 65seconds immediately following the WOD.