Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zulethe]

Growing up as a kid in America, there was only one thing I wanted to be: big and strong.

Now that I've accomplished that, I'd like to continue to progress but for the life of me, I can't find any other Korean who wants to train for power and strength.

I work with three young male teachers at my school and none of them want to lift weights. They told me they don't want to build any muscle on their shapeless bodies.

I've even posted an advertisement at my gym with no takers.

What's the deal with this? I thought it was a universal feeling among males to want to be big and strong. A genetic passing from one generation to another originating in our hunter and gatherer past.

[pkang0202]

Not just Koreans, but Asians in general.

Japan is a perfect example. Look at Japanese "anime". The HERO figure is always a normal, scrawny kid. Whereas in the Us, comic book characters and hero types are all big and muscular.

[cj1976]

Some muscle-heads take it too far and look frankly ridiculous. If we were meant to have vains outside out body, we'd be born as Stilton cheese.

[Junior]

...because there is really no need for all that muscle.

It would male sense if we lived in a violent macho society where you were expected to fight every weekend or if we were doing hard manual labor jobs. But that just isn't the case in Korea. Whats the point of being as strong as a bull when the only thing you'll be doing through the week is pushing a pen?

[red_devil]

[Steelrails]

I prefer to exercise my brain muscle and my liver muscle. Books and Booze.

[Tundra_Creature]

Hm. It honestly all depends on the guy and area. I go to the gym at my dormitory as well as go to TKD, and the guys have a nice amount of muscle on them (not extreme Arnold, but I've never been a fan of that amount). I certainly have no complaints about it.

I was actually kinda surprised, because even the smaller guys at the gym were lifting weights and had some nice lean muscle packed on them. So could be that you're just hanging out with the wrong fellas. The girls on the other hand, I've never seen them touch a weight whilst I was in there, but then again, there weren't too many girls who did that back home either.

[redaxe]

In Korea, having developed muscles, much like having tanned skin, marks you as a farmer or physical laborer. It's definitely not seen as a sign of wealth or social status.

Higher-class men have thin or flabby/shapeless bodies because they don't have to do any physical work themselves.

Men of high social status used to even grow out their fingernails just to show off the fact that they don't have to work with their hands. A lot of men in China still do this.

Also, even the people who want to get big and strong here don't really know how to lift weights. It's not like anyone teaches them in school. At my high school in America we had a full gym that everyone could use for free, and the football coaches would supervise and teach you how to use the equipment. I walk in my apartment gym (which is also huge and well-equipped) and see tons of guys using the equipment completely wrong.

[Ukon]

Actually quite a few do try to get buff.....problem is, not all have the genes for it and give up....

I've seen some really buff old dudes at my gym.

[crossmr]

Last week I was flipping through the channels and saw a Korean body building competition.

a few months ago I went to a new park near dongmyo. They had free weights outside (including a bench) as part of the equipment, I saw a couple of guys lifting weights while I walking around.

[Zulethe]

[Captain Corea]

[Hova]

I'm not sure where exactly you live, but at my gym in Jamsil there is a lot of yoked up guys. The whole looking huge and stacked look is slowly dying out. Even my gym in Seattle doesn't have many big guys anymore. I should ask though, what do you consider big? I weigh 178lb with 10% body fat and I would say I'm one of the bigger guys at my gym. I am definitely not the biggest though. There is a few lifers at my gym who compete in shows.

As someone mentioned before, people prefer to be lean and cut. I found this to be true in both Korea and America. I've seen some really cut guys at my gym in Korea and they only weigh 150lb-160lb. It's a good look and a good weight for them since a lot of Korean men are into fashion.

[Junior]

[pkang0202]

I think being "cut" is better than being big. Think Bruce Lee body type versus Vin Diesel body.

Bruce Lee may not have been huge, but many many people will testify that he had power equal to a man twice his size.

Contrary to what many think, Korean women like guys with broad shoulders and 6 pack abs. Many young Korean women will tell you they don't like the scrawny guys. They will say they prefer guys with a "V" style body.