Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese.

A little while ago, before I returned to Wales I saw an elderly Korean woman on TV showing feats of energy, strength and flexibility that most 20 year olds from the UK would be proud of. But to call this woman elderly was doing her a disservice. She was beyond elderly. She looked, with the greatest of respect to this amazing woman, like a corpse. Her eyes were extremely sunken in their sockets, her teeth were long gone and her legs were bowed, probably due to malnutrition as a child. This remarkable woman carried a bag of rice that was probably 20kgs with ease (and in Korea rice comes in multiples of 5 or 10kgs, not 500g bags). She raced and won against women at least 20 or 30 years her junior, out stretched all in her yoga class (think leg behind the head) and easily did sit ups during a for TV fitness test, a feat that a scary percentage of Brits couldn’t do.

My taekwondo teacher is 60 and as you might expect from an 8th Dan grandmaster, is fit, flexible and incredibly strong. As the oldest and biggest student in the class I am often the test dummy when it comes to demonstrations. The other class members watch as I am kicked, punched and thrown (yes thrown, taekwondo is more than just kicks!) in the name of learning. He is like a tree, a solid, unmovable man with a bite far worse than his softly spoken, fatherly bark would indicate.

These two examples of Korean health and fitness are by no means the exception to the rule, they are the rule. There are hundreds or thousands, nay hundreds of thousands of older Koreans all over the country with similar never say die attitudes that every day get up out of bed and leave the house to squat all day at a market stall selling fruit or hiking up mountains.
The unwavering work ethic of the Korean people and their fitness levels, especially in later life are perfectly highlighted by the recyclers. These people, often elderly men and women walk around cities all over the country, from morning to night collecting paper and cardboard to be recycled. I’m sure they get paid for it, a pittance surely but I am almost certain that it is not to do with money. Korean people work hard, very hard. Nowadays, right from when they can walk they are shipped from academy to academy, to special high schools and if they are lucky to a foreign university and into a company to work until they retire. The generations before the 60 hour school week was introduced are the ones who work on the market stalls and collect the recycling. The reason they do it is because if they don’t they would probably die. These jobs keep them going, give them a reason to live and because they know no other lifestyle that to work hard.

The recyclers are the most poignant example of the differences in attitudes to health and fitness between our two countries. They can be seen pulling two wheeled carts, like rickshaws but instead of passengers there is a mountain of cardboard. It is quite astonishing how these people carry such loads. They vary in age of course but I have seen old, very old people, more often women carrying or pulling loads several times their weight and height.
Are these human ants a product of a lifetime of kimchi or is there just something in the water in Korea?

It begs the questions "Is there really something in the water in Korea or are we as a nation just lazy, complacent, greedy slobs?"

A no brainer for me.