Hmmm, I think it depends on how far/deep you go into it. I think some State Troopers etc. are taught some of it, so I feel that the moves/some of the training is good for you.
I took it for two years in high school, the instructor was Christian. I never saw anything that resembled meditation or eastern religion practices.
You wrote: "Every thing I have read says it is more about, if you do not win you are a weakling. Failure can not be accepted." That seems to be in every aspect of our culture. I think it would be very prevlant in youth sports. Would you prohibit a child from playing little league or high school football then?
You wrote: "It also involves meditation where you are to open up your soul for what????????" I think you need to clarify your term meditation. Meditation in itself is not a bad thing.
Psalm 119:15
I will meditate on Your precepts,And contemplate Your ways.
Psalm 119:23
Princes also sit and speak against me,But Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
Psalm 119:27
Make me understand the way of Your precepts;So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.
Those are just three that I grabbed, there are many more verses that speak good of meditation.
So yes, in Asia, martial arts may be much more related to religion, but I don't think that is the case here. I believe it is limited to the physical training aspect. I did have to recent take a two day self defense class for my paramedic school. It was comprised of moves from a lot of different pracitices, mixed martial arts, jujitsu, etc. It as all focused on the defensive aspects and how to break contact and create distance between you and the attacker.
You are obviously certainly welcome to have that view on martial arts, but I think you would need to strengthen your argument against it.
I could see where one of the other grounds for people being against it is the violence fighting aspect. You didn't mention it but I could see it being part of an argument against. In that context where does a person stand on fighting in general? As an individual? as a tribe? as a country? Does that person oppose war? Does that person oppose defending themselves or their family if attacked on the street? Just a question.
I also see a lot of disciple and physical health benefits to training in that mode. Two things that I would think are beneficial.
Yeah...seems like calling marital arts sinful is like calling playing cards sinful. The object doesn't have inherent sinfulness, it just depends on what you're doing with it.
There are certainly aspects of martial arts, if you practice them, that can be harmful. It a depends on the instructor. You also have to look at the philosophy behind the martial arts.
Some generalizations:
China has had internal peace for many year, so many of their martial arts forms tend to be more fluid and closer to exercise or dance forms. They emphasize style and balance over actual strength or technics that will really hurt someone.
Korea and Japan style of martial arts tend to focus on the fighting, so their styles tend to focus on strength and really hurting people.
Then there the styles of martial arts that have been turned into sports. They tend to focus on safety.
I saw the difference when I took Jujitsu classes, which is the style that the Japanese Samurai use. One of the major parts of Jujitsu is grappling or wrestling. They teach you that when you throw a person, you want to cause them to land on their head, or cause to land off balance so that they can�t break their fall. In other words, cause them pain. I then sat in on a few Judo classes. Judo is basically the grappling and wrestling portion of Jujitsu that has been converted into a sport. The instructors were teaching to make sure that when you do throw your opponent that they do not land head or throw them in a way that they can break their fall to make sure they don�t get hurt.
My point is that not all martial arts are the same. Some focus on a strong defense, others on sport, others on exercise. The potential can be there for evil, but not necessarily.
Shawn: When the Bible speaks of meditation, it means to fill your mind with only the word of God and to focus solely on it. When the world speaks of meditation, especially in the mystical religions, they focus on the emptying of the mind, to remove all thoughts so that anything can come in. This is certainly a way for Satan to enter into a person and deceive them. When you say meditate, you really should define what you mean, since there are different meanings to that word.
There are certainly aspects of martial arts, if you practice them, that can be harmful. It a depends on the instructor. You also have to look at the philosophy behind the martial arts.
:stop:Fly said:
Name 5.
Cobbler said:
Some generalizations:
China has had internal peace for many year, so many of their martial arts forms tend to be more fluid and closer to exercise or dance forms. They emphasize style and balance over actual strength or technics that will really hurt someone.
:stop: Fly said:
China has never has internal piece. Even if we start at the boxer rebellion china has a murderous past and present right up to tienemen square.
Cobbler said:
Korea and Japan style of martial arts tend to focus on the fighting, so their styles tend to focus on strength and really hurting people.
:stop:Fly said:
Nonsense. Martial art = military skill = it is for offense or defense and all martial arts whether they are from Greece, Brazil, China, Europe or the US have a common goal, and that is to survive actions from a hostile stimulus.
Cobbler said:
Then there the styles of martial arts that have been turned into sports. They tend to focus on safety.
:stop:Fly said:
Nonsense. Don't confuse martial art with martial sport.
Cobbler said:
I saw the difference when I took Jujitsu classes, which is the style that the Japanese Samurai use. One of the major parts of Jujitsu is grappling or wrestling. They teach you that when you throw a person, you want to cause them to land on their head, or cause to land off balance so that they can�t break their fall. In other words, cause them pain. I then sat in on a few Judo classes. Judo is basically the grappling and wrestling portion of Jujitsu that has been converted into a sport. The instructors were teaching to make sure that when you do throw your opponent that they do not land head or throw them in a way that they can break their fall to make sure they don�t get hurt.
:stop: Fly said:
Whose Juijitsu? Japanese, Hawaiian, or Brazilan?
Cobbler said:
My point is that not all martial arts are the same. Some focus on a strong defense, others on sport, others on exercise. The potential can be there for evil, but not necessarily.
:stop:Fly said:
That's because you didn't study long enough. Ill give you a hint, A sequence of movements does not have to be interpreted as striking or folding or jointlocking. It is was the martial artist knows about motion that dictates what they can do with it.
Cobbler said:
Shawn: When the Bible speaks of meditation, it means to fill your mind with only the word of God and to focus solely on it. When the world speaks of meditation, especially in the mystical religions, they focus on the emptying of the mind, to remove all thoughts so that anything can come in. This is certainly a way for Satan to enter into a person and deceive them. When you say meditate, you really should define what you mean, since there are different meanings to that word.
:stop:Fly said:
Meditation in the martial arts is used to clear your mind. NO MIND or mushin as japanese systems refer to it is nothing more than training your mind to operate in the super conscious realm. Simply put it is when your brain speeds up, this what athletes refer to as the zone.
