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Moderators: Webmaster, Stacy Clifford
Author: Kent Fung
Published on: February 14, 2005
I saw a banner the other day proclaiming the existence of a Christian martial arts association and was reminded of the relationship between martial arts and religion. It seems appropriate, with the approach of a major Christian holiday, to examine the ties between these two fields.
Although it isn’t mentioned as much these days, there was a time when Christian clergy denounced the study of martial arts as a pagan or heathenish practice. I’ve met people who didn’t want to study the arts because they thought it would force them to join an Asian religion and make them give up whatever deity they grew up with.
Is there any truth to these beliefs?
In a competition-oriented school, probably not. Arts that are popular with the NHB crowd, for instance, tend to very down to earth. You learn techniques, you learn tactics and you learn strategy. Then you practice applying them. For instance, there’s nothing even remotely resembling religion in Brazilian jujitsu or Thai kickboxing.
There might be a bit of a gray area in some other arts, such as Taiji, Aikido, or some styles of kung fu. But since we’re dealing primarily here with arts that originated in East Asia, it’s important to first note what religion means to Asians.
In the West, religion typically means a deity (or, if we’re talking about ancient civilizations, deities) that must be obeyed. In return, some external reward is offered admission into a paradise-like afterlife or worldly advantages such as success or protection. It is a bargain: obey and worship, and collect your reward. In addition, though modern society has tempered this belief, most religions actively teach that all other religions are somehow bad or invalid and should be rejected.
But in Asia, religion and philosophy are hard to separate. A true Buddhist, for example, does not pray to Buddha or believe that pleasing Buddha will reap him any benefits. Instead, he strives to live according to a set of virtues and principals not because Buddha cares one way or another, but because he believes it is a path to a harmonious life. Buddhism teaches practitioners to not be greedy; to be kind in both thought and deed and to avoid extremes.
While fervent Taoists might believe in any number of demigods and spirits, at core, what they really believe is that the universe follows certain principals, and once you understand how to work within the system and not fight against it, things will fall into place and you’ll be happier and healthier. Taoists try to emulate nature always keeping things in balance, never striving too hard for any one goal and reducing the importance of one’s ego in one’s actions and thoughts.
The average Asian’s religious beliefs are a hodgepodge combination handed down from generation to generation, observing a few Buddhist holidays, living by his or her choice of Taoist principles and mixing in elements of ancestor worship and Confucianism. And nobody cares or gets offended.
In general, religious practices are often indistinguishable from a lifestyle, philosophical or ethical choice in East Asia.
Most Asian martial arts have origins that are tied to Buddhism and/or Taoism. The Shaolin Temple was known as the home to sophisticated and potent fighting form, but it was first and foremost a Buddhist temple. Many people believe Taijiquan was invented by a Taoist sage named Zhang Sanfeng.
To my knowledge, no Buddhist or Taoist belief truly contradicts anything that is said in the Bible or Koran (though I admit that I’ve done very little study on the latter.) It is true that for many martial arts, you’ll have to understand the concept of yin, yang and balance in order to apply the techniques in a practical situation. But it’s easy to see this as a scientific principle or practical strategy.
And it’s true that at many traditional schools, there is Buddhism/Confucianism-inspired discussion of ethics and proper behavior things such as honesty, courage and the importance of helping the helpless and disadvantaged are often stressed. What’s not Christian or anti-Muslim about that? I’m not aware of any rabbi that would object to these things.
Yet, if you asked an Asian with an incomplete grasp of Western culture or language whether or not religion and the martial arts were related, he might very well answer "yes." In the end, though, there is nothing taught in a dojo that will clash with any religious beliefs you might have.
Caroline Baker
BellaOnline's Martial Arts Editor
What is Aikido?
Aikido derives from Japanese forms of Martial Arts. It has roots in several other Japanese styles, such as Jujitsu and Judo. Aikido specifically refers to the style of Martial Arts that can be traced back to Morihei Ueshiba, known to Aikido students as O Sensei.
An accomplished martial artist, fencer and athlete, Ueshiba came to create Aikido during a time when the world was in great turmoil, the 1940's and World War II. As his story goes, while he excelled in the physical aspects of all he did, he felt something missing. It wasn't until he turned to religion, including Shintoism, that he began to see martial arts as not only a physical training but a way to be one with the universe.
INTRODUCTION
By George Leonard
From the Book: The Zen Way to the Martial Arts.
These words of instruction to a medieval samurai might be said to contain the essence of what Zen master Taisen Deshimaru would tell his Western reader. To practice Zen or the martial arts, you must live intensely, wholeheartedly, without reserves, as if you might die in the next instant. Lacking this sort of commitment, Zen becomes mere ritual and the martial arts devolve into mere sport.
To show the unbreakable connection between Zen and the martial arts, Deshimaru goes back to samurai times. Most samurai followed Japan's national religion of Shinto, an extremely sophisticated form of animism, in which all of nature is imbued with spirit (shin). But they were also deeply attracted to Buddhism as expressed in Zen practice. The Zen emphasis on simplicity and selfcontrol, full awareness at every moment, and tranquility in the face of death set well with the samurai way of life, in which a duel was always possible and the difference between life and death lay in one swift stroke of the sword. Better yet for the samurai was the fact that Zen offered a specific daily practice: through zazen, an unadorned form of sitting meditation, the samurai could effectively still the restless mind, perceive the ultimate harmony beneath seeming discord, and achieve the oneness of intuition and action so necessary for kenjutsu (swordfighting). Indeed, as Deshimaru points out, Zen became known as "the religion of the samurai."
Modern martial arts such as kendo, karate, judo, and aikido go back directly to the marriage of Zen and Bushido, the medieval chivalry code of the samurai. At best, they are Budo. To translate these two Japanese words is difficult. Literally, Bushido means "the way of the warrior" (bushi, "warrior"; do, "path" or "way"). Budo means "the way of war" (bu, "war"). But the Japanese character bu, as Deshimaru points out, also means to cease the struggle, to sheathe the sword. So the emphasis in Budo is not on bu but on do. Even do has a flavor, a deeper meaning, that is hard for the Westerner to grasp; for do, the way, is essentially goalless, and we of the West have long been seduced by goals, by getting ahead, by winning.
The difficulty in translating do is reflected in a question that sometimes comes up during my own workshop sessions with non-martial artists. When I speak of my practice of aikido, I am asked, "What are you practicing for?" I answer that, at the heart of it, I'm practicing because I'm practicing. Yes, I gain certain things: physical conditioning and grace, confidence, comradeship, a sense of harmony. But even these fade beside the simple and compelling power of do, the way. Aikido is my path, my way.
Master Deshimaru emphasizes that the true martial arts take their spirit from Budo rather than from sports:
I have nothing against sports, they train the body and develop
stamina and endurance. But the spirit of competition and power
that presides over them is not good, it reflects a distorted vision
of life. The root of the martial arts is not there....
In the spirit of Zen and Budo everyday life becomes the contest.
There must be awareness at every moment: getting up in the morning,
working, eating, going to bed.
That is the place for the mastery of self.
Many people these days come to the martial arts as if to a sport or, worse, as if seeking an effective instrument of aggression and domination. And, unhappily, there are studios that cater to this clientele. Violent and exploitative martial arts movies contribute to the corruption of Budo, and we are offered, as well, the fiction of some cinematic James Bond going offwith a "master" for two weeks during which time he will become totally proficient in some particularly lethal form of the martial arts.
Knowing all this, I shouldn't be surprised when a newcomer to our school asks, "How long will it take me to master aikido?" Still, the question leaves me speechless. I have practiced aikido for more than twelve years, during six of which I have also taught, and I feel considerably further from "mastering" the art than I did after my first six months. Perhaps I should simply respond as Master Deshimaru did when he was asked a similar question:
"How many years do I have to practice zazen?"
"Until you die."
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