Christianity and Martial Arts

As a Christian first, and also a martial artist, I feel compelled to respond to the objections of some Christians to participation and study of the Martial Arts.

I practice Shotokan Karate, a style of Karate developed and exported to Japan, Hawaii and then America and the world by the Okinawan martial artist Gichin Funakoshi.  Although the term Martial Arts is technically a term used to describe all fighting arts, including archery and boxing, it is most commonly used to describe the Eastern Martial Arts such as Karate, Judo and Taekwondo.

During my so far short journey as a Christian, I have heard many negative things said about Karate, and Martial Arts in general, and this is my response to those statements.

"Martial Arts celebrates other gods"
This is true - some martial arts have very spiritual aspects to them, which participants are encouraged to learn about.  Depending on the teacher, some eastern martial arts emphasise Buddhist and / or Taoist teachings.  A Christian should to be vigilant to ensure that they don't participate in the worship of other gods, and would be right in giving these teachers a wide berth.  This principle is something we should be aware of in all aspects of our life, not just Martial Arts.  We (In the Western world) live in a highly secular world, where many place status, job title, wealth, possessions and popularity as the markers of success, thus making them modern day gods.  Many look to alcohol, drugs etc as their saviours.  Within all aspects of our life we should be constantly evaluating whether we are worshipping other Gods instead of The One True God - whether they be spiritual or material.

However, many martial arts, especially those that have been mass-exported to the west, are just about the martial art itself.  The organisation I train with focuses on sports karate, with some self-defence and fitness thrown in.  There is certainly nothing spiritual about how we train!

Some also employ the use of mediation as part of their routines.  As far as the word of God is concerned, we are called to meditate - but on the Word of God only (1 Timothy 4:15, Joshua 1:8).  Personally, I do not and would not engage in the commonly known method of meditation where a participant 'empties the mind'.  Again, this practice varies from teacher to teacher, and isn't very common in western martial arts schools.  Some martial arts teachers ask the students to sit, stand or lie quietly or whilst gently moving at the end of a rigorous training session.  This is generally as part of the warm-down and helps to slow down breathing and heart rate to nearer the resting rate.  For children, it also takes the edge off any post-training hyper-activity.  There is nothing remotely spiritual about this practice at all.

"Martial Arts originate from Buddism / Taoism / Hinduism"
This is also true - many eastern martial arts were developed and practiced by people who worshipped other gods.  But if we were to use the religious beliefs of the developer of something as a yard stick we would have to re-evaluate many, many aspects of our life.

For example, Steve Jobs was, as far as I am aware, Buddist.  Does that mean all Christians should abandon their iPads and Macs?  Does this mean that we should cease eating certain Chinese foods because they originated from chinese superstitions about feeding the spiritual world? (BBC Magazine).  The houses we live in, the food we buy at the supermarket, the clothes we wear - most of the time we have no clue as to the religious beliefs of their makers.  We don't because we can easily separate out the origin from the outcome (checking facebook, eating food).  The same principles can so easily be applied to the practice of Martial Arts.

"Why would a Christian wish to participate in violent activity"
To be honest, once you get away from the stereotypical Karate nerd walking around with nunchucks and attacking everyone he/she comes across, most Martial Artists  don't go out of their way to start fights.  In my whole adult life, both before and after starting martial arts, I have never hit anyone in anger.  I feel no need to prove myself by looking for confrontation.  I can prove myself each and every lesson by training hard.

That aside, I feel the need to stress - most martial arts teach self-defence, not attack-others.  Funokoshi wrote a document titled "The 20 Precepts of Karate".  The second line of which is "In Karate there is no first strike".  In a fighting situation, there has be a first strike.  However, my interpretation of this line is that the person executing the first strike is not practising Karate - they are just thuggishly attacking someone.  The second strike - by the other person - that's where the Karate begins - with an act of self defence.

In an ideal world, there would be no need for that second strike, as humans would not attack each other.  However, we don't live in an ideal world.  We live in a fallen world, where physical violence entered our natures as part of the original sin of Adam and Eve, and was made visible through the world's first murderer: Cain (Genesis 4:7-9).

God has also called up many warriors through the Bible.  One popular warrior was David, who defeated the giant Goliath.  His story is described here.  Sometimes, God requires us to be fighters.


So having given a case as to why practising Martial Arts is not unlawful, I wish to state why I believe Martial Arts can be beneficial to the Christian participant.  One scripture that I feel is relevant here is

"All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." (1 Conithians 6:12).


Breaking this verse down - "All things are lawful to me, but not all are helpful" - a Christian should consider whether an activity is helpful to their lives as Christians.  For me, practicing Karate benefits my life in a number of ways.

• I keep fit.  In order to stay as active and useful as possible, I need to keep fit.  Many people go to the gym, some cycle, others play football, some attend aerobics classes.  Karate works for me.  I find it interesting enough to stop my mind wandering, and it's easier to exercise if it's doing something I look forward to.  A future aspiration I have is to work as an overseas missionary, and I fully expect there to be times where I may face physical danger.  Being fit and healthy will be a great help when I need to either confront that danger, or run away.  We spend a lot of time at training practicing running away!
• The mental act of memorising kata (Sequences of moves) is great for sharpening the mind.  This carries over into other areas of my life - work, study, reading the Bible.
• I face confrontation every lesson.  I'm not particularly tall, and certainly not especially physically strong.  However, I'm regularly called to face others in a confrontational (but controlled) manner. The exposure to this means I have more confidence when confronted outside of my lessons.  This carries over to those who wish to confront me about my faith, and I feel more equipped to not allow stronger people intimidate me.
• Friendship.  I've made friends with other students at the club, most of which are not believers.  However, I maintain and value their friendship as much as I do my friendships with my Christian brothers and sisters.  I have a common ground on which to relate to them.  They are all aware of my faith, and I have had discussions about my faith with them.  Personally, I cannot see how we can carry out the biblical mandate to spread the gospel if we isolate ourselves from non-believers.  
• I have fun!  I get to wear a funny white suit, with a colourful belt and run around bare foot with other over-grown children shouting and play-fighting ;)  Last lesson, I even had a chance to pretend I was a bear and run on all fours!  It's a great way to unwind and escape the routine of working mum.

The rest of the verse serves as a warning to Christians regarding all activities - "All things are lawful to me, but I will not be brought under the power of any".  This verse is saying that we should not allow anything to have power over us, except the Lord.  I maintain this stance - I am a Christian who practices Martial Arts, I'm not a Martial Artist who practices Christianity.  

To conclude, I believe that any Christian who is interested in the martial arts should prayerfully consider this advice:

"If you are Jewish, Christian, or Moslem, you should be aware that practicing certain martial arts and their related religious rituals may be considered sacrilegious. You should also know that in almost every art, the physical can be separated from the spiritual/cultural religious practices. No matter what, you need to clearly understand what you are learning in class, and instructors need to clearly explain to their students which spiritual portions of the arts, if any, they are teaching." (Religion and The Martial Arts)

Ask plenty of questions of the instructor, keep vigilant for any practices that appear anti-christian, and get out if you feel uncomfortable with any of these practices.  Do not allow martial arts, or any other activity, become your god.  Most of all, have fun!

Maria :)

*** EDIT - 13 April 2012 ***
This Article arrived in my RSS reader this evening, which I feel is relevant to this post:

http://okiblog.com/2012/04/ignorance-west/ 

The Prosperity Gospel

This post is an examination of a worryingly popular form of Christian teaching commonly known as the Prosperity Gospel.  I'm aware this post may offend some people, and that is not my intention.  I just wish to state my opinion in a fair and honest manner.

The Prosperity Gospel, or the Health and Wealth Gospel, as defined by Wikipedia as "a Christian religious doctrine, which claims the Bible teaches that financial blessing is the will of God for Christians. The doctrine teaches that faith, positive speech, and donations to Christian ministries will always cause an increase in material wealth".  It's a teaching system that is growing in popularity, and is also attracting a body of critics.  In my opinion, those critics have a strong point.

One preacher in particular - Joel Osteen - has a huge following, and teaches that health and wealth follow faith in Jesus.  Here's a transcription of part of one of his sermons:

"we have arrived to live in total victory.  I want you to get that down on the inside, not partial victory, to where we have a good family, we have good health, but we constantly struggle in our finances.  Thats not total victory.  If God did it for you in one area, he can do it for you in another area.  Get a vision for it, don't get stagnant.  I know people that have plenty of money, they have good health, but they can't get along in relationships, there's always strife in their home.  Thats not total victory.  Maybe God's blessed you, you have a good family, a good job, but you have pain in your body for years and years, you used to stand against it, you used to believe you could be free, but it's been so long, you've just decided, this is my lot in life.  Joel I guess this is my cross to carry.  See, too often we accept things - defeat, mediocraty, addictions.  People tell me Joel, that's just who I am.  But with all due respect that's not who you are.  You are a child of the Most High God.  He has paid the price that we may be totally free.  That means free from bad habits and addictions.  Free from fear and worry.  Free from discouragement and depression.  Free from poverty and lack.  Free from low self esteem.  God wants us to be totally free.  The scripture tells us to take hold of all Christ died and rose again for..."

Suspiciously, when I first heard this extract, it was part of a sermon given by Pastor Mark Driscoll titled 'The State of the Pulpit', and I was able to find a link to the sermon itself on YouTube, yet now I can't.  Joel's speech begins at about 1 minute 44 into this video:

To examine this in detail, look at this statement:

"we have arrived to live in total victory.  I want you to get that down on the inside, not partial victory, to where we have a good family, we have good health, but we constantly struggle in our finances.  Thats not total victory.  If God did it for you in one area, he can do it for you in another area."

"If God did it for you in one area, he can do it for you in another area".  This is true.  He's God.  He can do whatever He wishes.  However, just because He can do something doesn't mean he will do something.  This may sound like a small semantic difference, but it's not.  Osteen gives the impression that because we don't live in what he calls 'Total Freedom' we are not living in Christ.  His description of the total freedom that living in Christ offers differs so much from how Jesus lived his life.  Jesus had no home, no capital, had (earthly) family issues, and suffered for who He was, as did his disciples suffer for their faith in Him.

That is not to say we shouldn't pray and ask God to help us with our worries.  Not at all.  We should pray for his help, and God hears all prayers. 1 Peter 5:7 says casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you".  However, God is under absolutely no obligation to us to answer those prayers in the affirmative.  He owes us nothing!  The model prayer given to us by Jesus in Matthew 16:9-15 states that "... Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, Your will be done".  So when we pray, God will answer that prayer according to His will, not ours.


The Chinese Christian Pastor Brother Yun suffered greatly for his faith.  In his book "The Heavenly Man", Brother Yun says:

"I have a problem with the “prosperity” teaching prevalent today, which tells us if we follow the Lord we’ll be safe and comfortable. This is completely contrary to Scripture as well as to our experiences in China."

This man and his family, as do many other believers throughout the world, suffered greatly for Jesus.  They often face financial hardship, are disowned and rejected by their family and communities, and have suffered physical and mental torture that most of us, by the grace of God, will never be called to suffer.  Now in accordance with Osteen's teachings, they must be doing something wrong!

The Bible states that "You will be hated by all nations for my names sake." (Matt. 24:9).  John 15:19 states that "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you".  This passage certainly indicates that as Christians, people will hate us.  This certainly is not the perfect relationships that Osteen promises us.

When Jesus called his disciples, He called them to give up all they had to follow Him.  Matthew 4:18 - 20 describes how Jesus saw Peter and Andrew, the two fishermen brothers, and called them.  "They immediately left their nets and followed Him" (Matt. 4:20).  These two men made their living from fishing, and as such, their nets were there livelihood.  In following Jesus, they actually gave up their means of financial support.

The passage continues with James and John being called by Jesus.  Just like Peter and Andrew, these two brothers were also fishermen, and verse 22 describes how they left not only their nets, but also their boat and their father.

If we examine an Old Testament character - the father of Israel - Jacob, in Genesis 32, he encounters a manifestation of God.  The result of which is a permanent injury to his hip.  Surely this would have caused him bodily pain?  Yet he was used by God to create the Jewish people.  So living in God didn't guarantee him a pain-free existence.

Many Christians I have spoken to, and I myself, have been ridiculed or rejected by family and / or friends for following Christ.  Does this mean that I'm not a true Christian, or I'm not 'living in total freedom'?   Not in the slightest!

So we have examples of Christians, and Christ Himself not being rich, not being fully healthy, and not having only good, happy relationships with others.  This is contrary to Osteen's teachings.

My problem with this is that many Christians who follow Joel Osteen may come to the conclusion that as they still suffer illness, or are still financially struggling, or have strained relationships with others, they are not doing something right, or Christianity is lacking for them.  Instead of encouraging believers, they come away discouraged.

This section of Osteen's sermon:

"He has paid the price that we may be totally free.  That means free from bad habits and addictions.  Free from fear and worry.  Free from discouragement and depression.  Free from poverty and lack.  Free from low self esteem.  God wants us to be totally free.  The scripture tells us to take hold of all Christ died and rose again for..."

tells us that God wants us to be free from all afflictions.  Yes, Jesus did pay a price for our freedom.  But He paid that price for our freedom from sin, not from poverty, lack, illness etc.  Jesus never made such a promise, ever.  He promised us we could overcome (spiritual) death, the wages of sin, through our faith in Him.

My Testimony - Part 7

So now I’m a fully-fledged, all signed up member of Jesus’s disciples, right?  I should start being good all the time, be happy all the time, and be healed of this silly sickness called depression?  Nah, it don’t quite work like that. 

I got a bit too sure of myself, thinking that this depression stuff was all in the past.  Also, remember the financial mess my ex had left me in?  Well, I still hadn’t dealt with that.  Basically, I started taking out these cash-advance payday loans, with seriously high interest rates, in order to put food on the table back when we were still together.  I kept telling myself that I was dealing with it, and reducing the payments each month, without actually sitting down and doing the Maths.  It’s not that I can’t add up – I’ve just finished a Uni maths module.  I was too scared to face it.

Add to this, a difficult, complicated family bereavement, and some work worries, and I faced another bout of depression.   I returned to the doctor and had my medication increased, and had another two weeks off work.   I basically told my work colleague what my situation was, and he and his wife turned up at my house that night with a food parcel from the church!  The following week, the church community pastor turned up with some cash to help me get through, and finally, once I’d told my business manager at work my situation, he arranged an interest free loan which has allowed me to pay off these immoral loans!  Yet another answered prayer from God!  But in order for me to receive these blessings, I had to surrender a sin that I was holding on to strongly – Pride.  I needed to be broken in order to see how much I needed God’s help, and the help of His people.  I am truly grateful and thankful every day for the kindness shown to me by some of the people around me, even though I don’t deserve it, just as none of us deserve the gift of eternal life offered to us through Jesus. 

My depression is still here, and I’m fighting it back every day.  I know God will strengthen me to fight it off once and for all when He sees fit.  It’s not always easy, and quite often, I act out like a complete muppet, but in time, God will teach me to be normal ;)

I still sin as well.  I still react angrily when I shouldn’t; I still panic and forget to turn my problems over to Christ.  I still say, do and think things I shouldn’t.  But I know that I have God’s forgiveness.  He’ll make me what He wants me to be in His time. 

Thanks for reading, 

My Testimony - Part 6

So between Easter and June, whilst battling depression, I kept returning to Hope Church.  I started to look forward to the services, and listened intently to each of the pastors messages, wanting to learn more about Jesus.

A video I watched turned things on their head for me.  Brian ‘Head’ Welch, formerly of the nu-metal band Korn, made a testimonial video for the website I Am Second.  I sought out Brian’s book Save Me FromMyself.  My main stumbling point in accepting Christ was my reluctance to believe that the scripture John 3:16 applied to me - “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”.  I felt as if I had done too many bad things for God to want me.  My depression was telling me (and still does at times) that God hated me, and he thought I was a waste of space.  Brian’s book spoke in very blunt honesty of the sins he committed, and yet God still loved him.  I followed this up with some email discussions with my work colleague who had originally invited me to church with his family.  On the 26^th June 2011, I took a step of faith, repeated the sinners prayer, and accepted Jesus as my saviour.  This was the single biggest moment of my life.

Just under a month later I was baptised by my Pastor, in front of my church family and my little girl, and felt amazing.  I was honoured and privileged to be baptised alongside some amazing people, with awesome stories of God’s power in their life.  The day was fantastic from start to finish, and I’ll never forget it.  Every word of encouragement, prayer, tear, text message,or  facebook message offering support meant the world to me.  And the power of God’s love was overwhelming.  I stood at the front of the church, alongside the other baptised believers, whilst the congregation sang Deep Cries Out, and the family that had lead me to Jesus stood nearby praying over me.  All the while, tears of happiness streamed down my face.  This was indeed, the start of a new life for me.  A ‘rebirthing’.

Bibles for Africa

A short post - I'm between Christmas / New Year visits.

I saw this link on a friends Facebook wall, and was seriously moved by it.  The video shows the arrival by aeroplane of a small crate of Bibles to a tribe called the Kimyal, in Indonesia, and the tribes response to receiving God's word.

Immediately I felt ashamed of how little value I put on my own Bible(s).  I have a study Bible, a pocket Bible, a medium-sized Bible, as well as a Kindle version, PDF's and a Bible app on my phone, and the ability to access any translation I wish via sites such as Bible Gateway.  Yet I take them so much for granted.  I should feel extremely privileged to have the Word of God quite literally at my fingertips any time I want.

As a response, I prayed, then googled and found Bibles For Africa - a site run by Advent Hope Ministries which aims to provide Bibles in native translations for people across Africa.  I donated $10 and felt a bit better for a moment - realising that I'd covered the cost of a Bible that someone will cherish.

Then I realised, $10, which is £6.59 in proper money, is less than the cost of the takeaway I had just eaten with my daughter.  I also realised that when I sit down to read God's Word later, I'd be doing so on a large comfortable sofa, with a cup of coffee in a warm, safe environment.  So really, my donation while helpful, is giving so little of myself.

I tried to even jokingly justify my actions by comparing them to my baby nieces actions on boxing day.  My 6-month old niece was sitting with me, and an Oxfam advert came on the TV.  She found it hilarious and laughed her head off.  Obviously at 6 months old, she wasn't knowingly laughing because there are starving children in the world.  She laughs whenever she's trying to interact with someone. (She has no idea that people on the TV can't see her) I actually realised what she was doing, one child to another, was trying to connect with another child.  Or to look at it another way, one of God's Children reaching out to another of God's Children.

Surely, as we are all God's Children, shouldn't we all be trying to reach out to each other, and what better way than to give another an everlasting gift - the Gospel.

For my part, I'll be trying to love and cherish the Bible(s) I have, and appreciate the liberty I have to read and own them, and be actively looking for opportunities to put God's Word in the hands and hearts of others.

Is God our fall-back friend?

Things have been going really well for me the last couple of weeks.  Home life is pretty settled, Karate training is going well (I graded yesterday and passed - Yay!!), work is nearly finished for Christmas and I've got some great plans for the Christmas break.

In fact, things have been so good that I've actually been neglecting my reading of the word.  I've finished reading the New Testament, and usually regularly pick out a Psalm or two at random to contemplate.  I've been meaning to start reading the Old Testament in the same way, and start an in-depth study of Phillipians, using Mark Driscoll's The Rebels Guide to Joy as a guide.  But has that happened?  No.  I've been 'too busy' enjoying life.


This has had me thinking...  who's had a friend that only calls when they want something?  A friend who will give us a ring when they've had a row with the other half, or they are a bit strapped for cash, or need a lift somewhere.  I know I've had friends like that, and I've probably been that friend at times as well.  It's irritating.

So why, when we are in the midst of suffering, cry out to God to come to our rescue, but we neglect to praise Him in our joy?  In our suffering it is right that we call out to God, like the Psalmist in Psalm 69:

 1 Save me, O God!
         For the waters have come up to my neck.
 2  I sink in deep mire,
         Where there is no standing; 
         I have come into deep waters, 
         Where the floods overflow me.
 ³ I am weary with my crying;
         My throat is dry; 
         My eyes fail while I wait for my God. 

But it is also right that we continually give thanks to God for the blessings that he has bestowed upon our lives, such as the Psalmist did in Psalm 113

 ¹ Praise the LORD!
         
         Praise, O servants of the LORD, 
         Praise the name of the LORD!
 ² Blessed be the name of the LORD
         From this time forth and forevermore!
 ³ From the rising of the sun to its going down
         The LORD’s name is to be praised. 
         
 ⁴ The LORD is high above all nations,
         His glory above the heavens.
 ⁵ Who is like the LORD our God,
         Who dwells on high,
 ⁶ Who humbles Himself to behold
         The things that are in the heavens and in the earth? 
         
 ⁷ He raises the poor out of the dust,
         And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,
 ⁸ That He may seat him with princes—
         With the princes of His people.
 ⁹ He grants the barren woman a home,
         Like a joyful mother of children. 
         
         Praise the LORD!

I really like the emphasise given to the phrase Praise the Lord here.  Praise the Lord!

So, from today, I'll be making a concerted effort to give praise and thanks to the Lord for the happiness He has granted me.  Many blessings I am currently experiencing are answers to prayers I asked in times of trouble, turmoil and despair, and all blessings in my life are from Him, and I should be thankful to him each and every moment.

M :) 

My Testimony - Part 5

So around this time, I worked with a Christian.  The nature of my job is that sometimes we are over-run with work, and other times we have the chance to sit and relax.  During one of these chill-out days, I’d actually popped into work to sort out some paperwork.  It was during my ‘holiday’.  So my colleagues and I ended up spending about three hours having a great conversation on theology. 

From this, I was sent a link to a great discussion with John Lennox about the logical truths of Christianity: http://www.veritas.org/Media.aspx#!/v/1028.  This led to further discussions, and me purchasing a Ravi Zacharias / Norman Giesler book – Who Made God: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Made-God-Answers-Questions/dp/0310247101/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1318717485&sr=8-2, which I read cover to cover in a very short time, and was gripped.  I read through various articles on apologetics and another great book – The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Case-Christ-Journalists-Personal-Investigation/dp/0310209307/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318717621&sr=1-1.

By this point, I was convinced on an intellectual level of the existence of God, and the resurrection of Jesus.  However, intellectual knowledge and faith are two very different things.

About this time, I was invited to go along to a family service at Hope Church: http://www.hopecorby.org/.  I nervously attended, and actually enjoyed the service.  However, I certainly wasn’t a Christian.  I continued to attend, but why, I didn’t actually know.  I was drawn there each week.  Still, it took a while before I was ready to accept Jesus.