Evangelical Christians, the Occult, and Martial Arts
For years you have been practicing martial arts, but all the while you were worshipping Satan. Sounds absurd right, but that is what some Evangelical Christians believe, and they view Asian martial arts as something that corrupts a person’s mind, body, and soul.
Now one thing that has to be made clear from the beginning is that not all Christians believe martial arts like Karate, Judo, and Tae Kwon Do are the tools of Satan. It would be like saying all Muslims believe in a Jihad. That being said these fringe groups shouldn’t be allowed to spew out intolerance and hate and attack established religions just because they originate from another part of the world. Every culture has a form of martial arts and as martial artists we cannot let people with misconceptions control how we practice our chosen field.
It is difficult to decide who is worse; people who practice martial arts and give them a bad name or outsiders who attack martial arts. There are plenty of people out there running McDojos and black belt mills that only want to make money and care nothing for their students. That happens in any industry though and often times the best you can do is run a quality operation. As a martial artist it is up to you to teach your students the difference between self defense, cultural fighting arts, and combat sports. It also means you lead by example so work hard and train honestly, and create an environment where people feel comfortable and are free to express their views. The Martial arts are all about learning that hard work and perseverance pay off as you learn discipline and teamwork.
Despite an outstanding track record of helping to people enhance the lives some see Asian martial arts as something to be feared. Some worry that bowing to the instructor and the pictures of those who came before is disrespects God even though it only a sign of respect. Others don’t like the idea that Asian philosophies like Buddhism and Taoism might be taught to their children along with their training. Well, regardless of what some people claim you can learn martial arts without converting to another religion or even learning the beliefs of another culture. Though it should be noted Buddhism and Taoism share many things in common with Christianity, and if your serious about your faith you should be able to ask and answer questions about it.
There are those who claim that God and their faith saved their lives and put them on a righteous path. Tonie Gatlin is one of those people, and she now preaches about how evil karate is and how it ruined her life. In her book The Dark Side of Karate: The Story of Tonie Harris Gatlin she claims due to her involvement in martial arts she became promiscuous, more violent, a lesbian, a bad parent, and turned her back on god. Now if those claims weren’t outrageous enough she says occult ideas and techniques entered the United States through the martial arts, and that the Asian dragon is actually a symbol for the devil. To any self respecting martial artist, this all sounds outrageously funny, but there are people out there who believe martial arts will put you on a path to evil.
It is hard to believe that people actually think you’re worshipping the devil and opening up yourself to demonic possession when you begin training in martial arts, but they’re out there, and they think they’re on the side of right. As martial artists we have to be involved with the community and make our views known to people. We have to counter these outrageous claims with the truth and show there is no hidden agenda just good citizens participating in combat sports and self defense training. In martial arts we respect other cultures and don’t try to force anyone into joining a school or club. Sure a martial arts school can turn into a cult, but it can also happen in a business setting or a club or even a church. Our mission as martial artists is to let people know the truth about martial arts.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Another awesome contentThanks for the info.
” All Evil Needs To Prosper Is For Good Men To Do Nothing ”
I liked this article and think that you CAN learn Martial Arts and Self Defense without Mystical Nonsense and Teachings which are Contradictions to your chosen faith or belief.
As a Christian i see being able to defend the ones i Love as not only a Personal Responsibility but a Religious Duty.
If we as Christians totally submit to The Antagonists of this world we will no longer have a World as it will be ruled by Violence Death and Corruption.