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Miguel
Gonzalez
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
I have been practicing martial arts and as
one increases in rank, one becomes more aware
of (his/her) spirituality. There are several
practices which are related to Buddhism, mostly
the breathing techniques.
- Is there anything wrong with this?
I'm doing this for physical fitness and no
other reason.
Miguel
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Is
there anything wrong with the Buddhist breathing techniques
in my martial arts classes? }
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Mike
replied:
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Hi, Miguel —
I think the answer we gave Nicole
will answer your question; if not
just follow up.
This dialogue from the Catholic
Answers Forum may help as well.
Any
Catholic Martial Artists?
I personally empathize with funkyhorn's
reply. He a junior member and his reply is the third one down from the top:
I've studied several martial
arts (Jiujutsu, Aikido, Tae Kwon
Do, Kick boxing) and have found
it very rewarding in ways. If
you learn for the right reasons,
I think that anyone would find
it rewarding. You develop traits
such as discipline, composure,
humility, confidence, etc. There
are those who join up just to
learn how to beat other people
up . . . They usually drop out fairly
quickly. The higher ranks usually
hurt their ego enough that they
don't want to come back.
The thing about martial arts,
that is somewhat deceiving, is
that it can give you a false sense
of confidence or control. The
spiritual part of the martial
arts is based off a Godless religion,
so the focus is on you, not God.
You start to believe that you
have abilities apart from God's
blessings and grace. I started
doing martial arts long before I started practicing my faith.
I still practice martial arts,
but not as much and not with the
false belief that I am in control.
There's also the chi or ki aspect
of martial arts too, for those
who are actually taught these
concepts. I'm afraid that I don't
find the practice of developing
and exercising your chi a
very Christian thing either.
Martial Arts, aside from the spiritual
aspect, is a good thing to get
into. And as long as you are strong
in your faith and aren't liable
to get caught up in the whole
spiritual side of it, you'll be
just fine. |
Mike
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Mary
Ann replied:
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Hi, Miguel —
I would like to add that Clare Merkle's
article goes a bit further in delineating
the dangers of even the exercise
part of yoga. Others say that the
yogic poses are ideograms for the
names of gods. I wouldn't know about
that.
I do know that Stella Davis warns
against yoga in her book, "Spiritual
Warfare".
Mary Ann
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