Should a Christian Practice Martial Arts? - By Scott Conway

Christianity is a religion based on a belief in Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour. Conservative Christians believe that Jesus Christ is God, the Son of God, that He died on the cross at Calvary and that we are saved from hell because of Christ’s sacrifice. Sacraments, such as Baptism and Communion may serve as a necessary part or a memorial, depending upon one’s theology.

The Bible lists many things that are sins. Murder, adultery, stealing, fornication, homosexuality, and many, many others. It does not list martial arts training as a sin. That means that if someone is going to claim that martial arts ought not be practiced by Christians, extrapolation from Biblical principles is required.

Violence

One basis used by some is the idea of non-violence in the Bible. It is true that the Bible teaches "turn the other cheek," and to live peaceably with one’s neighbours insofar as possible. Everyone knows that the Old Testament is full of violence, but many think the New Testament to be peaceful. Something frequently overlooked, however, is Jesus’ instructions to His disciples to "buy a sword, and he who does not have a sword, let him sell his outer garment and but a sword" (see Luke 22:36). Jesus stormed the Temple on at least one, possibly two, occassions. Then there is the whole book of Revelation. Certainly God makes extensive use of violence in Revelation.

If we are to call violence sin, then we must call God a sinner. If God can be violent without sin, if God can order his people to kill (Old Testament and Armageddon), then violence, in and of itself, cannot be evil. Likewise, if violence were sin and not appropriate for Christians, then no Christian could be a soldier, a law enforcement officer, a corrections officer, a security guard or any other position whose responsibilities may include the use of force against others. Most find that position ridiculous. If one makes the claim that the law gives those people the power and responsibility to use force, they forget that the same law gives us the right to defend ourselves and others.

NonChristian Influence

Another basis to deny martial arts training to Christians is the Eastern influence on the combat arts. To flee from martial arts because it originated in the East cannot be justified by a consistently held principle. The rationale is that martial arts is innately tainted by the Eastern influences in it, and the Eastern religious philosophies are to be avoided by Christians. This argument cannot stand logically. It is almost certainly violated in many ways by the majority of people who make the statement.

By the same argument, Science should be avoided because it is steeped in atheist thought (God can seldom be cited as a cause for anything). Public Education should be avoided because it has expelled God. Government service should be avoided because it is corrupt. The legal profession should be avoided because it violates Christians not suing one another and often relies on manipulation of the truth. The medical professions should be avoided because it relies on an evolutionary presupposition, and many of the medications prescribed were discovered through science that presupposed evolution to discover the medicine. Business should be avoided because it is innately greedy, as the measure of success in business is money. Employment among non-Christians should be avoided because we ought not have close association with unbelievers (most of us spend more waking time at a job than with our families or churches). Certainly employment BY non-Christians should be avoided, including working for the government at any level, because we ought not make us subject to the authority of non-Christians.

Obviously we do not expel ourselves from associations with non-Christians. We do not completely withdraw from influences outside, even contrary to Christianity. If we must refrain from training in martial arts because of the Eastern influence and the possibility of being exposed to Eastern belief systems, then we must likely withdraw from a vast array of things from which we do not withdraw. The proposition is inconsistent.

The Real Issue

The real issue in Christianity is Jesus Christ and sin, not martial arts. If there is no direct Bible verse stating that what you will be doing in martial arts is sinful, then can anyone claim that it is sin? They do, but on what basis? Interpretation. On what basis do they judge martial arts. Out of ignorance, usually. There are over 1600 different martial arts styles in the world today. Are all of them evil? Or just the Oriental ones? Or just the one’s that teach a non-Christian religion? How do you decide? Before one judges 1600 organized systems of martial arts, shouldn’t you know something about them?

Jesus Christ died for our sins. By accepting Him as Saviour, we can be cleansed of our sin. Does martial arts training, then, render the sacrifice of Christ ineffectual? If someone learns a punch, does that send him to hell? Does it matter if that punch was taught in a martial arts class, in a boxing ring, by a father, by a drill instructor in the military or at a police academy? If someone grows up in a Buddhist household, constantly exposed to Buddhist teaching, but he accepts Christ, can he still be a Christian?

The whole argument of Christians avoiding martial arts training is entirely besides the point. The Bible does not say that martial arts is evil. The Bible does not say that learning to fight is a sin, nor is killing in war a sin or in self defense or defense of your family a sin. Murder is a sin. Assault is a sin. These things the Bible teaches. The issue is Christ, not martial arts. If a martial art system requires someone to renounce Christ, or if a teacher specifically teaches against Christ, then that particular martial art or instructor might be a poor choice, but your relationship with God through Christ determines heaven and hell, and you might even count your time in a martial art system opposed to God as one of various trials that God tells us about in the Book of James.