martial arts

by Mysterious 23 Replies latest jw friends

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  babygirl75

  My 9yr old son take Kyoshinkai Karate. He does have to bow before going into the dojo, but this is not human worship, it is just an act of respect. The Masters always make this clear when a new student signs on. Karate principals are based on respect. I was always taught it was bad and involved demons while growing up a JW. It is not that way at all. My son can chop blocks & wood with his palm and demons are not involved!!

  My dad is the PO of his cong. and surprising I wasn't counseled when I told them my son takes Karate. But then again, they probably figured it wouldn't do any good good!
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  Dr Zhivago

  I studied Tae Kwon Do when I was younger. Then we moved and I started over in Shotokan Karate. Then I had to quit if I wanted to get baptized.
  
  Now, many years later, I'm learning Wado-Kai Karate. Tonight I'm being tested; hopefully I'll come home with my third yellow belt. As much as I enjoy it, I think I'm getting too old for this sort of activity. I don't recover from the bangs and bruises like I used to.
  
  DrZ
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  Octarine Prince

  I messed around with some things.
  
  It is great.
  
  The Society does not have the truth. I am closer to the Ultimate Truth by embracing the study of the martial arts.
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  Octarine Prince

  The martial arts aren't necessarily about conquering others; really, your first and foremost goal is to conquer yourself.
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  blondie

  Actually, I knew jws, elders and their wives that took tai chi totally ignorant that it is the first level of martial arts. When I told them they denied that it was a martial art because a) a non-jw Chinese student said it wasn't; and b) there is no direction mention of tai chi in the WTS publications.
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  DevonMcBride

  I just got my purple belt in Kenpo Karate. In my karate school we also learn Brazilian JuiJitsu and Muay Thai. The adult karate class is very fitness oriented, both mentally and physically. There is no meditation, no bowing to flags, no idol worship, etc. We do stretches to build flexibility; a lot of cardio; katas; and self defense techniques. The children's classes are more about teaching them confidence; to respect themselves and others; eating healthy; and learning to protect themselves against pedophiles and predators. There is nothing taught in my class that would be objectionble to any religion. However, the Jehovah's Witnesses stereotype all martial arts as BAD/EVIL because some styles of karate do practice meditation and bowing, etc.

  If anything, the Watchtower should be encouraging JW's to learn self defense to protect themselves from nutcases when they go door to door.
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  Octarine Prince

  Tai chi is an INTERNAL martial art. But it still is a martial art. That non-JW Chinese may have had an ulterior motive - students!
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wudangquan
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  DevonMcBride

  Octarine Prince,

  I love your avatar. That's an adorable baby.

  And I agree, Tai Chi is a martial art. I took two Tai Chi classes and it seemed like a cross between karate and yoga (another Watchtower no-no).
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  Forscher

  I had some training in several oriental combat systems in my pre-witness days.

  All of mine were strictly combat oriented instead of sports. I always regretted not keeping up my practice to levels which would've benefited me physically after joining. And I really regretted not teaching one of my children.

  As for the comment on Tai Chi. The Yang and Wu styles and those based on them are so fitness oriented that, rather than self-defense, that a practitioner might well feel justified in saying that they are not a martial art. In fact, I recently had a Korean TKD and Hapkido master who locally teaches the 25-move Yang short form who insisted to me that Tai Chi is not a martial art. The truth is that they descend from an ancient martial art based on the Taoist philosophy rather than the more familiar Buddhist based Kung Fu. Through the years, though, the MA aspect of those arts was pretty much deemphasized for most practitioners of those arts.

  The Wu style, on the other hand, retains the combat training. So it is a martial art in its own right.

  Forscher
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  Mysterious

  Doing something has crossed my mind before. I'm skinny and so don't have too much all out strength, and I suppose it could be useful to know how to defend one's self should it become necessary.

  Martial arts are definitely good for that! This little five foot nothing girl in my class levelled our instructor with a palm strike when she was testing for her black belt and he's 6'3". As for me at white belt I already know how to break one and two hand wrist grabs as well as one and two hand collar grabs. Plus we are taught about angle of attack, timing, and distance to have the most defensible spot. Then the instructor holds pads so we can practice our knees and elbows and there goes the frustrations of having to do running & pushups earlier hehe. Definitely look into it if you are interested in strength, cardio, flexibility, self defense or self confidence.

  My 9yr old son take Kyoshinkai Karate. He does have to bow before going into the dojo, but this is not human worship, it is just an act of respect. The Masters always make this clear when a new student signs on. Karate principals are based on respect. I was always taught it was bad and involved demons while growing up a JW. It is not that way at all. My son can chop blocks & wood with his palm and demons are not involved!!

  Yeah my instructor emphasized that bowing was just respectful and also that the kind of mediation we do in class is not mystical/spiritual but just to relax and be mindful of the presence and to practice in class keeping in mind the tenets of tae kwon do (courtesy, integrity, perserverence, self control, indomitable spirit).