All my life I have loved martial arts. I love the forms, techniques and above all I love the philosophy. But lately I have been thinking about one thing: does martial arts foster anger or a deeper spirituality?
Do martial arts foster anger?
People who say that martial arts fosters anger are usually able to find quite a bit of debating material. My parents used to guilt trip me about this topic all the time. Some of their arguments included:
1. The name
The very name “martial arts” implies some form of aggression or violence. Unless you are some enlightened Shaolin monk it is impossible to do violent things without anger. This does not mean that we cannot train without anger; we can. But if we ever had to fight it would involve this powerfully negative emotion.
2. The intention
People may say that martial arts is for self defense. However, I have been doing martial arts for over a decade and one thing I have learned is that “self defense” in martial arts means something completely different than “self defense” means in the legal system.
If martial arts were truly about self defense it would involve a basic escaping technique and then a lot of running. Instead, we spend hours honing our powerful techniques to completely destroy our opponent. The intention of most martial arts is to kill the opponent or at the very least that is the training motivation.
3. The violent record
If you spend any time at a dojo or martial arts school you will hear countless tales of the students getting into fights. Young people especially seem to get a bit hot headed and when they think they have enough skills to handle themselves they tend to react to sticky situations with a punch instead of an argument. I think it would be fair to say that martial artists get into more fights than non-martial artists.
We can also look back to the founders of martial arts. Aside from a few notable individuals most of the lineage holders were somewhat violent. We usually hear stories of their fighting ability as opposed to their spiritual power.
We can also take the example of violent martial arts movies. Many young people see these movies and think that martial arts are about exacting revenge or gaining power. These are not spiritual things.
Do martial arts foster spirituality?
However, it is the other side of the argument that I am drawn to. I am inclined to believe that more martial artists become “spiritual” than “angry” when they start getting deeper into the art. Some of the arguments that martial arts fosters spirituality are:
1. The founding intention
We can safely say that martial arts started when Bodhidharma traveled from India to China and taught some emaciated Chinese Buddhist monks some exercises to stay healthy. This was the original purpose of martial arts - develop a healthy physical body so that one can better meditate to develop peace.
The fighting and the aggression came later.
2. The discipline
One of the most charming characteristics of martial arts is that it forces a person to become disciplined. If they want to learn they art and be any good at it they have to work hard. And through all of this training some kind of inner transformation has to take place.
For example, if a street kid comes into a kung fu class because he wants to be able to fight other kids on his block he will soon discover the weakness in that motivation. Soon he will realize that if he is to become good at this art he will need to find an inner strength and this strength cannot come from hate, anger or any short term benefits.
What do you think?
As I said, I always considered martial arts to be a spiritual activity. However, I get worried when I see anger arising in my own mind and the mind’s of other people. What do you think? Do martial arts foster anger or spirituality?
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April 2nd, 2008 at 12:20 am
I think that martial arts training generally increases your physical, emotional and intellectual capacity. It is a tool that that shapes you into whatever person you wish to become. Some want to become more angry, others more spiritual.
P.S. People repeat the Shaolin story because it sounds cool, not necessarily because it is true!
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:00 am
Thanks Chris.
I think you are right. It is up to the individual.
As for the Shaolin story, I talked to a buddhist master in India about this and he seems to think there is scriptual history to support it. Some people in Tibet say Bodhi was also PaDampa Sangye who was in Tibet for a long time. Who knows!
At least we can agree on the original intention of Kung Fu?
RT
April 2nd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
RT,
I don’t think all martial arts foster spirituality, especially many taught in the West. In respect to anger, I think it would be fair to surmise that not everyone experiences anger, I definitely haven’t and still don’t.
The practice of martial arts in my opinion is not linked with anger. Anger is an emotion which can be controlled, depending on ones perception of external events and their internal paradigms.
Just so you know, I’ve been practicing martial arts for 9 years now and have learnt many different styles.
One of the great benefits of martial arts that I’ve noticed is the improvement people experience in their confidence and also their self esteem (don’t worry I’m not about to break down, lol!). Did you find this?
Remember, anger, like any other emotion is naturally inherent in man. Being able to control this emotion is somewhat of a skill mastered by very few!
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Healthblogger - interesting comment, thank you.
Firstly, how can you not experience any anger? You say that it is inherent in all humans but you do not experience it? Haha…
I think the thing you say bout confidence is 100% true. I find it to be true myself for sure.
The other thing I think we have to be careful of is saying anger is inherent. This supposes that it is permanent and I don’t believe it is. I think anger, like all emotions, is transient like a bird flying through the sky. This way we will not be trapped by them.
RT
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:23 pm
I agree with you on a lot of your points. It’s really not clear cut at all is it?!
But, The Shaolin story is not historically accurate. You should look up ‘The Sword Polisher’s Record’ by Adam Hsu for a good exposition on the subject.
‘We can safely say that martial arts started when Bodhidharma travelled from India to China and taught some emaciated Chinese Buddhist monks some exercises to stay healthy’
This is completely unfounded. The ‘martial arts’ can have no single geographic source of creation; people have been fighting, and sharing their techniques between family/friends for millennia all over the world.
To say that the original intention of Kung Fu was to build a strong/spiritual mind and healthy body is looking at the world of the past through rose tinted glasses. The original intent was to help the practitioners survive the violent times that they lived in. The Monks already had the spiritual side down, why did they need to learn Kung Fu(if indeed they did)? - To keep them safe in a violent world is why. ‘The thorns only hurt those who would try to take the rose’
If you train you should at least research what you train in.
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
:Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Good stuff me! I’m going to get on that now. See what we can come up with.
The reason I don’t accept that the Shaolin monks were taught kung fu meerly to survive is because majority of the art is about internal energy and has little to do with fighting. I simply don’t accept that peaceful monks would spend that much time away from their study and practice to learn to meerly fight.
RT
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:54 am
What’s more, there is no real evidence that Tamo ever excisted and if he did, he didn’t invented kungfu, that’s for sure. It was already there for ages…
I do know some ’shaolin’ monks and believe me they’re not that ’spiritual’
Dave
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:27 am
RT, I meant not experience anger during my training. I just re-read my comment and realised how I wrote that! haha!
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Hey Dave. Were these monks genuine Shaolin monks? The Shaolin monks I have met are intensely spiritual and very devoted to their monastic vows. At one function they requested that no women be there to serve food as it was against their vows. The whole time the sponsors and the monks discussed buddhist teachings, not kung fu.
What are you basing your argument on that Tamo never existed? Have you got a text? I’d be curious.
healthblogger - Ok, that makes more sense!! LOL
RT
April 5th, 2008 at 4:55 am
This is a really interesting post. I have been doing Aikido for many years and find that it is a very peaceful art - even when in use. However, Steven Segal did Aikido and he is not so peaceful!
I’m going to think about this one and get back to you.
Jeff
April 7th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I’m a martial artists and my chilren are also involved in martial arts. To this date, I can honestly say that since we started this journey, we never got into a fight. In fact, we’ve walked away from some. Point being is that martial arts gives you confidence to walk a way from a fight because you already know that when you really have to protect yourself, you can.
April 7th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
@thehealthblogger: Anger is an emotion. I don’t believe it is possible to never have anger. However I believe you can train yourself to have control of your reaction to an emotion. When you can let any emotion pass through you like clouds on a sunny day — you have mastered something most people haven’t — yourself.
An outwardly harmonious person is inwardly empty.
April 7th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Chris - Glad to hear you are instilling virtue in your children. Some people couldn’t be bothered.
ADW - I agree with you about the anger but I am not so sure about your concluding quote. Are you saying that all people who are outwardly harmonious are inwardly devoid of qualities?
RT