So recently I’ve watched bunch of martial arts videos on YT and it got me wondering if I should start training something. However there is more to martial arts than just the exercise part: most of it is rooted in eastern religions like buddhism. This specific article covers the problems with karate fron christian perspective, I’d like to hear if anyone here has tried martial arts and what’s your experience with it. Were there any religious parts like meditation?
Taekwondo and Kyukoshin karate have been thoroughly reformed martial arts for a while now and whatever lingering religious roots may exist in some practices have been completely expunged as far as I know…? Like, I would not be surprised if someone could bring up some old manual or origin behind a specific movement in a kata or a specific philosophy that is vaguely tied to an Eastern religious perspective, but I would also say that… This shouldn’t be problematic.
The Catholic church even ruled that Confucian ancestral rites were OK as it was a ceremony to honor the dead more than some fixed religious thing…
I do appreciate your concern, though…! And I do not want my answer to be the definitive one here… Just trying to help.
From what I’ve read karate can have buddhist meditation/teachings of chi which is not ok for christians to participate in. I think this is more nuanced question without clear yes or not answer so it depends on the gym you are going to. Also as lutheran i would not do those confucian rites.