Long time no blog!

Yes, it has been way too long since my last entry.

I have been busy with my day job, and also with our school as we finalize the completion of our new building purchase.

I am really excited for the new building, it is going to be a great place to train. It will have authenticate Japanese layout and design. It will be a real breath of fresh air I believe!

Please don’t give up on me or the blog site. Talk to you later.

Sensei Grant

More on Christianity

Hello all and sorry for the long, long delay in writing on my blog! It is not because I did not want to, but rather work got really busy at work (long days, 12-16 hours), then Karate, then bed then up again at 5:30am to get to work. So I was really exhausted and had no time to write.

Enough about that! What sparked me to comment today is this note I received from my last post about post on Karate and Christianity:

“Great blog. to speak of religious beliefs today seems to be frowned upon, it’s good to see that all can relate to teachings of the bible; how that in turn relates to the teachings in Shotokan. sure as a by product of being a student of Shotokan one will learn to fight but more importantly one will learn trust, confidence, a don’t quit attitude, a sense of belonging, believe in one another. Christianity touches all these points and more. “

This is a great comment. First, I could not agree more about how today it is frowned upon to speak freely of your religious beliefs. We are almost “shunned to silence” anymore, afraid that we might offend someone. For me, I will not hesitate to state that I am a Christian when asked, or make a comment such as “I will pray for you” when someone is telling me they are having a hard time (and then actually go about and pray for them).

I myself am proud of being a Christian, I am proud of my faith’s heritage, and the final item is that I do not forget or scale down the sacrifice that Jesus made for me and for us all. To not proudly confess your belief in him does him a great dishonor, and that is something I can not do.

Shotokan is a martial art, however it also instills peace, confidence, and the desire to stay clear of confrontations. It makes an individual stronger, and by having more internal confidence and being stronger, will allow you to serve Christ in many more ways.

Karate and Christianity – Part Two

With UFC 100 approaching, and all the excitement that surrounds these big MMA fights, I was brought back around to a previous posting I had involving Martial Arts and Christianity, partially due to a comment I received to that post but also because I had a very sensitive encounter with an old friend who has been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm that could break at any time.

What was so powerful about this encounter was the fact that she told me that she was at peace, no matter when it happened, she was at peace and accepts that her time is near. She is at peace because of the love that God gives her, and the salvation she knows awaits her.

How does this tie in with my previous comments you may be asking.

Here is the original posting and comments (I have cut it back – you can read the full version of the post and the comments by finding the original posting below in my blog):

Posting:
Christianity teaches that we should love one another and turn the other cheek.
Does this then mean that we should not practice Karate as it is a martial art – meant to hurt someone.
My answer – is no. They do not conflict. There are many, many benefits when practicing Karate – not just the self defense aspect. And, in short, ultimately you have freewill to decide if you will turn the other cheek, whether you are a trained martial artist or not.

Here is one comment:
I completely agree! I believe that Christianity and Shotokan complement each other. Karate teaches you honor and respect the highest principles of faith.

And here is a second comment:
My definition of martial arts is a peaceful one. The better the fighter we become, the less we have to prove, and the more likely we are to walk away from a fight. I do have a problem though with “Karate for Christ” and similar styles that have removed the Budo of Karate and tried to replace it with religion. And dont get me wrong, I’m not against religion, I just think it should be left out of Karate. I do not come to the dojo to be preached to. I come to the dojo to better myself, and I keep my political and religious views to myself when I am in the dojo.

There is a complementary aspect between Christianity and Karate. Karate instills peace, confidence, and the desire to stay clear of confrontations, the same qualities that Christianity gives.

I have not heard of “Karate for Christ” and I know nothing about it, so I really can not make any informed comments. However, if someone signs up for the class knowing what they going to receive and want this type of instruction and agree with it, I do not see anything wrong with it. But again, I really can not say much about this because I just don’t know anything about it, have never seen a class or read a course outline. I don’t even know if they are teaching traditional Karate.

However, I can comment that I agree that a dojo is a place to learn Karate, and unless you have signed up for a “Karate + Sensei So-n-So’s Values”, then the instructor should not take the liberty to force his/her opinions upon the students (unless they are within martial arts), because the students will then be stuck between a rock and a hard place (do you leave the school and your friends? do you give up your current ranking? do you sacrifice your own opinions and values and just say yes sir out of fear of some form of backlash?).

So my opinion is that if you are running a Karate school (eg: Shotokan), then you need to follow the general rules, format and guidelines that make a system Shotokan. Same holds for any other style, Kyokushin, Wado-Ryu, Uechi-Ryu, Tang Soo Do, TKD, etc.

If you run the school correctly, and teach Karate the way it was meant to be taught, you will instill peace and confidence in the students.

Much the same way our good Lord instills peace and confidence in those that believe in Him and trust in His ways.

Not a lot to talk about

Sorry for not having posted for a while, I am a little lost for words. But don’t worry, I am sure I will have things to say shortly.

Christianity and Karate – is there a conflict?

Here is something I thought about last night. Is there an inherent conflict between being a Christian and doing a strong form of Karate, like Shotokan?

Christianity teaches that we should love one another and turn the other cheek.

Does this then mean that we should not practice Karate as it is a martial art – meant to hurt someone.

This is not an easy question to answer and requires some deep thought.

My answer – is no. They do not conflict. There are many, many benefits when practicing Karate – not just the self defense aspect. And, in short, ultimately you have freewill to decide, whether you are a trained martial artist or not, if you will turn the other cheek.