Many come to Asian fighting arts, not just for combative efficiency or self-protection, but are also attracted to the often mysterious religious and philosophical beliefs popularly characterized as implicit in those systems. It is true that many Asian martial arts are imbued with Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian beliefs, customs, and practices. Mr. Smith certainly found this to be the case with the Chinese boxing styles he studied in Taiwan. Wang Shu-chin, for example, was a priest in a Taoist sect. Prof. Cheng Man-ch'ing lectured and wrote on Taoism and Confucianism and their congruence with T'ai Chi Ch'uan. Hung I-hsiang operated from a wholly Taoist ideology in his boxing and medical practice.
Surprisingly, though, two of Mr. Smith's boxing teachers, Kuo Feng-chi and Yuan Tao, each excellent representatives of pa kua and hsing-i respectively, were devout Christians, as recounted in Mr. Smith's book, Martial Musings. From this, we can infer that there is obviously nothing intrinsic in Chinese boxing which makes it necessarily incompatible with Christian belief and practice. This is echoed in an article by Katy Cheng, who describes her father, Prof. Cheng's, beliefs and demeanor as consistent with and demonstrable of Christian belief ( My Father (chengmanching.com) ). Again, t'ai chi ch'uan practitioner and student of Mr. Liu Hsi-heng, Russ Mason, has written of his struggle and eventual reconciliation of that art with his Christian devotion.
One can easily find articles online which question the relationship of Christian belief and the philosophies underlying Asian fighting arts, especially by Christian writers of a more evangelical bent. I think we should take those arguments seriously; but, also with some objectivity and without fear.
It seems to me that neijia, as it was taught to Mr. Smith, involved no foreign ritual or obsequious prostration to foreign gods. Rather, his instructors taught practices which seem to result in virtues compatible with Christian ideals: humility, yielding to aggression, physical discipline, hard work, gentleness in dealing with others. In my own journey, I have found Buddhist mindfulness especially helpful, and still incorporate it into my practice, as it requires no ideology to do. It seems to me compatible with the practice of watchfulness as promoted in Orthodox and Catholic Christianity and is not in any way contrary to Biblical prayer. In fact, I believe this kind of quiet, centered meditation can help us clear our mind of our own thoughts and desires and free us to more clearly hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Even with this practice, though, I did not find peace in my personal life until I began really studying the Bible and devoted myself to Christ and his Way. Many people in contemporary Western society don't like to hear that. Their objections are often emotional, though they believe them to be intellectual. Philosophically though, the early Christian fathers and subsequent apologists have identified and answered all objections in the most robust intellectually ways possible, if one only takes the time to study them. The problem is, our current popular world view is couched in remnants of nineteenth-century British empiricism, coupled with superficial renderings of Nietzsche, Marx, Darwin, and Freud; resulting in a nihilistic, relativistic, reductionistic scientism; which is problematic in so many ways. There is a path out of this though. If one explores the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth, and objectively examines the claim of the empty tomb, the reality is that there is no other viable explanation for it other than that offered in the New Testament. The life of Yeshua, the monumental changes he made to Judaism, and the rise from fearful fugitives to bold martyrs of his disciples are all historical facts corroborated by non-Christian sources.
Jesus single-handedly challenged and replaced Jewish conceptions of the Law, sacrifice, the Sabbath, God, the Messiah, and resurrection. There are other corroborating factors as well. Jesus' influence on all aspects of culture and on human welfare are unmatched in history. His life as recounted fulfilled an exhaustive list of prophecies in the Old Testament. The early Church fathers, in their writings, confirmed the facts of the New Testament. The New Testament itself, is probably the most accurately transmitted document from ancient history.
Finally, there is in the possession of the cathedral of Turin, in Italy, a shroud which is believed to have been the burial cloth of Yeshua. In recent years, it has been discovered that a piece used for carbon-dating it was from a repair made in the Middle Ages by nuns, so that those popularized results years ago were flawed. In fact, the shroud contains invisible blood serum, wounds forensically consistent with those of crucifixion and flogging (but inconsistent with all artistic depictions since antiquity), a first century Palestinian weave and material, pollen and soil uniquely and specifically identified as being from the area of Jerusalem. Most importantly, the image upon it is a negative image, with no pigments or paints on the fibers, which has heretofore been impossible to reproduce, except by one means which would take an impossible amount of light energy.
The real test of one's belief is not in theology, apologetics, or argument; but in the impact it has on his or her life. Does it make you a kinder person? Are you more compassionate to strangers? Are you gentler and more supportive of your spouse, more nurturing to your children? Do you work harder? Do you feel real, tangible joy? Do you have peace? All of this will come to you if you immerse yourself in the Word with seriousness, open-mindedness, and consistency.
For those who doubt these claims, or want to study further, here are some resources that have been most helpful to me:
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