My Thoughts on the Gray Area of Christians and Martial Arts

I remembered one of the biggest struggles I had was with "Should Christians have the right or permission to get into martial arts?" Some said yes and other said no. Those who said no as far as I'm concerned have been arguing based on illogical arguments such as the genetic fallacy. They are saying that we shouldn't engage martial arts because of its origin from the Far East. Then again, we do realize that many of stuff today that Christians use are also invented from the Far East such as umbrellas, slippers, paper, origami, calligraphy and high quality electronics. So to dismiss martial arts simply because of its origin is a genetic fallacy.

So how is martial arts defined? Here's some definitions from the dictionary and how it's defined. I don't see any religion involved in these definitions:

• Merriam Webster-Dictionary defines it as, "any of several arts of combat and self-defense (such as karate and judo) that are widely practiced as sport".
• Collins' dictionary defines it as, "any of various systems of self-defense originating in E Asia, such as karate or kung fu, also engaged in as a sport."

Now, I do appreciate the concern about the roots of martial arts and how it's used by the secular world. Buddhism and Taoism are also involved yet some of these martial arts were created purely for self-defense and not for religious purposes. Maybe, one can say that the use of meditative techniques were because the art was used by heathen priests. Some martial arts dojo are in fact a no-no for Christians such as one that's handled by a Buddhist monk or Taoist practitioners. These dojos are involved with occultism as an extension of their martial arts.

So what kind of martial arts would be discouraged and allowed? From what I heard, some martial arts actually do require occultism to master them. I've heard of how Tai Chi Chuan can't be separated from Taoist theology while others think it could. Others also say that the only martial arts that Christians can practice is the physical or hard ones such as kung fu and karate are okay - while the "soft ones" such as Tai Chi Chuan, Ninjutsu and Aikido are actually religious forms of martial arts. If you know that a certain martial art requires dabbing with the occult (ex. Shaolin Kung Fu) then you know you ought to avoid it. 

Now, one can think that the problem is that martial arts is promoted as a way of life. This can be a red alert especially with how martial arts can become an idol. Idols aren't only limited to religious objects but also if anything that could have been used for God's glory is placed above God. Sometimes, your possessions that you need can become an idol. Martial arts can also be in that way if you end up prioritizing it over the Christian life. 

This also means practicing discernment. I do appreciate how the military can get to learn martial arts because they do need to learn to fight and defend others. They are simply taught to fight to harden themselves. The problem is when one decides to learn martial arts to get revenge rather than for self-defense. It's like Jesus told the disciples to buy a sword for self-defense while He would later discourage Peter from misusing it. Non-religious or secular martial arts should be treated likewise.