I've heard that some people who follow the New Age beliefs sometimes train in the martial arts as a New Age practice. I find this to be unusual and unexpected and here's why. From what I know about New Agers they come in all different shapes and sizes and they have all different types of belief. The thing about the New Age belief system is that its supposed to be more or less a universal belief system and as such is very diverse. However, I thought that New Agers were by and large pacifists or at least that the vast majority of them follow pacifist beliefs. So that is why I find it unusual that a New Ager would take up the martial arts.
As a black belt and someone who has worked with a lot of martial arts students......I can't even imagine how many times over the years I have said "I realize that sometimes it seems like you're learning how to fight. What we are actually teaching you is how to not fight."
Both sons are black belts, I'm an old amateur wrestler......the martial arts teach you your limits as there is always someone better.
Medieval martial arts, broadsword training... Nuff said. And I hate the term "New Age"... Do people still actually use that anymore?
Well than why train in something that teaches you techniques that can be used to hurt people? Not something a pacifist would do.
you totally miss the point, it is about self discipline in ALL aspects of life, physical, emotion and spiritual. and believing that "New Agers" were/are mostly pacifist is completely YOUR ASSUMPTION and not necessarily the reality. Trust me, your life will be much happier if you don't operate on your assumptions alone.
Isn't there ways of achieving that without learning methods of violence? Or methods that can be used for violence?
Well are they? I know that people who follow the new age beliefs vary tremendously in their own beliefs and principles but I thought it was a common trend that they were pacifists. If Im wrong than I stand corrected.
Martial arts are not about violence. If you think that they are, you probably don't really understand as much as you'd like to think you do. I mean that in the best possible way.
Actually the word martial refers to war. Those arts that pertain to war are the martial arts. So they are about violence whether for attack or defense from attack. I would argue that Jujutsu is a martial art as it was developed for the battlefield and employs potentially fatal moves whereas Judo is a sport as it has specific rules that prohibit certain dangerous techniques. Of course today there are variations of both Jujutsu and Judo that could be considered a sport or martial art. If we take this further many forms of wrestling are sports as they prohibit certain dangerous moves (such as choke holds) and have specific rules and point systems, although there are forms of wrestling (usually termed grappling) that do employ potentially lethal means. Of course Jujutsu, Judo, Greco-Roman, and Freestyle are all forms of grappling.
As with all things in life it would seem to be the intent behind one's study of the martial arts, not the arts themselves, that determine their usefulness
Tai Chi, which seems to be a perfectly acceptable stress reducing, peaceful exercise is a "Martial Art"...
The martial arts came up in China through Bodhidharma who trained the monks to be physically fit and defend themselves from bandits and wild animals. But the main objective was physical fitness as the Buddha had emphasized physical fitness for a strong and clear mind. Also practice of martial arts, especially Tai Chi, is excellent for practice and development of awareness or mindfulness. This probably is the objective of these new age beliefs as well.
