Karate or Judo or Whatever Martial Art you decide

If you don't want them mixing in the "religion junk", why are you looking for a Christian one?

 

See if he would rather take boxing.
No 'inner flow of chi around the feng shui of your celestial yinyang essence' type of religious junk in boxing. Plus a good boxer will whip kung fu hooey anyday.
Or...
the 4-H clubs in Texas have a very good skeet, trap and rifle program.

 

OIC, not the "other" religion junk. My bad.

 

Tire iron and/or baseball bat work pretty well, too! :laugh: :laugh:

Ed

 

True, but a baseball bat stuck down my pants to hide it makes me limp funny.:laugh:

 

...so does a Glock

 

We have a local MMA for children. Because of the many forms of MA, they focus on the fighting aspect only.

 

Call and politely ask. You should be able to find one with a little leg work.

Similar to the sentiments expressed by others, I have thought about printing a T-shirt the reads, "My kong soo do skills will only be used if both clips of my 9mm are empty."

 

An ITA affliated Tae Kwon Do school will teach karate without all the eastern religious stuff, depending on the instructor. My instuctor is very good about it, being he's a Christian himself.

They are expensive though, so be forewarned.

Let me find a link and I'll be back.

Okay, here ya go: www.tkd.org Nope, this isn't the right link. This ones for members. Somewhere there's a different one. Let me go look again. This is the correct link: www.itatiger.com

 

Define "Christian" martial arts. I believe that martial arts has its roots in eastern mysticism---a religion that causes you to "look within"....therefore there is nothing "Christian" about martial arts, IMHO. Read this short article from the Berean Call:

http://www.thebereancall.org/node/2773

 

What religion junk is being mixed in ?
Zen is the only thing I can think of, and I believe one can opt out of it.
Chi or Ki is not exactly religion.
It is the use of power from within, concentrated and released from the navel area, coupled with proper hip techniques in the execution of blows, kicks and blocks.
One can harness the power of ki thru exercises in concentration without reciting any "mantra" or without being a zen disciple.
When mastered, the technique of ki is what makes it possible to have the ability to break bricks, blocks, or wood with hands that look like that of a piano player, instead of the hands with callouses that look like a monkey's behind like the one on the knuckles of the late (?) Masutatsu Oyama.
Our sensei back in the 60's and 70's, Yuri Sazaki, had fingers like a piano player's and yet has the ability to snuff out a candle's light with a blow that is held back and pulled an inch from target.

I understand John of Japan is himself a karate enthusiast and player, and I do not think he got himself necessarily mixed up in any religion junk, especially if he learned the art in Japan itself.

But, if I had a son these days, I would encourage him to go to Kodokan Judo or maybe Sport Aikido, much more gentler forms of martial art but equally as effective.

Today's karate has gone away from the art it used to be.

Too much emphasis on strength and ferocity so that the equally important aspects of stance, form, balance and delivery are sacrificed.

 

I went and read the article.
Yoga is not martial arts.
I agree with the author that yoga can open up the practitioner to the occult, much like the Ouija board does.
My younger brother used to practice yoga, he was one of the people credited with helping spread the practice to the Philippines.
He testified that he had the ability to remove clothing in extremely cold weather and enter into a state of extreme concentration that he actually sweats.
In addition, he learned some strange things which we were later on able to define as spiritism, and white witchcraft, after he was converted and turned his back on the practice.
I guess religious junk, as shotgun willie has termed it, can indeed be injected into martial arts as well, but it will all depend on the instructor or sensei, and the student.
If I were a parent I would be very emphatic about not having the instructor mix in religion or his brand of "spirituality" when enrolling my child, and will tell my child to immediately inform me if he notices a drift towards such.
Just like somebody enrolling his child in a Roman Catholic school because he believes instructions are better.
He can emphasize that they are not Catholics and his child will therefore excuse himself from requirements to attend mass or such.

 

Send me a PM with the name of your city in it and I'll see if I can recommend a good one. I'm a rep for a couple of different Christian martial arts organizations.

Learn more about the Christian martial arts at www.gmau.org.

 

This article has nothing to do with the martial arts except for a brief mention of the word ki. Yoga is not a martial art, nor do most martial artists (especially in the US) practice yoga.

Asian martial arts that are specifically Christian have existed in America since the late 1960's. In those days, Bob Jones U. started evangelistic teams named "The Judo Gentlemen" and "Karate for Christ," and did great good for the Lord--with no admixture of Asian religion. I am a witness to this because I first trained in Judo and Karate there in 1970-1972, did a demonstration with the Judo team and was asked to join the karate team.

At about the same time Evangelist Mike Crain founded "Judo and Karate for Christ" in Chattanooga, TN, and taught his martial arts at Tennessee Temple, an independent Baptist school. Mike then joined a Chinese kung fu organization and began teaching that martial art I am a witness to this because I trained in kung fu under Mike (still a good friend) and got my first black belt under him, and learned most of my kung fu from his top student. Once again, Mike totally rejected all Asian religion and philosophy, and would be offended if someone called his martial art "Asian religion."

The Christian martial arts are a growing movement, and various martial art styles that are openly Christian have been started. I am the director of the black belt organization of one such style called Temple Chinese Boxing. We require our students to learn the Bible and grow as Christians, and do Christian martial arts demonstrations. (I did one last week.)

I hope this helps clear up things. :type:

 

As a teen, I took a martial arts as a extra curriculum course. I made my way up to brown belt and was very wanting to achieve the status of black belt.

Even at brown, I could break boards or bricks using feet, hands and even head.

One thing that my instructor taught me from the beginning is this. "The power to acheive is already in each and every one. He or she must look within themselves to realize it and bring it to the surface."

One day, while trying to find books on the different martial arts at the library, I found an article that said the martial arts began in eastern mysticism. Looking to God's Word and reading that the flesh is vile and the heart desparately wicked, I began to realize the martial arts were not for me. God does not want us to look to ourselves for power at all! He desires us to depend on Him and Him alone.

I put away my gi and my belt in 1974 and have never had the desire to put them on again.

 

I'm afraid the article you read sadly mislead you. The average Japanese or Chinese martial artist would disagree with it.

I have practiced my martial arts, both Asian and Western) for the glory of God and to win souls for 41 years now, including my catch-as-catch-can wrestling experience in high school. (American traditional wrestling is definitely a martial art.)

 

or...
It is you that is misled concerning martial arts.

Martial Arts were introduced to China somewhere between 520 - 529, Damo by Dharma Buddha from Nepal.

 

I received a black belt in Taekwondo about a decade ago. Quit right when I passed my test, money was tight at the time. Enrolled a few times since to refresh myself, but only stayed training for maybe 3-4 months at a time.

The instructor gave us a few photocopied sheets of information regarding the history. Seems to me many of it's orgins are rooted in Japan, and it's a form of karate which originated from other forms of karate.
There were many Christians in the classes.

There was no religion, or "looking into our inner self" taught by the owner/instructor.

 

Master Jun Lee would disagree with you on your view of Tae Kwon Do.