Martial Arts Training and Spirituality

Hey
I have found that my training has rounded out my spiritual walk as a Christian. Has anyone else experienced this?
CrossTraining

I think many who train in an art, martial or otherwise, find it informs whatever spiritual path they may be on.

Not as a Christian (cos I'm not) but generally, yes. I'm always glad to hear Christians saying they have positive spiritual experiences with MA as I've read a number of articles condemning it from a biblical standpoint (but also many going the opposite way too).

I'd be interested in hearing HOW it has benefitted your spiritual path, as sometimes I have Christian friends who enquire about MA but are unsure whether it is OK with their beliefs.

Best,

TREV:-)

Sure, I'll tell you. For the longest time I thought that it was spiritual to deny the part of me that enjoyed activities like MA. I didn't think they were bad, but I thought I would always be outside the Karate studio looking in because I thought that was the right thing to do. It wasn't until I really looked into the scriptures with a men's group I was a part of that I realized that as a created being it would be more pleasing to my creator if I lived to my fullest potential. I figured it can't hurt to try, so I signed up for a three month intro. offer and I found a part of me come to life, it was awesome. That was three years ago. I'm not the best guy on the mat but I'll fully alive.
CrossTraining

I just recently started going back to church.I belive martial arts and religon can co-exist on a certain level.God does not want us to live a dead, dull, boring life.Whatever makes us happy and we are doing right by it (God does not wanting us going around shuto chopping people for fun! )

I think we need to make the clear distinction between religion and spirituality. It's not the same thing, IMHO.

It's not. Religion is the dogma issued by men to control other men. Spirituality is the attempt by a person to attain something higher.

I totally agree,,I also agree that religion isn't the same as spirituality.. In my situation I focus on a relationship with God. I think that was why stepping onto the mat for the first time made me feel so good, my love for the Martial Arts and my love for God was no longer governed by a Dogma but a relationship and decision that I partnered in. Awesome........
I hope that makes sense.

I know of Christians who do not do MA or Tai Chi because the former is related or originated from Shaolin Temple (Buddhism) and the latter Taoism.

The question is can we have spirituality without religion?

It comes down to a matter of definition I suppose.

CrossTraining: That is great. Thanks.

I'm not a Christian nor do I practice any type of religion but over the years I find myself reading as many books on Zen as possible. Don't know if it's just because there are so many around the MA practioners availability or that MA and Zen are hand in hand? I've been told by some of my Catholic friends that Zen has made them a better Christians and other people have accused me of worshipping false gods so that's why I never talk about it with many people. My father always told me, "if you want to end a good party start to talk about politics, reigion or sex"!