ou might be asking yourself "Why is this section here? What does this have to do with Wing Chun?" Many martial arts refer to their philosophies of Zen, Buddhism, Taoism, etc., and most will rarely think twice about it. People are so used to seeing it that they even come to expect it.

Mention "Christianity," though, and you get a different reaction.

I have heard a wide range of opinions over the years as to the pros and cons of Christians who train a martial art. From a few Chinese practitioners claiming that "Jesus is ruining the world" to fellow Christians believing that violence and anger are the same thing, I have also heard pro Christian martial artists who express the wrong message.

These practitioners point to the Bible's message of "dress yourself with God's armor" and interpret this as "permission" for fighting. Naturally that is ridiculous, since reading the entire message means something completely different.

The problem, though, is that when someone takes something out of context, you can make it say anything you want. The Jehovah's Witnesses are extremely good at that, but by no means are they the only ones.

AWCAOnline has been a true joy for me. Not only do I get to receive a plethora of interesting email, but I also get to converse with a variety of practitioners from varied belief systems. Most of these conversations are positive and well-meaning, but unfortunately there is also the periodic racist or hate-monger.

Some of them think that just because it is the Internet, it gives them a license for being rude or "running down" someone because they do not train, think or believe the same way they do. They use foul language and rude behavior, and through their own emails, they demonstrate their immaturity and prejudice.

Of the few negative emails I have received, they almost always have the same basic message: "How can a Christian justify training in a martial art? A martial art is violent and for fighting, whereas your so-called Christianity is supposed to be passive and peaceful. I'd like to take your Christianity and shove it up your..."

Yes, that is a real email I received. In one fell swoop, the sender demonstrated not only their lack of maturity and simple respect, but also their understanding (or lack thereof). They have limited knowledge as to what a martial art is about, much less Christianity. However, they are not alone in the latter.

It is my hope that this section will help to answer how a Christian justifies their training of a martial art.

In reality, there is no such thing as a "Christian" martial art. It is not a system, a style, or anything remotely as such. Instead, the term simply denotes a Christian, a follower of the message of Jesus Christ, who also happens to train in a martial art.

We are not martial artists who "happen" to be Christian; on the contrary, we are Christians who "happen" to be martial artists. Is it acceptable for a Christian to train a martial art? Yes, it is, provided that a few areas are first addressed.

• It is not acceptable for a Christian to engage in non-Christian religious training or practices. Many schools include shrines that pay homage to Buddha or other worship-oriented practices, but this would be inappropriate for a Christian to participate in.

• It is not acceptable for a Christian to train in "death arts" or methods designed primarily for taking the life of your opponent. The realm of self-defense is broad, that's true, and many situations can and do result that are impossible to predict. We learn how to preserve our own life and the lives of our families vs. intentionally taking the life of our opponent as a first response.

• It is not acceptable for a Christian to "chant" or learn meditation as it relates to martial training. By "martial training," this refers to meditation that "calms the body by allowing the environment to assist your enlightenment." For a Christian, there is no enlightenment for man outside of Jesus Christ.

• It is acceptable to bow to your teacher, your training family, or even to photos of deceased grandmasters, founders, teachers, This is not a form of worship; instead, it is a show of respect, similar to shaking hands in the west. Do not confuse a simple show of respect as being the same thing as worship (unless you mean it to be , and in that case, it would be inappropriate).

• It is acceptable to call your teacher Sifu, Sensei or even "master" if that is his/her respective title. All Christians acknowledge Jesus as our one and only true Master, yet "master" in this sense is not a form of worship and it is perfectly acceptable. The terms "Sifu," "Sensei" and "Master" are interchangeable on many levels, and it simply denotes "teacher" in one form or another. It is not a form or worship unless you intend it to be. In the martial arts, it simply refers to one who is highly skilled and proficient in their chosen art.

Basic human instinct causes us to protect ourselves when threatened. This self-preservation is built-in. You "can" control it to a point, but you cannot remove it (nor should you even want to). Self-preservation is why we do not stand in front of a bullet train or oncoming traffic. It is why we know that when a rattlesnake is angry, we better watch where we step. It is why we do not jump off of buildings and pretend that we can fly.

Self-preservation keeps you from wandering around aimlessly, blinded to the dangers around you. And self-defense goes hand-in-hand with self-preservation. Protection of ourselves, our families and our communities is simply a part of us, but by no means is self-defense the same as "violence." They are different emotions, having nothing to do with each other.

In the Old Testament, "an eye for an eye" (Matthew 5:38) is one of the most misunderstood and misquoted verses of the Bible. A lot of people think that it means a "payback," or a license to take matters into their own hands. In reality, though, it refers to restitution.

If someone steals something from you, they are to pay it back with like kind. If they injure you, they are to make amends. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

The New Testament, however, changes this.

Instead of everything coming down to the wrongdoer and his/her responsibilities, Jesus tells us that it all comes down to us. We are to forgive those that wrong us and we are to "turn the other cheek." The new law does not release the wrongdoer from blame; rather, Jesus is teaching us that forgiveness and love starts with us.

Jesus is certainly not condoning retribution or violence, nor is He saying that it is "ok" for someone to do something wrong to us because they will get off Scott free. Self-defense is completely different from that.

If someone were to break into your home, what would you do? Would you stand idly by and watch these attackers accost your family, doing nothing to stop them? Of course not. You would do something to intervene because it is your family. You love them and you do not want harm to come to them.

As theologians J.P.Moreland and Norman Geisler stated it:

To permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong. To allow a rape when one could have hindered it is an evil. To watch an act of cruelty to children without trying to intervene is morally inexcusable. In brief, not resisting evil is an evil of omission, and an evil of omission can be just as evil as an evil of commission. Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally.

Should a situation like this occur, which would you prefer: having a reliable skill for defending yourself and your family, or "flailing about," not knowing what to do? Without trained, reliable skills, you take a chance, but that chance can become a grave situation. By knowing what to do and how to do it, you increase your odds of protecting your family and keeping them safe.

The Bible teaches us about loving God and accepting Jesus as our personal Savior, and it also teaches us about loving our neighbors as ourselves. Does this sound like "violence" and "self-defense" are the same? It does not to me. Did Jesus teach us that we should stand idly by and allow evil to run rampant? Of course not. He said to trust Him with all things, and we most certainly do. But many have taken that to mean that we are just mindless robots incapable of any action.

Quite a few still believe that all martial arts are based on Asian religious beliefs, which is another fallacy. Yes, there are schools out there that include religious philosophies in their curriculums, and in some cases, they intentionally hide that fact because they know that they would not be able to recruit students who did not follow their religion.

But to think that all martial arts or schools teach these religions or philosophies is just simply not true.

Throughout mankind's history, self-defense in one form or another has always been a matter of fact, a "necessity" if you will. Protection from those that thrive on causing harm to others is simply the nature of mankind, so self-defense is nothing new to us.

"Formalized" instruction of the martial arts are said to have originated with simple exercises designed to increase the health of various monks while they endured their meditation. They remained sedentary for most of the day, so over time, this inaction began to deteriorate their bodies.

Exercises were created to improve their health, and from this, the formal methods of martial arts were born. Whatever developed outside of the physical training, however, is solely from the influence of various practitioners and is not due to any kind of religious belief.

If you encounter a martial arts school that is about a religion, I recommend that you steer clear of it (unless you follow that particular religion, of course).

A plethora of symbols and logos abound to represent systems, styles, and individual schools. And while some of these symbols "can" represent a specific belief, not all of them do. In fact, at least from what I have seen, very few of them actually do. Some do, but not all.

Are some logos and symbols representative of a particular belief system? Yes, sometimes they are. And is the organization that displays a particular logo following a particular belief system? Possibly. Maybe they are, maybe they are not. Who can say for sure without actually meeting them and finding out what they believe in?

But do all martial arts symbols and logos automatically point to the following of an eastern religion? Absolutely not, and anyone that actually thinks this needs to become educated vs. immediately thinking something that is not true. Sure, some of the symbols are quite obvious, but not all of them mean what someone initially "thinks" it means.

Some will say that calling your teacher "master" is contrary to Biblical teachings, that Jesus and only Jesus is our master. Again, this is a misunderstanding of martial culture and terminology. They are correct in that we have only one true master, and our Master is Jesus Christ. However, many will take the term "master" out of context as to how a martial artist uses the terms of address.

As mentioned previously, Asian languages do not regard the term "master" as a Christian would. Because the words for "master," "teacher" and "instructor" are interchangeable, they do not denote a form of worship; instead, they are simply titles of respect.

Interestingly enough, the same analogy applies to other languages, and very few have a problem with it.

The the term "Rabbi" means "my great one," yet this does not indicate that someone is worshipping a rabbi, does it? Of course not. A rabbi is a teacher of the Scripture passed down from God to man. A follower of Judaism is not worshipping his/her rabbi; instead, they are worshipping God, and only God.

And what about "sir" or "madam," common terms of address we see today? "Sir" stems from "sire," whereas "madam" stems from "my Dame" (meaning "my Lady"). These were titles of respect, perfectly fine for the times and by no means indicating "worship" by any sense of the word. However, "sire" was also used with "my lord." Did that mean that the title indicated the "holder" as being God? Of course not.

And what if a Christian plays in the symphony orchestra? The conductor is called a "maestro," which in Italian means "master." Does that mean that that orchestra is worshipping the conductor? Of course not (and if you are, then you really have issues).

As you can see, the terms in martial arts have nothing to do with worship of any kind. They are simply terms of address, many of the same terms that are applied to other occupations. I say "generally," of course, because I do not know every single martial art in existence (nor does anyone else); so to know exactly what someone is teaching and in the manner they are teaching it? You have to talk to them vs. assuming something.

Despite the arguments that some anti-Christian martial artists present, there is absolutely nothing in the Bible that would prevent a Christian from learning a method of self-defense, provided that the above points are addressed. Does the Bible explicitly state that it is acceptable? No. But does it explicitly or even remotely state that it is not acceptable? No. It does not.

I am not saying that all Christians should suddenly run out and start training in self-defense. Everyone must make that decision for him/herself; however, I am saying that there is nothing in the Bible that even remotely hints that learning a systemized method of defense in order to protect yourself, your families, or your communities goes against God's Word.

Christian Martial Arts

Updated: 08.23.2008 11:47AM MST