Though I have only been a buddhist for a short time, I have been a martial artist, or at least a martial arts enthusiast for much longer. Now, Buddhism is a supremely peaceful religion, violence is not preferred under any circumstances. Yet at the same time It is a realistic religion, not an idealistic one. A proper Buddhist understands that violence is sometimes the only way to survive, it is unfortunate but it is the truth. when attacked by animals or aggressive criminals, all the wisdom and inner peace in the world will not help you. There are times where the minds stronger powers such as reason and compassion are either of no use or simply too slow to be useful. Enlightenment cannot stop a bullet, and compassion cannot calm a rabid dog. But still, buddhism teaches karma, meaning everything that happens is the result of a previous occurrence. So things such as this are often written off as unfortunately, unavoidable. Knowing this, one would think that Buddhism would specifically forbid training to fight. And that it is better to not worry about what /might/ happen and avoid violence anyway right? Not necessarily...
The best example of why this isn't necessarily true is that of the monks of Shaolin temple. Shaolin temple is a temple of the Mahayana Buddhist sect called cha'n (more commonly known as "Zen" Its Japanese pronunciation). The monks of this temple, while peaceful, happy and kind as any other Buddhist monks, just so happen to be some of the most powerful fighters in the world. Capable of smashing through rock, wood and steel with relative ease. And capable of taking hits so tremendously brutal that any other man would be reduced to a wailing pile of bruises and blood. They have been known to take crowbars to the head, baseball bats to the ribs and bricks to the face without so much as a fracture or a bloody nose. they hang by the throat for several hours and literally punch through concrete walls for training every day. Some report them even being able to take down a raging bull bare handed. they're that powerful. Now what on earth do Buddhist monks think they're doing practicing martial arts to such an extreme?? Well the answer to that lies in both the spirit of martial arts and buddhism as well as psychology. There is also a practical reason some monks practiced martial arts as well, The ancient and feudal age world was full of danger and lawlessness. A traveling monk was an easy target for bandits. Granted they didn't have much to steal. But you know how that goes. A temple is an even better place to rob, full of pacifist monks with lots of valuable food and supplies to steal, and no military guards. So naturally they had to defend themselves somehow. And it wasn't like nowadays, where guns overpower just about any martial art. In that time, a powerful martial artist was truly something for criminals to fear. So that is part of how monks and martial arts came to be connected. But this article is more about why they still do this in the modern world. And why they believe that martial arts actually improves their practice as buddhists.
Now its no secret, martial arts is awesome. When people think of martial arts, images of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee might come to mind. But monks? like the Dalai Lama? what would they see in the martial arts? Well, the truth is that traditional martial arts are not just about kicking butt and taking names. Martial arts... proper martial arts, is also non violent and pro-peace. Its about training of the mind and body, and excellence of self. A healthy body leads to a healthier mind and a healthy mind to a healthier body. Its a beautiful cycle. Learning to fight and take down one opponent after another seems to clash with the buddhist desire for compassion and love. But thats not so... to master martial arts is to know confidence. to know confidence is to know courage, and to know courage is to know how to stay cool in dangerous situations. In a situation where you are attacked, one who does not know how to fight will only know fear. and fear leads to irrational decisions. The courageous and cool mind of a true martial artist and the compassionate and loving nature of buddhism is a perfect combination! It's just that martial arts serve the solider and the assassin just as well but for different reasons...
The Buddha once said, "you yourself, as much as anyone in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection". We can take this to mean that while we do not wish others to suffer, we do not wish ourselves to suffer either. So if you are fighting for yourself or another makes no difference. the point is to prevent needless suffering at the hands of another. But you do not want them to suffer needlessly either. Martial arts is perfect for filling that gap. A good martial artist can shut down an unskilled opponent with incredible swiftness. And that is an act of compassion. you cannot let yourself or another suffer at the hands of this aggressor. But if you don't know martial arts its hard to defend yourself without straight up killing the guy, or recklessly beating his face in with a rock or something. A martial artist is capable of dishing out a lot of long term and often lethal damage. But his hands are controlled and calculated. he can also win a conflict without causing any unnecessary suffering to his opponent. And many people are oddly enough, very eager to open up to a guy who can so easily hand them their arse on a silver platter, yet will help them to the hospital afterwards. it's the oldest form of winning instant respect.
So in summary, The logic behind martial arts in connection to Buddhism is that martial arts is an excellent way to improve the mind and body. Wisdom is a virtue, but one that often goes out the window when fear is involved. Same with compassion, fear causes us to become wild animals. Lack of action when a person is being hurt by another is not very compassionate. So martial arts is a way to shield yourself and the innocent from suffering while doing as little harm as possible to those with evil in their hearts. After all, we all have buddha nature, some people have just fallen off the path of awakening. It's actually a perfect way to spread compassion and master yourself to a much higher degree. They are only so strong because they have mastered the mysterious power of Qi (or ki). That is, internal energy, It is the ultimate power of the human species. And if you can master the body to such an extreme, certainly you are disciplined enough to attain full spiritual and mental enlightenment as well. And that is the connection between buddhism and martial arts. It seems a contradiction at a glance. But there is in fact, a very logical and powerful significance behind the practice.
Thank you dear readers. I will see you in the next article, may you all know peace and happiness ^^
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