Thanks to all of those that have answered the first question, its very helpful and good to see some strong debates coming. Here is my second question...
Is it possible to see/practice karate as a religion?
Bit of a different one this time, I look forward to hearing your opinions
Osu
Karate, what it stands for, is down to ones own individual opinion. Mine personally is that it is simply a hobby that one can thoroughly enjoy and practice on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteDico
GYCNET
Hmmmmm a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons.
ReplyDeleteDepends upon if you beleive putting your hands in the air is a belief or not? If we took the principal rules of karate-do - karate begins and ends with a bow, etc a little more seriously and that became the agreed set of beliefs...
Then sure why not. It is not too far a stretch to put Martial art in a category of religion.
Karate is Zen -
ReplyDeleteaccording to Master Oyama and many other karate masters.
Zen Buddhism has been called the "Religion of Immediate Reality." The aim of Zen being to awaken an individual to his true self and thus bring about a degree of self-knowledge via meditation.
A Zen student seeks peace of mind through an awakening of an intuitive wisdom, which they believe is dormant in others.
Zen meditation tries to achieve "no mindedness" which may be acquired by concentration and special breathing exercises.
Thus Karate, when combined with Zen meditation, can be used to assist in a student's quest for peace of mind in a conflict or tense situation.
Bodisatvha