Martial Arts- are they too violent to practice?

[surfinpure]

Sorry, I’m jumping in a little late in this thread.

One word of caution:

Ed Parker, the founder of Kempo Karate was a devout Mormon. He stated in more than one occasion that the use of Mormon symbolism in his style is no accident. He considered his school to be a place of Mormon indoctrination. More than 200 of his senior student converted to Mormonism and they in turn started their own school to convert more students.

For many young people, learning martial arts is a door to New Age philosophy and Eastern religion. This is no accident. Many instructors considers the religion part of the art.

As a convert from Buddhism with 35 year of martial arts training I urge Catholic parents to send their children to only rock-solid Catholic instructors. Do your homework.

I believe you mean Kenpo. I have a good friend who holds a black belt in Kenpo, but hasn’t seemed to pick up any of the Mormon ideology. Not all instructors are steeped in the religiosity or spirituality that some styles are associated with. In fact, despite thorough cross-training and exposure to other masters and styles, I have only once or twice encountered the slightest hints of the New Age movement. So while it may be out there, I believe it rarely creeps into the classroom. In fact, most of the martial arts school owners I know are either Christian or Catholic, and openly so.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

I believe you mean Kenpo. I have a good friend who holds a black belt in Kenpo, but hasn’t seemed to pick up any of the Mormon ideology. Not all instructors are steeped in the religiosity or spirituality that some styles are associated with. In fact, despite thorough cross-training and exposure to other masters and styles, I have only once or twice encountered the slightest hints of the New Age movement. So while it may be out there, I believe it rarely creeps into the classroom. In fact, most of the martial arts school owners I know are either Christian or Catholic, and openly so.

I believe it can also be spelled Kempo. As in tempura, gambatte, sempai.

I like using the ‘n’ though.

 

[Dai_Yoshida]

I believe you mean Kenpo. I have a good friend who holds a black belt in Kenpo, but hasn’t seemed to pick up any of the Mormon ideology. Not all instructors are steeped in the religiosity or spirituality that some styles are associated with. In fact, despite thorough cross-training and exposure to other masters and styles, I have only once or twice encountered the slightest hints of the New Age movement. So while it may be out there, I believe it rarely creeps into the classroom. In fact, most of the martial arts school owners I know are either Christian or Catholic, and openly so.

It’s spelled Kempo or Kenpo depending on the lineage. Same difference. Phonetic Transliteration of same Japanese word.

There is also Shorinji Kenpo, and other Kempo style which are unrelated to Ed Parker Kempo (or Kenpo) Karate.

Again, be very careful. Nobody is going to call their school “Mormon Karate”.