Religions in sports?

[dje101]

Hi everyone,

I am currently listening Catholic Radio and they are talking about how dangerous certain physical activities are to our faith. They are talking about things like Tai Chi and yoga…but then the caller asked about kickboxing, and the hosts said that it is the same thing. Is boxing really against the Christian faith??? I love kickboxing!! What the heck? Am I missing something?

 

[LDNCatholic]

Hi everyone,

I am currently listening Catholic Radio and they are talking about how dangerous certain physical activities are to our faith. They are talking about things like Tai Chi and yoga…but then the caller asked about kickboxing, and the hosts said that it is the same thing. Is boxing really against the Christian faith??? I love kickboxing!! What the heck? Am I missing something?

I’m going with no.

It’s a common misunderstanding that all Eastern martial arts (which includes kickboxing despite being arguably invented by an American) include chi/ki and other such mystical features from Eastern religions.

I’d say the radio hosts probably made this mistake.

On a moral level kickboxing is no different to Western boxing.

 

[dje101]

I’m going with no.

It’s a common misunderstanding that all Eastern martial arts (which includes kickboxing despite being arguably invented by an American) include chi/ki and other such mystical features from Eastern religions.

I’d say the radio hosts probably made this mistake.

On a moral level kickboxing is no different to Western boxing.

They were talking about the things that these different sports (tai chi, yoga) make you feel and bring about a type of spiritualism. I was think that they meant that kickboxing could fall under the same category if it was brought about with the intention of becoming spiritual, but i’ve never heard anything remotely spiritual during kickboxing classes.

 

[LDNCatholic]

but i’ve never heard anything remotely spiritual during kickboxing classes.

You see some funny things mate, and some funny people.

There are a fair few ‘‘coaches’’ out there who think a martial arts instructor is supposed to be like Mr. Miyagi, doling out spiritual advice like a pseudo priest.

But, some people buy into that in a big way. One of the bad things that came from the kung fu movie boom.

 

[dje101]

You see some funny things mate, and some funny people.

There are a fair few ‘‘coaches’’ out there who think a martial arts instructor is supposed to be like Mr. Miyagi, doling out spiritual advice like a pseudo priest.

But, some people buy into that in a big way. One of the bad things that came from the kung fu movie boom.

cool. thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut.

 

[Planty_Pall]

Hi everyone,

I am currently listening Catholic Radio and they are talking about how dangerous certain physical activities are to our faith. They are talking about things like Tai Chi and yoga…but then the caller asked about kickboxing, and the hosts said that it is the same thing. Is boxing really against the Christian faith??? I love kickboxing!! What the heck? Am I missing something?

At its worst, the violence in some sports can easily lead to a desire to see someone get hurt. A lust for blood, or pleasure at someone’s pain would be very harmful to the soul. But I think if we are aware of it, we can appreciate the art and science behind some of the potentially violent sports. I have always followed boxing have become interested in Mixed Martial Arts.

The goal isn’t supposed to be to hurt your opponent, but to gain mastery over him, whatever detractors of these sports may say. I think it is very rare that some monster truly wants to permanently hurt an opponent. I think I recall that it was Rocky Marciano I heard once talking about the bond that can actually unite the fellow pugilists. To compete so intimately against each other can create a shared experience that I suspect few of us can appreciate. One who knows what to look for can see that without certain virtues such as courage and prudence, an athlete will never succeed at a high level. It can be fascinating to watch two highly trained athletes probe for the right combination of skill, smarts, and courage to outwit, intimidate, outmaneuver, or overpower his counterpart.

Planty Pall