kchenault

Monkeygirl, I used to work for the pet department in Wal-mart, so I speak from experience. DO NOT NAME THAT FISH! If you do, you will cause it's untimely demise. Most women that named their male bettas brought them back a couple of days later, deader than a doornail. My recommendation would be to just call it fish, and leave it at that.

Thanks to all who have read this article. Thanks especially to those who have commented. It means alot to me.

Amen!

Thanks monkeygirl. I try to write like I talk. the main point of my article is this. It's okay for Christians to be martial artists. I hope this point comes across in the article.

Thanks man. Much appreciated.

We played an on line game of Survivor and I won. The title was where my brown belt is now. It said Survivor 2 Champion. That's all. It was mostly about my blue belt. Thanks by the way.

Moisture content has so much to do with it. Kick or punch a dry board and it snaps like a twig. Take a green board and do the same technique and see the difference. I had to break all green(wet) boards for our break-a-thon earlier this year and it felt like I was kicking a brick. No kidding. It actually hurt to do a jump reverse kick to this board.

I just noticed that my Survivor 2 Champion status has been replaced with a brown belt. Oh well, it couldn't last forever. Oh yeah, I passed my blue belt test a couple of weeks ago. I am now back to where I was 8 years ago, and it only took me a year to get there. Took me two years the first time around.

Hey Shoto, welcome back.

Shatner is William Shatner. The guy who plays Capt. Kirk on Star Trek. Chocolatey just sounds gross with the name. eeeewwwwwww!

Thank you for the thoughts and kind words, both of you. My words are meant to be an encouragement and a precautionary warning. Scorcho, not to sound inflammatory, but I would like to see a list of names of Christian leaders who have delved into eastern meditation and mysticism, if you don't mind.

No problem.

Don't be facetious battousai16. People were talking about Bruce Lee, everyone knows that. The man died when I was three. Do you call him Mr. Lee? Sounds like a 50's song to me. I was simply showing the differences in the spelling and pronunciation of each name.

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. Some have been called war mongers, mystics, heroes and some, just plain old bad dudes. Martial artists have gone by many names throughout the centuries. Here in America, in the last say, 60 years to round it out, more and more have started to call themselves Christians. Now some of you might be thinking, “Oh no, he’s gonna talk religion.” And you’d be right, to a certain extent. What I hope to address through this article is the concern of some Christians that are worried that their chosen art is not compatible with their chosen Savior. You’ll notice that I use capital letters on some words here because they hold a place of reverence for me. I don’t mean to offend, but it is my article after all. So, humor a guy and take it with a grain of salt. I also can’t speak for all martial arts either, as I don’t know the specifics of all of them. I will focus on the style of Tae Kwon Do that I study. So without further adieu, I will give a brief outline of the questions I hope to answer. 1. What about all that hitting and kicking you do to each other? Doesn’t that go against Christ’s teaching you to turn the other cheek? 2. Don’t you people worship Buddha or something? 3. What are you doing sitting on the floor all cross-legged? Are you praying or something? 4. What about all that bowing? So, let's get to it: 1. What about all that hitting and kicking you do to each other? Doesn’t that go against Christ’s teaching you to turn the other cheek? Hitting and kicking, as the question puts it, is an essential part of almost all martial arts, in some way, shape or form. Without those two elements you pretty much lose the martial aspect of the art. Utilizing punches and kicks are very important to a system of self-defense or as TKD has become, a martial sport. When Christ said to turn the other cheek (paraphrased), he didn’t tell us to become human punching bags. He was simply stating that if someone needs something bad enough to attack you and steal it from you, to give it to them and let God take care of the punishment for you. Should we not defend ourselves from wanton attacks that have nothing to do with our possessions? Of course we should. People in the scriptures have always been prone to violence. King David was a man of blood, as God called him. That is why he was not permitted to build the Jewish Temple for the Lord. But, God also called him a man after His own heart. David loved God, but he lived in a time of war and he made major mistakes in his life, but God still loved him back. So does learning a form of self-defense or martial sport keep us from living, as Christ would have us to? The simple answer is no. 2. Don’t you people worship Buddha or something? Buddha is pretty cut and dried for modern TKD. In ancient times, however, Buddhism played an integral part in Korea’s history. The form that I learned for my last belt testing is called Won-Hyo. It was named after the monk that introduced Buddhism to Korea in 686 A.D. and from what I can tell, doesn’t have any effect on the TKD of today. Other martial arts seem to have a more spiritual side to them. Such arts would be Aikido, Haidong Gumdo and many forms of Gung Fu. I say this in my limited knowledge of other arts and mean no offense to anyone or their chosen art. I find some of these arts to be of great interest to myself, but find myself reserved because of their spiritual ties. As for TKD, there is no overt spirituality that I can speak of. In fact, both of my master instructors are Christians. 3. What are you doing sitting on the floor all cross-legged? Are you praying or something? Meditation can be a refreshing experience and yes, I have used it as a time to pray to my God. But the main form of meditation that I have encountered in TKD is simply letting your mind dwell on a technique or form. Running it over and over in your mind, to help you visualize it to perfection and hope beyond hope that it will enhance the performance of your physical execution of that technique or form. Meditation can be used for many things and should not be construed solely as an act of worship. Meditation is not the sole property of the new age gurus in the world. 4. What about all that bowing? To bow, or not to bow? That is the question. And as of late, one that has received some press. It would seem that two students of a martial art refused to bow in class due to religious conviction, which is fine, nothing wrong with that, but they probably should have realized it would bite them in the end. Their particular art made bowing in certain instances, mandatory. Bowing, as many things in the martial arts can be construed as an act of worship. On the other hand, it can also show a deep respect for the person or thing you are bowing to. Christians bow to the Lord Jesus Christ, which every good Christian should do. It is an act of worship for them. Therefore, it is acceptable to that religion. It can, however, be used to show great respect for a person, such as anyone who holds a higher rank than you, or an object, such as a katana, for recognizing the potential beauty and destructive power it has, in the hands of an experienced swordsman. It all comes down to one thing really. What’s in your heart? In your heart do you worship the person you’re bowing to? Does that katana or daito hold sway over your decisions in life? If so, as a Christian, you have some idolatry issues that should be dealt with. But idolatry comes in many forms. The love of money being the most common, and the one that Jesus talked about quite a bit. Anything that takes the place of Christ in the life of a Christian should be avoided. I know, easier said than done, but Christians are called to it, nonetheless. I, personally, bow simply out of respect for my instructors and for their teaching me what I have come to learn. Christians shouldn’t be afraid of learning a martial art. However, they should be very cautious about what form of martial art they learn. In the humble opinion of this writer, they should shy away from any art that has overt religious elements incorporated into it. The choice, however, is one that must be made with prayer and supplication to the Lord, while patiently waiting for an answer from Him on what road to take, but the road is yours to choose. Choose wisely. Pilsung!

One of my favorites.

Gosh, I remember that same scenario in just about every film I saw on Kung Fu Theater. Find a Sun Coast Video store near you and then look in the action section. They sells tons of KF videos.

Very cool action scenes and gun fights. The best gunfights IMO. Standing in a circle of dudes with massive weapons and just by shifting your aim, taking them all out. Stunning. Christian Bale is an action hero waiting to happen. Check out Reign of Fire to see this great actor do his thing.

Ours used to be called Lil Dragons, but is now called Little Ninjas. I think it has something to do with licensing through Century who owns the trademark on Lil Dragons. As a side note, Bruce's name was "Little Dragon" and not Lil Dragon.

Man I hope you're just being sarcastic. If not, you're thinking of Steven Segal. And you being an Aikido practitioner. Shame on you. He isn't in the same class as Chuck IMO. Chuck has done so much for kids and the MA. He is one of my MA heroes and always has been.

First film best part, two words: Elizabeth Shue Second Film best part, two words: Tamlyn Tomita Third Film best part, two words: Robin Lively I liked them alot when I was younger and my kids like them now. The movies that is.

Kenneth "Courageous" Chenault You are more than a hero. You are an inspiration to your friends and a respected rival to your worst enemy. You take the big risks to protect your friends, family and country. Not many can walk in your shoes. Vital Gear Includes an item of clothing with your country's flag on it, picture of a loved one in wallet and strength of spirit. That would be me.

I have a 12 yr. old Siamese mix cat named Sealy(for the seal point breed) and we just got a 13 wk old purebred Sheltie, named Chloe.

Thanks for the link on that story. My heartfelt sympathies and prayers to the family and friends of Mr. Gong.

Chuck Norris would kick JCVD's butt! Are you kidding me AUSSIE? Chuck Norris was wiping the floor with guys long before VanDamme was taking up first position on the ballerina bar. Please refrain from ridiculous statements against Mr. Norris.

You forgot the name Jo Billy Jo Jim Bob