Prayer in the School

[backfist]

Some MA shools, particularly those that are either Kenpo-based or Hawaiian, begin and end class with a Christian prayer. Have others done this, and if so, how do students/parents view it?

[G95champ]

Their are a lot of MA schools that is tied to any given religion. We do meditation and I tell my students if they wish to pray then thats cool. The teachings of MA such as no first attack, high morals, respcet, etc go hand in hand with Christianity and Buddhism IMO.

[gheinisch]

My school is the U.S. Christian Academy of the Martial Arts so we start and end our class with a prayer. It's very important to us.

[CheekyMusician]

My club doesn't pray or meditate in classes, but I would give anyone who did pray before their class a pat on the back.

 

I think that, especially in America, every religion is given a relative amount of freedom to express their beliefs apart from Christians, and I think if your religion is a big part of your life and you want to express it in your classes then you should be free to.

[White_Tiger]

Our school doesn't say a prayer, because I am sure there are people of varying religions in the classes. There is a school in our town whose lead instructor is an assistant pastor and he has prayer in the shcool. I have heard complaints about this from some of the parents. I am sure there are people who like this aspect, but there will always be others who do not like it. I would suggest this be talked about when people are interested in signing up.

[monkeygirl]

My old school never had prayers, our meditation times were just relaxation exercises. However, I would welcome a student of any religion to pray during the meditation. Several of the students at my old school are very religious, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of them said a little prayer before tests.

[backfist]

My old school requires various students to lead the class in the school prayer. Being a Christian prayer, it presents difficulties when some students are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. In those instances, some students are not required to recite the prayer. Others can decide if they want to recite the prayer, but without references to Christ.

 

The more I think about it, the more I want to have some kind of official prayer in the class. I might lose a little business, but we can't always allow money to win over our principles.

[three60roundhouse]

My school has no religious affiliation, so we don't say any prayers, and we have "Holiday Breaks" - the school is even open on Holy Saturday . I think this is the best for us; we are a large school and we have a lot of Jewish Students, as well as a few Muslims.

[Thruhiker]

I imagine there are quite a few dojo's around that start and end their sessions with a meditation/prayer. Usually the instructor will give guidance to the pupil to use this time to push the daily activities out of the mind and focus on MA.

 

At the end of class you may release the hounds and allow those thoughts back into your mind.

 

IMO that is the way to go.

 

http://www.crusadermartialarts.com/

[ramymensa]

Hope I wont step on anybody's toes here ... I think religion and MA are slightly distinct. You can be an martial artist and still go to church without problems. I don't think it's a problem. I don't see MA training as a sin.

 

But bringing church into the dojo ... why not say a japanese/corean/thai prayer ... The style practiced has nothing to do with your religion, so why mix it?

 

Now please tell me if I'm wrong ...