Can you separate buddhism form Martial Art or can't you?

[yireses]

Can you separate buddhism form Martial Art or can't you? If you can't Separate it how should we take it, as a philosophy or as a religion?

[JusticeZero]

There is no buddhism in my art to begin with.

While it's probably less than effective to completely scourge buddhist influences from the martial arts, at a certain level you have to ask yourself "Does it really matter that I am passingly familiar with the philosophy that the people who made this art thought in?' You don't have to believe it. You just have to know the material enough that you will understand the references where they crop up.

[PatC]

I believe you can separate the two. Not all Buddists practice MA and not all MA's practice Buddism.

[ninjanurse]

I also feel the 2 are separate. The combat aspect of the art (-su) is separate from "the way" aspect of the art (-do)...and the -do aspect does not necessarily involve religion. Just my opinion here as I am by no means an expert on any subject.

[markusan]

I don't see buddhism as a religion. It has no god, it says people do not have souls and not only does not rely on faith but rejects faith completely. Buddha gave very detailed teachings but said that anyone who followed those teachings should test them first and only adopt them if they worked practically. I think many of the goals we aim for in the martial arts ie, simplification, dropping off of ego, living in the moment, dropping our attachment to destructive emotions are parallel to the ideals of buddhism.

There is one big dilemma in "Buddhism" though. The buddha taught that to achieve enlightenment one has to drop off all attachments. Calling oneself a buddhist, or a martial artist, appears to me to be an attachment in itself. I'll have to meditate on that some more.

[Popkov]

buddhist is half of martialarts

[Chaz]

You definately can, no question... I'm a christian and I've found ways to be spuritual and philosophic in my training accordingly.

[markusan]

buddhist is half of martialarts

Could you expand on this, I don't see it that way. I've trained with many people over the years who have had little knowledge or no interest in buddhism or spirituality and been very good martial artists.

[AnonymousOne]

Of course you can. You dont have to have any spiritual connotation just like boxing (which is a martial art)

[shotochem]

It's very easy to separate the two.

When I go to an asian restaurant I order the food and I eat it. I don't commune with it.

The Bhuddist decor and the Bhuddist cooking in back would have little impact on my enjoyment or digestion of the meal.

Now in-sert the word dojo for decor, karate teaching for cooking and simply replace the word meal with the art which you are learning.

Its a viable analogy. Just becaused you are exposed to different cultures and religions dosn't mean you have to practice them. I personally find all that bowing and Ossing to be a little odd and unnecessary. It is however the way in which they teach and practice in our dojo. I just consider it a cultural oddity and take it with a grain of salt. I am there to learn and train anything else is just atmosphere.