Having established my purpose in writing, a greater task yet remains before I can really enter into the meat and potatoes of a Christian martial way. That task is to outline the purpose of martial arts for the Christian, as opposed to their purpose in the general population and within their normal context.
It should be noted in advance that the martial arts can be said to have many purposes. Ask ten martial artists why they practice the martial arts, and you are likely to receive ten answers - answers which will vary by extraordinary degrees, and yet share certain common points. Such answers might involve everything from the desire to be more physically fit, to gain inner peace and calm, to develop better focus and concentration, to be better able to defend one's self, to engage in competitions, to be the best person one can be, etc. Each of these are legitimate reasons to practice the martial arts within the traditional Buddhist structure, and one can reasonably expect to combine any or all of them within one's personal practice.
I don't have anything against any martial artist who practices martial arts for these reasons, but I don't think that any of them can be the basis of a Christian martial way. For a thing to be Christian it must necessarily aid us in cultivating holiness - communally within the Body of Christ and personally within the framework of our daily lives. I submit that there is one basis upon which one can practice the martial arts as a Christian and grow in holiness - and that most of these other reasons may be use in conjunction with or support of that one reason. The purpose to which I refer is to defend others, but not one's self. Why do I believe this?
One could argue that the most purely practical purpose of martial arts is the ability to defend one's self from an aggressor. While calm, focus, compassion, competitiveness, physical fitness, et al are notable accidental benefits, they still come about as a result of learning how to block, punch, kick, throw, lock, and all manner of other essentially violent actions of the body. These actions, varying in form and style from one branch of the arts to another, yet remain the substance of martial arts. These are the things with which we have to work, these are the building blocks of any martial art. They give the essential martial character. Which really means that they can be used in only a very few ways.
They can be used as the tools of an aggressor. They can be used as the tools of the self defending itself from an aggressor. They can be used as the tools of a self defending another from an aggressor. To the best of my knowledge, there are no other options. One can either attack, defend one's self, or defend another's self. I here leave out the competitive aspect, because I believe the competitive usage of martial arts a further secondary aspect, not a primary or essential feature of them. One can be a martial artist without competing. One cannot be a martial artist without learning punches, et al.
For the sake of clarity, let us understand from the beginning that when I refer to an aggressor, I refer to someone who unjustly attacks another person. Any given combat will, if it is of more than the most cursory duration, involve a certain give and take between offensive and defensive movements. "Aggressor" does not refer to one using offensive movements, but to the primary motivation for engaging in physical combat. That the attack is unjust is of crucial importance, because justified violence would mean that an action was of its nature defensive, even though it might appear otherwise. That which does or does not justify violence will likely be a further post in and of itself. To be an aggressor is not acceptable in any martial art that I am aware of, nor is it justified by any martial way I know. More to the point, it is certainly not acceptable to mine. A Christian cannot be the aggressor, ever. Nor can the Buddhist. We are all agreed on this critical point.
The two remaining possibilities present an interesting issue for examination. Typically, one hears more references to self-defense within the sphere of martial arts than to the defense of others. The various ways of practicing martial arts, whether sparring, forms, one-steps, or some other strategy almost exclusively work from the perspective of protecting one's self. In years of study, I never once learned a form that was about protecting another. I never once sparred where the purpose was to protect someone else or something else. I never once blocked a strike intended for another. Perhaps there are schools where this is the focus, but I have not encountered any. In truth, this should really not surprise us. The martial arts in their Buddhist context were about the self, specifically, as already noted, about destroying it in accord with the four Noble Truths of the Buddha's teaching. And it is not as if there was the same sort of chivalric tradition in Asia as in Europe, indeed the same philosophic path which resulted in Hinduism and Buddhism could never have produced a chivalric code which placed the weaker on a pedestal to be protected. Why not? Because in a world of karma and reincarnation, those who are weaker are weaker because of their choices (principally their failings) in previous lives. If they are poor, weak, helpless, feeble, or what have you, it is nobody's fault but their own, and to succor them is to thwart justice.
This understanding clashes violently with the charity of Christian practice, which sees our God who willingly forsook the splendor of divinity for a life of hard labor, poverty, betrayal and ultimately total self-sacrifice in every person - especially in all those who we see hungry, naked, homeless, and suffering. Buddha renounced Earthly wealth, Christ renounced something far greater. Buddha came to the conclusion that suffering should be defeated by destroying our selfish desires. Christ showed us that suffering must be embraced, the Cross must be carried, to destroy our selfishness and yet live more fully.
Therefore, we can see that within the Buddhist sphere, the truly substantial core of practicing the martial arts is the defense of the self. Their martial character serves only one purpose, all other purposes are secondary and accidental to it. I propose that the Christian martial path follows the other - that is: it defends others, but not the self, in imitation of He who said not one word in His own defense, struck no blows against His assaulters - nay even healed the one who had been struck by His followers! I understand this to be the heart and soul of the Christian martial way. I also know it will be intensely difficult to accept. I'll be writing more on this, on its necessity and on its fruits, in later posts.
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