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Geoffrey asked:
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Recently, I came across the term 'martial arts philosophy'. What is the philosophy of martial arts? are
there different martial arts philosophies?
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The question about martial arts philosophy is complex. There is a sense in which the martial arts are
axiomatic: they are the 'arts' of war. Yet, it would be unfair and a disservice simply to see war as the
engaging of an enemy with acts of violence or aggression. In the martial arts philosophy and in the
philosophy of martial arts the primary focus is on the development of the human person. This may at
first seem strange, but Ginchin Funokoshi, the founder of modern karate said in the first of his Twenty
Precepts that the reason why karate exists is for the development of the human person. The martial
arts, therefore, primarily do not exist in themselves to train for war, or aggression, or any kind of
violence, but rather to engage the human person in the search for the answer to the question: what is
the meaning of human life? The ancient wisdom of the East will tell us many things about the 'path'
towards this knowledge, but ultimately, the philosophy of martial arts is the search for understanding
and enlightenment through engagement in the human project.
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There is no 'school' of philosophy specifically, as in e.g. Platonism, Aristotelianism, Utilitarianism,
Logical Positivism etc. There is simply the 'do' (pronounced 'dough') the Way.
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This is interesting for me as a Christian and a priest since early Christianity was also called 'The
Way', while we found this on a specific person in history, and not just his teachings, martial arts may
look to Lau Tsu, Zen, the Buddha but ultimately the search is for 'satori' in all of us. As a Christian and
a Franciscan who stands, philosophically, in the Plotinian-Augustinian tradition, I would speak about a
'divine illumination', the martial artist will also seek for this enlightenment which may come through
physical training, development of character and temperament, contemplation and meditation.
Ultimately, the primary tenet of the philosophy of martial arts is the literal translation of philosophy,
'lover of wisdom'. It is the search for this wisdom which constitutes the doof the martial arts. And it is
this, which as a martial artist and a priest, fascinates me in relation to the engagement of dialogue
between Western philosophical preoccupations and the East — where the philosopher is not too
concerned about issues of matter and form, realism and idealism etc.
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Fr Seamus Mulholland OFM
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