Muslim students practice Aikido techniques
|
Students in Aikido training at Shudokan Aikido Dojo, Seremban, Malaysia. (Courtesy of Asma Faizal)
|
|
A close friend introduced me to the idea that practicing martial arts has the potential to assist a Muslim in achieving a higher spiritual connection with God. Since I had always associated martial arts with Asian culture and Eastern religions such as Zen Buddhism, the connection with Islam did not immediately occur to me.
But after sitting in on one of my friend Imran's aikido and karate classes at a dojo in the United Arab Emirates last month, the correlations began to unfold before my eyes. The mood was set when, just before starting two hours of rigorous and meticulous training, a number of students and the sensei assembled to pray Islam's sunset prayer, known as maghrib.
Each technique they practised during the sessions that followed was precise, demanding mastery of the subtle movements of leg, arm, hand and back. Students of various backgrounds and faiths exhibited tremendous patience as they repeated these motions, striving to take any tiny step closer to precision of combat technique.
Aikido, which originated in Japan, is typically done in pairs and practitioners learn to defend themselves while protecting their attackers from injury. Karate emphasises hard training and precise movement using a series of punches, kicks, and knee and elbow strikes.
|
|
Students in Aikido training at Shudokan Aikido Dojo, Seremban, Malaysia. (Courtesy of Asma Faizal)
|
|
While learning defensive fighting skills is the core purpose of training, interactions between students were remarkably cordial. A deep sense of equality filled the room; no matter how advanced in skill an apprentice, young or old, happened to be, s/he made an effort to enrich the experience of peers. Whether the belts they wore around their waists were black, brown, purple or white, everyone appeared to derive some value from the session.
This was inspiring for me because of the commonalities I saw with Islam. Muslims at varying stages along the spiritual path share a common ambition: to forge an intimate bond with the one Almighty God. Islam embodies an undeviating path to peace of mind, attained by aligning one's physical, mental, financial, family and community affairs to this primary goal, which we should help each other work toward.
For a martial artist, the journey of perfecting technique doesn't end with a black belt, it demands continual dedication and training. Imran told me later than evening, "Karate is like a pot of boiling water, and constant training is the fire that keeps the water boiling," citing wisdom from a prominent karate instructor that can underlie both martial arts and Islamic devotion.
The comment brought to mind the concept of Al Insan Al Kamil in Islamic theology, describing the perfect being who has achieved unity with God in mind, body and soul. Attaining this level of consciousness demands a series of traits, such as steadfastness (istiqamah), self-inventory (muhasabah), improvement (tahsin) and humility -- each honed to perfection.
Such traits are at the heart of martial arts as well, although a practitioner need not be driven, as Imran is, by a desire to please God. There are, furthermore, a few martial arts practices that go against sharia which, for instance, discourages blows to the face and bowing to other human beings.
To bridge gaps inherent in some martial art forms and supplement his training, Imran added an exercise technique known as Senaman Tua, native to his homeland Malaysia, to his martial arts regimen. Most-easily understood as an Islamic form of yoga, Senaman Tua requires that in addition to physical development, students take a journey toward self-realization.
One who trains in Senaman Tua will eventually have all the core skills to learn and master Silat, a martial art practised in Malaysia and Indonesia, rooted in Islam. The goal of each Silat practitioner is to improve their art for the sake of God, explained Mohd Nadzrin bin Abdul Wahab, Imran's Senaman Tua instructor, who has offered Silat training in Malaysia since 2003.
"The basic idea behind silat is softness is strength," said Nadzrin, 34. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Nadzrin was drawn into Silat after seeing how Islam was woven into each lesson of his first guru, Muhammad Radzi Haji Hanafi. "Every other word" he uttered was an Islamic principle, related Nadzrin.
Silat teaches practitioners that they should dedicate their whole self, mind, body and soul to the intention of performing the art for the sake of God in order for the goal to be worthwhile. Apprentices should strive to be truthful, keep promises and act with strong conviction without disrespecting their parents and teachers.
"Every martial technique depends on a preset, pre-thought movement of the human body," explained Nadzrin, who has written extensively on Silat on a series of blogs. "A possible stumbling block to spiritual development is the practitioner's ascribing of his development or prowess to himself... Thus, we are taught in Silat that all gerak (movement) belongs to Allah, The Mover, in every sense of the word."
While certain varieties of Silat became controversial because they deviated from Islam, most Silat styles in Malaysia are sharia-compliant, he said. Some schools, meanwhile, have modified techniques used in other martial arts like aikido and taekwondo to ensure they comply with Islam by, for instance, including bows that do not reach the level of sujud, prostration in Islamic prayer. Silat and Senaman Tua styles are now offered in many countries, including the United States, Europe, South Africa, Canada and Singapore.
Yet Silat on its own is no replacement for a Muslim's intellectual training in religion. It is rare to find instructors who are also qualified religious scholars, which had been commonplace between the 11th-19th centuries, Nadzrin said.
"I have discovered that the only way to learn Islam is to learn Islam directly, not going through the goggles of a martial art. Some martial arts teachers aren't qualified to teach or misrepresent it. However, in martial arts, you get to see the practice of Islam in muamalat (interactions)," he said.
Islam, Arabic for 'submission to God', embodies an entire lifestyle whereby followers integrate acts of worship into everything they do, such that expressions of gratitude to God become the goal of each activity, even beyond the five daily prayers.
In the area of fitness, we are encouraged to live in a healthy, beneficial way, consistently keeping our egos and impulses in check. In one Hadith, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, advised Muslims: "Teach your children swimming, archery and horse-riding".
Martial arts help people attain these goals, according to Nadzrin, because with proper training they encourage alignment and coordination between mind and body. He said participants gain many benefits, including equilibrium, muscular strength, stamina, cardiovascular maintenance, hormonal balance, improved kinesthesis and their senses become more receptive.
When a Muslim's body is healthy and fit, s/he is better equipped to, for instance, apply greater focus in prayer. In this context, one's pursuit of fitness is not driven by a desire to feed one's vanity and ego by attaining a toned figure or buff muscles, but rather to strengthen one's body to be better able to practise faith.
Reflecting back to Imran's training, I am impressed at how the mastery of combat techniques actually moves martial artists away from negative energies like anger and closer to the serenity inherent to the Islamic state of mind.
"Martial arts teach us awareness," said Imran. "The more we train, the more aware we become. The more aware we become, the less likely we would get involved in a situation of conflict. So ironically, the more we train, the less use we will have for our violent techniques. We attain peace."
Special thank you to Asma Faizal for providing photographs for this article.
Follow Daliah Merzaban on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Desert_Dals
Justin McDaniel: Thai Buddhism: Magic, Money and Murder
Muslim women uplifted, inspired by MGT Vanguard Retreat
Libyan Women Train to Join National Army
Growing Up Muslim in a Post 9/11 World
Failure of Diplomacy: Mosque opens near Twin Towers site, NYC still intact
The spiritual aspects are heavily Hindu-Buddhist and animistic in their roots (hence why in conservative muslim areas they have banned many traditional practices).
That is not to say you cant do an 'islamic silat' (christian silat or whatever) as there is, but the roots are hindu-buddhist, and traditionally understood in the context of older Javanese Kebatinan and Kejawen.
Part of my reply is available here: http://silat-melayu.blogspot.com/2011/10/response-to-sandalwood-in-huffington.html
There is such a thing as unIslamic martial in the Melayu Archipelago. but the word silat itself only began being used in the 16th century, after Islam had arrived in the Melayu Peninsula. Previously only being used to denote martial styles that have undergone the process of Islamisation (not Arabisation), 'silat' has now become the catch-all term for all arts, including those with heavy kuntau influence, partly because of Indonesia's Pancasila policies.
The Silat Melayu that Daliah refers to comes from my input of Peninsula Silat which was Islamised to a greater degree than our Jawa cousins, who still holds to Kejawen and Hindu-Buddhist roots. I agree that the "rooted in Islam" could cause confusion, as when I first proposed its usage for the article, meant "gains impetus from" rather than "is historically sourced from".
Thank you for the interest :) I would love to hear more about your silat experiences.
Salam persilatan,
Added Krav Maga and others while in the Corps.
Now practice mostly at home with a combination of much less contact techniques like Tai Chi.
At 57, I don't recover from the inevitable slight injuries as easily as I once did.
Weight lifting, long brisk walks in the hills, are more to my liking.
We started our children with Aikido early.
Really helped them in our son's other sports and our daughters ballet.
They've since added Krav Maga and Marine Corps Martial Arts (easy to find where we live).
Our daughter even dabbled for a while with Filipino Martial Arts and Gracie techniques when in college.
We set out with a goal of our children graduating from good universities, felony free, knowing martial arts and other physical and life skills. We succeeded.
Marial arts does add "awareness."
And, it does seem to add discipline and understanding of how to avoid conflict.
Aikido, in particular, seems to create clarity about the consequences of different levels of conflict.
I played Div I Football when in college.
Aikido helped.
So did handball.
Moving bi-laterally, moving with purpose and balance.
In some eastern religions, this might be seen as a test of ego. By engaging in violent acts yet remaining calm one might come closer to nirvana.
Yet deliberately tempting oneself isn't in the Christian tradition. Perhaps Islam is closer to the East in this? Break God's will in order to show you are strong enough? I don't understand.
Of course training for war might be seen as good, but who really fights unarmed? Nearly every martial artist I've known ends up throwing the training at his neighbors. No, this is much more likely to lead to Western style barroom brawls than either peace or war.
In the article above, two of the arts discussed are Aikido and Silat Melayu. I have too little knowledge of Karate to comment. In both Aikido and Silat Melayu, the training follows the lines of riadhah (practice) to increase reflexes, flexibility and health.
Silat itself being reformatted by Islam, adheres to the principles of no striking of the face & head, open palm indications of attack and full motion sensitivity training. Aikido, being very similar in physical method to silat, has become accepted due to its compatibility with ad-Din.
I am unfamiliar with Chinese, Indian and Japanese arts and Christianity to comment, but deliberately tempting oneself isn't in Islam either and it would be difficult unless we had some cases to discuss.
Your final paragraph is symptomatic of 'martial arts' in the modern world. There are arts that train for manic aggressiveness in offence rather than controlled competence in defence. I regret your experience, as I too have met many a 'martial artist' who claim to be so, but missed the critical emotional control class. Rather than let them colour my perception, I've just decided to hang around the ones who can.
(I wonder what an Eastern style barroom brawl would look like) :)
Salam persilatan,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-407055/Wanted-wives-Islamist-heckler.html
Note that being on benefits and enjoying a council house while being unemployed didn't deter Mr. Brooks from practicing kung fu and working out. Maintaining one's spiritual and physical well-being is important.
Woof. That is a piece of work. I wonder what his Kung Fu master must be thinking when he read this article. I think the Daily Mail just made it easier for him to enlarge his family, free publicity and all :)
(Certainly got me thinking of what MY wife would say if I signed up for that).
Salam persilatan,
The Wikipedia article says silat was "influenced by", not derived from Indian and Chinese roots. It says "Many of the region's medicinal practices and weapons originated in either India or China, and silat's thigh-slapping actions are reminiscent of Hindu wrestling".
1. The Melayu traditional medicine has more in common with the Orang Asli and many of the rainforest remedies the Melayu use aren't even available in India and China.
2. The Keris, Rencong, Tumbuk Lada, Sundang, sees no comparison with "Indian" or "Chinese" weapons. Read "The Keris & Other Malay Weapons" by the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.
3. The only reference to "thigh slapping in Hindu wrestling" is Donn F. Draeger's "Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia" : "the thigh slapping antics of various pentjak-silat styles smack of Hindu wrestling rituals in Hindu culture." Draeger's research is riddled with inaccuracies including naming silat as "bersilat".
4. Bowing as a mark of respect is allowable, but not to the point of sujud. The Aikido example is of Jun Yamada sensei, a Japanese Aikido master who reverted to Islam. It was he who made those modifications.
5. As for the handsigns: Wikipedia says: “The vast majority of silat exponents use the Hindu-Buddhist namaste in which the palms are pressed together at chest level". Namaste is a form of greeting. Nowhere does it mention mudras.
Full reply here: http://silat-melayu.blogspot.com/2011/10/response-to-sandalwood-in-huffington.html
Salam persilatan,
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javanese_beliefs
Kebatinan commandments
"God is within you. God is everywhere. But do not say you are God."
While my wife and I do our best to have our kids involve in these sports activities, sadly the same cannot be said for other parents we know of.
Both, our 11 year twins are excellent swimmers, I remember when our son was four year old how the neighbors used to be fascinated watching his baby-like appearance swimming all over the pool.
Both of them ware enrolled in the Martial Arts sports, but my daughter prefer to stick her books and writing poems.
My son however is dedicated to the Martial sports, after taking Teakwondo for three years, he enrolled in Mixed Martial Arts and Brazilian Jujitsu five years ago. Though he is eleven, he has reached appoint where he is getting bored in his class, since most of the other kids smaller and find it hard to out-wit him during sparring. His instructor plan to move him to the adult class next year.
Our secret: A balance of good moral character and behavior and stay away from fast-food and soda.
Silat is derived from Indian and Chinese roots, as this article states... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silat
Its interesting that now in Malaysia, Silat is considered to be "rooted in Islam", as this stance parallels what has been happening to school history textbooks, where Malaysia's pre-Islamic history is barely mentioned, in favour of turning the curriculum into a biased one, as this article indicates... http://www.malaysianmirror.com/media-buzz-detail/41-opinion/51319-softening-up-students-to-islam-with-history-syllabus
Lastly, if bowing to each other is supposed to be rooted out of this practise, so as to make it more Islamic, please be aware also that the dozens of hand movements in this and other Martial Arts throughout Asia are Mudras derived from Hindu and Buddhist influences from the pre-Islamic era, as the wiki article states.
As I understand it, Yoga as practiced in the West and exercise classes are already Islamically allowable. Iran itself has many Yoga adherents and in Malaysia it is growing steadily.
Salam persilatan,
Yoga is idolatry. Anyone who practices yoga is a sinner and will burn in hell:) Just though I would push your buttons early in the morning.
BTW the Vedas were written by Muslims:) Now I know you blood is boiling:)
Come join my metaphysical bliss:) Liberation is at hand man!!