Are You Possessed?
The author also states that studying any martial art will radically and perhaps even permanently subvert a person’s view of reality and lead to a destruction of individuality. There is absolutely no proof of this. Only a person that is able to see demons in people would believe this. No wait! Since I don’t believe this, it must mean I am possessed by demons that are clouding my judgment.
The author states that the word ”arts” in the term “martial arts” means that the martial arts express an Eastern "spiritual" philosophy, and that most martial artists agree that fighting systems, such as boxing and wrestling, are not true martial arts unless they contain such a philosophy. Most martial artists do not agree with this premise! As in other physical arts, such as ballet or gymnastics, the “arts” part of the term “martial arts” refers to the perfection and expression of movement and technique, not to some "spiritual" philosophy or religion. In an art, the goal is perfection of techniques and the expression of those techniques, and, while the artist constantly progresses toward perfection, he or she knows it may never be achieved. In martial sports, such as boxing, wrestling, or MMA, the goal is to defeat an opponent while staying within the rules. Perfection of technique or its expression is of no concern to the fighter. It does not matter that the techniques used to win are sloppy and unappealing; all that matters is the winning.
The author says that the Eastern martial art masters who originally brought the martial arts into the West were highly spiritual and believed that the physical universe overlaps the spiritual world and that this spiritual world could be channeled through the performance of particular repetitive physical and mental exercises. While it may be true that they believed this, that occurred over 50 years ago. As with many beliefs, with advances in science and medicine and with our increased knowledge of these advances, ancient martial art beliefs and feats have been shown to be either myths, tricks, or based in provable science. There is absolutely no scientifically provable evidence of any spiritual world; spiritual worlds exist only within the minds of those who believe in them. Therefore, no one can be in touch with the spiritual world, since it does not exist.
Although there are still charlatans in the martial arts who claim all sorts of spiritual, mystical, and magical powers may be obtained though the martial arts, none of these claims have ever been scientifically proved. When these “masters” actually consent to performing their feats under controlled circumstances, they always fail.