Priest Bans Yoga For 'being Incompatible With Catholic Faith'

[tinytherese]

[quote name='Selah' timestamp='1348954446' post='2488175']

In all honesty, I think people hang onto Yoga asanas as an exercise because it "sounds exotic." Pilates isn't as exotic sounding as Yoga is.
[/quote]

For whatever reason, Western culture is fascinated by exotic sounding Eastern practices like Feng Shui. Or as cool as Star Wars is, it's the aspect of "The Force" or The Matrix...

[url="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0936894/"][b]Spoon boy[/b][/url]: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth.
[b][url="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000206/"]Neo[/url][/b]: What truth?
[b][url="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0936894/"]Spoon boy[/url][/b]: There is no spoon.
[b][url="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000206/"]Neo[/url][/b]: There is no spoon?
[b][url="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0936894/"]Spoon boy[/url][/b]: Then you'll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='tinytherese' timestamp='1349128237' post='2488928']

For whatever reason, Western culture is fascinated by exotic sounding Eastern practices like Feng Shui. Or as cool as Star Wars is, it's the aspect of "The Force" or The Matrix...

[url="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0936894/"][b]Spoon boy[/b][/url]: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth.
[b][url="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000206/"]Neo[/url][/b]: What truth?
[b][url="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0936894/"]Spoon boy[/url][/b]: There is no spoon.
[b][url="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000206/"]Neo[/url][/b]: There is no spoon?
[b][url="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0936894/"]Spoon boy[/url][/b]: Then you'll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.
[/quote]


Although that was true, in the context of the Matrix.

[tinytherese]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1349127882' post='2488926']
Within the martial arts world, a lot of people who consider themselves 'serious' will look down on TKD. They consider it to be rather fluffy, compared to most other martial arts.

It is not an entirely unfair characterization, however I do not subscribe to it unreservedly.
[/quote]

That adds a whole new dimension to my avatar and quote in relation to Despicable Me, doesn't it?

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1348818651' post='2487544']
Shotokan is pretty cool. Lately I am rather more interested in doing some cross training in something with a more distinctly Okinawan flavour, for instance Goku-ryu, but I have not had the opportunity, and may not for several years. Since I have moved into the dan levels I have become less and less preoccupied with the particular style I am practicing, and more concerned with my pet theory that all styles can essentially be found within each other, to a greater or lesser degree, and it is simply a matter of emphasizing or reinterpreting certain key techniques and stances. To that end, whenever I have the opportunity I have been learning kata that are typical of styles besides Shotokan, especially those which are distinctively not Shotokan, and trying to integrate their characteristics into the Shotokan techniques I already practice day to day.
[/quote]


I just wanted to fix this post for the sake of accuracy. Supposed to say "Goju-ryu", not "Goku-ryu". That is what I get for posting so late in the day. Or rather, early in the morning.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='tinytherese' timestamp='1349128505' post='2488930']

That adds a whole new dimension to my avatar and quote in relation to Despicable Me, doesn't it?
[/quote]


Lol, I guess it does.

If you wanted to draw that analogy, if we compare the martial arts world with Christianity, karate as it is typically practiced today is perhaps 'post-VII Catholic' or rather traditional Anglicanism, whereas TKD would be a kind of more broad-church Protestantism, or a very hip form of Evangelicalism.
Okinawan karate and traditional kung-fu would be Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and we could take the two more or less interchangeably in terms of the metaphor. Perhaps the SSPX is Kyokushin karate. Heh.

It is a pretty limited metaphor though, because there is really no such thing as one right way to do martial arts. So try not to read into that too much. The more I think about it, the less I appreciate the metaphor's descriptive potential.

[mysisterisalittlesister]

I went to this school once where yoga was considered PE. While we were supposed to be meditating, I just said my DMC

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='tinytherese' timestamp='1349127589' post='2488923']

I used to take Tae Kwon Do classes since that is the only form of martial arts offers in my hometown. Why does it get such a bad reputation on here?
[/quote]

I don't hate Tae Kwon Do. I hate the Americanized Tae Kwon Do. It's all sport and ridiculous kicks that waste tons of energy and will get you killed in a fight.

[Groo the Wanderer]

pirates are cooler than ninjas anyway

[4588686]

Yoga corrupted my precious soul

[MIKolbe]

[quote name='tinytherese' timestamp='1349128237' post='2488928']
There is no spoon.
[/quote]

TRVTH!

[Annie12]

I just have to share with you that I picked up a bulletin from mass today and in there was an announcement for "senior yoga". I thought of this thread and laughed out loud!!!

[PhuturePriest]

Senior yoga? That's a scary thought. I've done yoga before and I really hope this is a laid-back version, otherwise the local hospital will be very busy that day.

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1348818651' post='2487544']
Shotokan is pretty cool. Lately I am rather more interested in doing some cross training in something with a more distinctly Okinawan flavour, for instance Goku-ryu, but I have not had the opportunity, and may not for several years. Since I have moved into the dan levels I have become less and less preoccupied with the particular style I am practicing, and more concerned with my pet theory that all styles can essentially be found within each other, to a greater or lesser degree, and it is simply a matter of emphasizing or reinterpreting certain key techniques and stances. To that end, whenever I have the opportunity I have been learning kata that are typical of styles besides Shotokan, especially those which are distinctively not Shotokan, and trying to integrate their characteristics into the Shotokan techniques I already practice day to day.

Wesley Snipes apparently is also rather adept at Shotokan, as is Jean-Claude van Damme and Lyoto Machida.

Shotokan is very distinctively Japanese, as opposed to Okinawan. At least in my opinion. At the basic levels the impression it gives is of strength, directness, and 'rootedness', as opposed to the rather flowing and circular moves that are more typical in Okinawan styles. According to my own theories, which I think are not particularly controversial, all styles tend to blend into one another as the karateka becomes more and more adept and gains wider perspective on karate and martial arts in general. So for Shotokan that means letting go of the outwardly rooted appearance, while retaining the rooted principles. Letting go of the appearance of strength (if necessary), while retaining the ability to strike powerfully from a softer appearing technique, when apropos. Getting out of the paradigm of straight, direct moves, while having internalized the advantages of an overwhelming, penetrating strike or block.
[/quote]

Sorry for the late response.

I started off with American Goju for the first ten years of my training. It's basically Goju-Ryu, just headed by Peter Urban (The former captain of the U.S. Karate team). I have started doing Okinawan Kenpo, which is basically really super traditional karate that does all of the original forms and everything. I just got my brown belt in it and I am hoping to do another personal class with the black belt. I am also doing some Tuite Jitsu, which is the art of joint locks. You can grab my shoulder and I know how to snap your wrist like a twig because of it. It's some fun stuff. My favorite kind of martial arts is Aikedo and I really want to get into some more of it. I'm hopefully getting a hakama for Christmas, which as you likely know is what most people that practice Aikedo use.

One of the things my Okinwan Kenpo instructor is teaching me is to be completely relaxed when fighting, which reminded me of your explanation on Shotokan principles.

[Nihil Obstat]

There is a black belt who is in a different club, but part of the same organization as my club, who is also a black belt in Aikido. He is pretty impressive. He is actually a pretty big guy, but the way he spars is extremely fluid. It is very difficult to have a direct attack even reach him. He has the relaxation down.

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1349239442' post='2489495']
There is a black belt who is in a different club, but part of the same organization as my club, who is also a black belt in Aikido. He is pretty impressive. He is actually a pretty big guy, but the way he spars is extremely fluid. It is very difficult to have a direct attack even reach him. He has the relaxation down.
[/quote]

I'd love to meet him. I've always been a big fan of styles like Aikedo since I'm 5'4 and about 116 pounds. Obviously the odds of most people are against me, but thankfully Aikedo was made for this sort of thing. I've always loved fluid and flowing motions as opposed to robotic striking, especially when the fluid motions are made to turn robotic striking against the person.

[Nihil Obstat]

That is precisely the idea of Aikido, to use your opponent's own momentum and strength against him.
Obviously you can apply that just as well in karate, but it is sort of typified by Aikido.

[Cherie]

Nihil, what do you think of Tang Soo Do, if you know about it?

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='CherieMadame' timestamp='1349372017' post='2489966']
Nihil, what do you think of Tang Soo Do, if you know about it?
[/quote]
Not familiar with it. Although in my very very brief reading just now, it seems somewhere in between the very distinctive Tae Kwon Do, and Japanese karate. But I may be wrong on that, having never really watched it before. I would want to see a class sometime, if I have the opportunity.

[tinytherese]

I'd like to learn ju jitsu for self-defense.

[Nihil Obstat]

Jujutsu has many very effective characteristics.

Just an interesting side note for anyone who finds it interesting. The suffix jutsu and the suffix do can almost be thought of as representing the opposite two ends of martial arts. So the best example is judo versus jujutsu. Essentially they are the same thing, when you really boil it down. But do refers to "the way" and jutsu is "technique", for a really rough translation. So judo is the soft way, while jujutsu is the soft technique.
Something with the suffix jutsu will tend to focus more often on practical applications of techniques, while something ending with do is going to be more of an all-encompassing system that is not focussed exclusively on technique and application.

That is not to say that the two are in opposition to each other. In my opinion they are not. It also does not imply that a martial art with do does not teach practical applications, or that jutsu is going to be exclusively violent or narrow-minded or whatever.