Karate, Kids, and the Culture: Your Child and the Martial Arts

A
president and a martial arts champion! How can a kid go wrong with two
heroes like that?

Martial
arts expert Chuck Norris has teamed up with former President H. W. Bush to
promote Norris’s KICKSTART program, designed to introduce the martial arts
to “at risk” middle school children to raise their self-esteem. To date,
KICKSTART is in 30 schools, has over 4,200 active young people, and has
graduated more than 30,000 students.[i]

And
Norris is not alone. Dozens of similar programs are promoting martial arts
training for our youth, claiming everything from fitness, security, and
family values to perfection of character, or, as one school advertises, “to
improve without end.” Another boasts, “The power of mind and body will
become one.” Chuck himself believes that “After a certain point in training,
it becomes apparent that . . . Anything is possible.”[ii]

But are
these claims true?

There’s
no doubt America’s youth problems are enormous. Family structure is
disintegrating, moral values are in decline, drug and gang-related peer
pressure is skyrocketing, negative media influence is staggering, drug use
is rampant, and positive role models are scarce. In fact, some say youth
violence is our most important issue. Juveniles are victimized more than any
other age group. Although only one-tenth of the population, they are victims
in one out of every four violent crimes.[iii]

“Among young people fifteen to twenty-four
years old, murder is the second leading cause of death. For African-American
youths murder is number one . . . Since 1960 teen suicide has tripled . . .
. At least 160,000 children miss school every day because they fear an
attack or intimidation by other students . . . One out of three girls and
one out of seven boys are sexually abused by the time they reach the age of
eighteen.“[iv]

In
addition, the culture surrounding them is saturated with violence. “[B]y the
time the typical American child reaches the age of eighteen, he or she has
seen 200,000 dramatized acts of violence, and 40,000 dramatized murders.”[v]

Is
promoting the martial arts—a disciplined form of violence—really the answer?

Chuck
says: 

“There are many people in our country who
would resist a KICKSTART program in their children’s schools, for fear that
teaching already-troubled kids how to fight with their bare hands and feet
would only exacerbate the problem. Not so.

“As a black belt myself, I have firsthand
experience on the positive effects that martial arts has on one’s
self-esteem and self-confidence. After a certain point in training, it
becomes apparent that a) Anything is possible and b) There’s nothing to
prove to anybody but one’s self.

“Grrr! to the naysayers and Self-Righteous
who always seem to know better what’s good for our children—without so much
as giving something a shot.“[vi]

A
“shot”

But what
about those who have given the martial arts “a shot” and still
believe it’s the wrong approach?

Tonie
Harris Gatlin gave it much more than a “shot.” She won 58 trophies in six
years of competition, was a national black belt karate champion and trainer
with her own school, and taught the martial arts for years to her own
children and countless others. As she came to realize the destructive
effects karate was having on her students though, she completely renounced
it. Today she speaks openly against the martial arts and is, in fact, the
subject of a book exposing its extensive problems.[vii]

Another
long-time martial arts veteran, Rev. Ed Hird, the rector at St. Simon’s
Anglican Church in Vancouver, B.C., practiced karate for twenty years and
even recruited other Christians. But Hird eventually renounced his
involvement in the martial arts, too, and now warns against them. Why?
Because he realized the martial arts are really Zen Buddhist meditation
techniques designed to draw its participants into the Buddhist experience
of  “enlightenment.”[viii]

Not all
inner city kids agree either that the martial arts are the way to increase
self-esteem. Tonie’s four children were extensively trained in karate. Two
were feared gang leaders, and all faced as tough an inner city environment
as any Chuck Norris might encounter. Tonie says:

“My kids remember that although nobody ever messed with our family, and they
showed us a certain kind of respect, the karate also made us mean. Octavia
says it kept her from being feminine and encouraged lesbian traits. Frank
remembers that he and Joe were the most dangerous kids in their school and,
through karate, got into situations that were bad for them. He’s convinced
that kids and adults both should think twice before taking any of the
martial arts. Tony LaMont’s shifted his focus to God. He says, “Deep down
inside I really know who fights my battles daily. The Champion.”[ix]

Gatlin,
now a committed Christian and Bible teacher, says, “I’ve had my karate armor
off for eight years now. I’m more confident, more powerful, have more
assurance and less fears than I’ve ever had in my life. My sense of well
being is increasing. People I know in the martial arts DO NOT have REST in
their souls, nor the peace and power of God.”[x]

The
wisdom and experience of these two experts is certainly enough to make one
pause. Yet, if personal experience were the only basis for deciding on the
value of martial arts for children, it might not be enough. Therefore, let’s
look at some of the major factors in today’s culture that make training
children in killing techniques especially dangerous. These include the
powerful shaping influence of violence in the media and video games,
disintegrating family structure, peer pressure, and the explosion of drug
use and the occult. Such pressures can derail the best intentions of parent
and child.

A Killing Culture

“Not only are (our) children hurting each
other in ways that young children never did before, but they are learning
every day that violence is the preferred method of settling disputes.”[xi]

“You shall not murder.” Exodus 20:13 (NIV)

Our
culture has become a dangerous place for children. The martial arts aside,
from early childhood up they are swamped with countless powerful,
disciplined methods of learning to kill—and kill effectively—as well as
forces pressuring them toward violence as a solution to problems.

Behind
this growth in violence lies the compelling influence of the media.

Media
violence

“Ours is
a media culture careening out of control, with violence everywhere we turn,”
states Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman, a West Point psychology professor
and professor of military science who trains medical and health
professionals how to deal with and prevent killing. He insists that the
media are training our children to kill with the same techniques used by the
U. S. military. His book, Teaching Our Kids to Kill, points out
that the resulting culture of violence not only is brutalizing and
desensitizing our children, but greatly increasing their capacity for and
addiction to violence as well.“[xii]

Consider
these facts:

“Since 1950 there has been a total of more than 3,500 research studies
conducted in America on the effects of media violence on the population. One
random analysis of almost 1,000 studies found that all save only 18 (12 of
those were funded by the television industry) demonstrate there is a
tangible correlation between violent entertainment and violent behavior.“[xiii]

“From 1960 through 1991 the U.S. population increased by 40 percent, yet
violent crime increased by 500 percent; murders increased by 170 percent,
rapes 520 percent, and aggravated assaults 600 percent.[xiv]

Furthermore, “Since 1982, television violence has increased 780 percent and
in that same time period teachers have reported a nearly 800 percent
increase of aggressive acts on the playground.”[xv]

If there
was any lingering doubt, in 1998 UNESCO released “Children and Media
Violence: A Yearbook from the International Clearinghouse on Children and
Violence on the Screen.” This study confirmed the conclusions of all
previous studies that the direct effect of such media violence is to
desensitize children to violence and to brutalize them.

This is a four-hundred-page book describing worldwide studies of media
violence, including the largest study ever conducted, which surveyed five
thousand twelve-year-olds in twenty-three countries, and it thoroughly
and irrevocably supported what studies for the last four decades have been
literally screaming at the world and the entertainment industry. How much
clearer can it possibly get?[xvi]
[Italics by author.]

Three
basic negative effects from exposure to screen violence were found:
(1) increased aggression, (2) fear, and (3) insensitivity to real life and
screen violence, with increased aggression being the most direct effect.
Furthermore, violence is addictive, with the need for it increasing
at each step. Children “undergo a systematic conditioning process that
alters their cognitive, emotional, and social development in such ways as to
embed in them a desire and/or conditioned reflex to act out violently
without remorse.”[xvii]

Let’s
face it—despite all the screams of protest, media violence continues to
escalate. And a large part of the billion-dollar industry directed at
children involves the martial arts.

“In American culture, toddlers as young as
eighteen months begin with TV programs, especially designed for them, that
contain twice as much violence as adult prime-time viewing. By preschool
age, the child is inundated with tangible reinforcers of screen violence . .
. action-figure toys, clothing, coloring books…”[xviii]

Within
twenty years of the release of Bruce Lee’s first film, Enter the Dragon,
it grossed $150 million and spearheaded a worldwide martial arts wave
that is still gaining momentum. Other blockbuster hits quickly followed,
along with TV shows and DVDs, comic books, Web sites, kids’ martial arts
clubs, games, action figures, jewelry, charms, uniforms, and other
paraphernalia designed to attract children to the martial arts. Toys include
the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the

Mighty Morphin Power Ranger dolls.[xix]
Karate Angels dolls set a sales record in 2002.

Media
violence in itself is alarming enough. But the entertainment industry also
supplies hands-on training in violence through video games. And
approximately 49 percent of young teens prefer violent games.[xx]

Video
Games

“Children’s long-term exposure to violent television and movies makes them
easy bait for the conditioning effects of violent video games, the next
stage of the process.”[xxi]

Video
games offer a whole new level of involvement—hands-on training using
computerized killing simulators often indistinguishable from those used by
the police and military. And these are growing continually more realistic
and horrible. For instance, gamers can now scan pictures of fellow students
and teachers from a high school yearbook and “morph” them onto the faces of
the people they kill. Another game, Postal, “gives points for killing as
many innocent victims as possible while they beg for mercy.”[xxii],[xxiii]
A recent trip to Costco revealed such military killing games mixed together
with gentle cartoon games for tots.

And this
is no small industry. Annual global video game revenues are now
approximately $18 billion, with $10 billion of that spent in the United States.[xxiv]

Grossman
contends that such continuous violent imagery breaks down the “violence
immune system” and that a “fixation with violent on-screen images can alter
the brain’s alert system, causing more hyperactivity and impulsive
behaviors.”[xxv]
Recent studies have shown that the prefrontal cortex in violent or
aggressive people has decreased activity, which can lead to a short fuse.[xxvi],[xxvii],[xxviii] 

The child
who spends hours repetitively shooting, maiming, and killing becomes
conditioned to react the same way whether danger is real or perceived.
Would it be so surprising then for such children to rely instinctively upon
martial arts techniques when dealing with problems?

This is one of the real dangers of
martial arts training in our culture: The conditioned reflexes to kill may
already be forming long before the martial arts training is received.

Just
how big is the martial arts market? It’s huge.

“According
to data from New York City-based research firm Simmons Market Research, an
estimated 18.1 million Americans participated in karate or some other form
of martial art at least once in the past year. Included in that estimate are
9.4 million adults, 5.5 million teenagers and 3.2 million kids.“[xxix]

By 1993,
almost half the martial arts market (40 percent) consisted of children
between the ages of seven and fourteen.[xxx]
By 2002, “a quarter of all teenage boys—and almost as many (22 percent) teen
girls—say they have participated in martial arts in the past year,” while
“an estimated 13 percent of children ages 6 to 11 have participated in some
kind of martial arts activity in the past year” [i.e., 2002].[xxxi]

Other
social factors

In
addition to the powerful conditioning effects of the media and video games,
there are other factors that contribute to conditioning violence. These
include physical and sexual abuse, domestic and community violence, peer
pressure,[xxxii]
and traumatic events. The widespread breakdown of stable family life adds to
children’s vulnerability.

Research
shows that “abused children watch more television than other children do,
prefer violent programs, and appear to admire violent heroes. Children who
are both abused and watchers of a great deal of television are most likely
to commit violent crimes later in life.”[xxxiii]

How
helpful would it be for such children to “raise their self-esteem” through
training in the deadly killing techniques of the martial arts?

Some
would say that, in a culture with such powerful, escalating, and
out-of-control violence, the only solution is to learn a martial art for
self-defense. But the obvious lesson is that children lack the necessary
self-control and wisdom to handle their own violent impulses. When given
such a powerful tool of destruction, many use it. That’s what Tonie
discovered teaching karate in a Christian high school, and why she quit.

“Some of the kids were bullies, and their
parents thought that karate was teaching them discipline. Instead even more
violence was being sown in their children’s souls. Many of them were getting
into trouble in the halls, using the things I was teaching them on each
other. I saw their attitudes changing for the worse. I saw them bowing down
to me when they should have been bowing down to the Lord alone.”[xxxiv]

Drugs
and alcohol

Another major influence on youth that
decreases self-control and can escalate violent behavior is substance abuse.
Mixed with the martial arts, the combination can be deadly.

Illegal
drugs and alcohol are widely available in many communities and schools, and
many youth regularly experiment with or use them. In fact, nearly two-thirds
of all youth in America try an illegal drug before they finish high school,
and a recent study reports a trend toward more acceptance of drugs among
them.[xxxv],[xxxvi]

Teens who
report using violence are also very likely to report drug use. However,
studies are not conclusive that using drugs causes violence; rather,
they are part of an overall antisocial lifestyle.[xxxvii]
In any case, the influence of substance abuse on youthful self-control is
very strong.

One
mental health worker who has worked in a psychiatric crisis unit for over 12
years shared how dangerous it is trying to handle patients who know the
martial arts. Their severe psychiatric and substance abuse problems and lack
of control create extraordinary dangers.

The
meth craze.

Another
ominous development is the growing methamphetamine craze.

Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales recently called meth the greatest drug danger for
America’s youth.[xxxviii]
And many of America’s lawmen agree.

Almost
300 county sheriffs and 200 county child welfare officials in 45 states said
in a recent survey that meth abuse is their counties’ biggest drug problem.
Many also call it the country’s leading drug-related local law enforcement
problem, for violence often goes hand in hand with meth, as well as child
abuse and neglect.[xxxix]

Widespread substance abuse and lack of
self-control make youth especially vulnerable to the desensitizing and
brutalizing effects of violence

But there’s yet another factor that
makes training in the martial arts dangerous.

“Martial Yoga”

“In the United States and in Great Britain,
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sold 9 million copies in the
first 24 hours after going on sale July 16. That makes the sixth book in the
series the fastest-selling book of any kind ever…“[xl]

“Let no
one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who
practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or
casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.
Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord . . . You must be
blameless before the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 19:10-13, NIV).

Ed Hird and Tonie Gatlin found that just
studying the physical techniques of the martial arts can open the door to
the occult whether it is promoted openly or not.[xli] 

Hird
points out that the martial arts are essentially martial yoga and that few
Westerners have enough experience with Zen Buddhism to notice their hidden
religious nature. One of the goals of Taekwondo and other martial arts, he
says, is to enter a zazen meditational state so that “the everyday
experience of the dualism of subject and object vanishes.”[xlii]

Martial
arts expert Chuck Norris, famous for his role as Walker on the TV show Walker, Texas Ranger, confirms this in his book,
The Secret Power
Within, where he states, “The ancient system of Zen (is) the core
philosophy behind the martial arts.” In fact, Norris’s book reveals that his
“secret power” is Zen Buddhism. In it, “Chuck Norris explains how the
ancient system of Zen—the core philosophy behind the martial arts—can help
each of us achieve spiritual tranquility and real self-confidence.”[xliii]

Occult
influences are historically part of the martial arts and continue today.

As they
have evolved over approximately three thousand years in numerous cultures,
these warfare arts were based on Eastern religious meditation techniques
intimately interwoven with the religious systems of each culture: Buddhism
and Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, animism, and so on.[xliv]
Their sole purpose is to release a power such religions view as inner god
power and known more popularly as the Chi or Ki force.
This is the reality behind the many tales of superhuman feats, such as
karate masters hurling their opponents across the room without touching
them. Such a force, although real, is not of God. Yet, as countless martial
arts masters attest, these techniques are the “spiritual” core of the
discipline and must be embraced to master the art. Why? Because all of the
major disciplines of the over 50 varieties of martial arts are designed to
bring the body into harmony with supposedly impersonal universal energy
forces in order to achieve religious enlightenment.[xlv]

Our
culture’s fascination with the occult combined with media violence makes a
volatile mix—one seen everywhere today, from children’s toys to such
occult/martial arts blockbusters as Star Wars, Karate Kid, and
Kung Fu. One popular California karate teacher has three successful
schools with eight hundred students ages four to eight, and a growing
waiting list. She openly teaches her young charges yoga and Native American
and Eastern philosophies.[xlvi]

Whether the occult is taught openly or
not in the martial arts though, Tonie believes it’s impossible to avoid it.

“The real
question is, whose spirituality are you going to get? And who’s smart enough
to pick their instructor wisely when it comes to such subtle spiritual
matters? Most Christians just aren’t that aware of Eastern religious
influences to know what questions to ask a potential instructor or what
influences to notice. Besides, kids are especially open to anything. It’s
entirely natural for a child learning karate to move right on to the Ninja
Turtles or some Eastern guru who happens to practice the martial arts. In
other words, just because you think you’re avoiding the mental and spiritual
aspects of karate, or any of the other martial arts, doesn’t mean you won’t
absorb and be subtly affected by some of those influences anyway. Bowing,
specific methods of concentration, meditation, and breath control, emptying
the mind, visualizing yourself doing the kata or prescribed forms,
calling your teacher ‘master’, centering in the ki, and trying to ‘flow’
with the ‘oneness’ of nature and your inner self are all part of Buddhist
and Taoist philosophy. Doing the arts without absorbing at least some of
those influences is like trying to swim in a river and not get wet.“[xlvii]

“Even when occult methods aren’t taught
directly, enormous changes can take place training under the dragon’s
symbol. Just the sheer hours and hours of repetitious, concentrated kicking,
striking, blocking, and focusing upon becoming a powerful killing machine
can deceive you into thinking you’re superior—and even godlike—and quench
new life in Christ.“[xlviii]

Children
today are being primed early in life to adopt a pagan universalistic
worldview and to gain mastery in their lives through both physical and
occult force.

 Conclusion

 Are
well-meaning attempts to “raise self-esteem” through a pagan killing system
with deep roots in the occult really the answer to the problems our youth
face?

 Tonie
says:

“God helped me see that following the
karate world hinders making a commitment to Christ, and karate greatly
interferes with a Christian’s walk with the Lord. . . Depending on Jesus is
almost impossible, because you’re trained to trust in no one but yourself,
your karate skills, and your armor.“[xlix]

 And Ed
Hird concludes,

“My research and personal experience has led
me to the conviction that Taekwondo and the Martial Arts are not merely
physical exercise, but in fact are Zen Buddhist meditational practices, both
in their sitting and moving forms. Taekwondo and MA are a Trojan Horse in
the House of the Lord, eroding the spiritual barriers between Zen Buddhism
and the Christian Gospel, and potentially leading vulnerable children and
teens into the early stages of eastern occultism. As a result of this
research, our Christian School Board decided to no longer offer Taekwondo or
other Martial Arts. The good news about religious syncretism is that it is
never too late to repent and start afresh, serving one Master and one Master
alone, Jesus Christ our Lord (Matthew 6:24).“[l]

 

What can a parent do?

“Sure, our children just might come out of
their younger years unscathed, well-adjusted, and nonviolent—but it’s
getting harder and harder for them to do so.”[li]

 “I’ll never forget the destructive impact I
saw karate have on Christian children when I taught it,” Tonie says.  

“Christian parents, why place your children
in a pagan system that teaches them to kill? Why put dirty rags on your
kids? All the things advocated by the martial arts schools can only be found
in Christ: discipline, family togetherness, peace, self-control, all the
fruits of the Spirit. Why be attracted to paganism? Why return to the world
to get what’s in Christ? Where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.“[lii]

Rather
than immersing their children in a worldly killing system, Tonie advises
parents to lead their children to the Lord, teach them His Word and to avoid
dangerous situations (Proverbs 16:32; 29:8; 12:13; 15:1; 15:18). Pray Psalm
91 over your children and Isaiah 49:25: “I will contend with those who
contend with you, and your children I will save.” Lead your children to the
Lord, and teach them to depend upon Him and His Word for their answers. Pray
daily for your children, for God’s protection, wisdom, shepherding, for He’s
the only One who can shepherd them when they are away from you

Remember,
our true enemies are not flesh and blood but spiritual forces of evil
(Ephesians 6:12). While it is true that individuals can be controlled by
dark powers, and Satan may try to use someone like that to attack us, our
victory begins at the cross with Jesus’ triumph over these forces
(Colossians 2:15). This means developing a solid and powerful walk with the
Lord Jesus Christ before we ever have such an encounter. It also means
walking in wisdom and avoiding dangerous situations unless we are called to
them by the Lord.[liii]

 Author
Berit Kjos writes:

“God tells us to
‘Train up a child in the
way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ (Proverbs
22:6) This means helping your child build a biblical world view, a mental
framework based on God’s Word not the world’s distortions. Viewing the world
through the filter of truth, your child will accept what God loves, discern
what He hates, and enjoy the safety He offers those who follow Him.“[liv]

In
addition, Grossman points out that the younger the child, the more
vulnerable to media violence because of undeveloped reasoning and self
control, so these faculties need to be developed. This involves teaching
children to understand what they are seeing. Of course, a child’s biggest
influence is his or her parents. What kind of role model do we provide? How
well do we budget our childen’s time with media and video games? 

Grossman
and other experts recommend making language activities a priority because
current studies are showing that a well-developed language system can build
up the prefrontal cortex, which is an “important component in dampening
impulsive, aggressive behavior…” “Some researchers even believe that
literacy skills actually prevent violent behavior.”[lv] 

In conclusion, well-meaning attempts to
“raise self-esteem” through a pagan killing system with deep roots in the
occult not do not provide the answer to the problems our youth face; they
only exacerbate them. Instead, our children must be strengthened in God’s
Word and the Holy Spirit to recognize and resist our culture’s powerful
conditioning forces of violence and floods of fascination with magic.

“Though you probe my heart and examine me at
night,

though you test me, you will find nothing;

I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.

As for the deeds of men—by the word of your lips

I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.

My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped.”

(Psalm 17:3-5)

---

END
NOTES

[i]
Statistics are from
http://www.chucknorris.com/html/biog.html. The KICKSTART Web
site is at
http://www.kick-start.org/ “The program generally begins on the
elementary and/or sixth grade level.”

[ii]
Mike Straka, “Grrr-Ly Men and Women. Grrr!” Sept. 17 2004.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132280,00.html

[iii]
Grossman, Lt. Col. Dave, & DeGaetano,  Gloria. Stop Teaching Our
Kids to Kill: A Call to Action against TV, Movie & Video Game
Violence (New York: Crown Publishers, 1999). See the
Introduction by President Bill Clinton, June 1, 1999.

[iv]
Ibid., pp. 17-18.

[v]
Ibid., p. 1.

[vi]
Straka, “Grrr-Ly Men and Women. Grrr!”

[vii]
Nathan, Linda, & Gatlin, Tonie. The Dark Side of Karate (AuthorHouse,
2004).

[viii]
Hird, E. (2000). Taekwondo & the martial arts: Mere exercise or
Trojan horse? Anglicans for Renewal, February 2000,
http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/arm07.htm

[ix]
The Dark Side of Karate, p. 70.

[x]
Ibid., pp. 70-71.

[xi]
Dr. Diane Levin, a professor at Wheelock College in Boston.
Grossman, pp. 18-19.

[xii]
Grossman, p. 26.

[xiii]
Ibid, p. 24.

[xiv]
Hird, Taekwondo & the Martial Arts, p. 11.

[xv]
Grossman, p. 26.

[xvi]
Grossman, p. 45.

[xvii]
Grossman, p. 48.

[xviii]
Grossman, p. 51.

[xix]
See Berit Kjos’s excellent article (1996) on The Mighty Morphin
Power Rangers at

http://www.crossroad.to/text/articles/power-rangers.html. Kjos
says: “Obsession with power, violence and martial arts can prove
fatal. Last fall, Norway, Sweden and Denmark banned the show for a
season after a five-year-old Norwegian girl was kicked unconscious
by classmates and died in the snow. Some blamed the Ninja Turtles,
which had been broadcasting the skills and thrills of the martial
arts longer.”

[xx]
Grossman, p. 67.

[xxi]
Grossman, p. 48.

[xxii]
Grossman, pps. 78-79.

[xxiii]
___. (June 22, 2005). Video game addiction comparable now to alcohol
and drug abuse: Companies continue to market violence aimed at
children and teens. Intercessors for America On Watch in
Washington email newsletter, http://www.ifapray.org.

[xxiv]

Grossman,
p. 66.

[xxv]
Grossman, p. 59.

[xxvi]
Grossman, pp. 58-62.

[xxvii]
Size of brain linked to violence. (2000-03).
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/02/000203075358.htm

[xxviii]
___. (June 22, 2005). Video game addiction comparable now to alcohol
and drug abuse: Companies continue to market violence aimed at
children and teens. Intercessors for America On Watch in
Washington email newsletter,
http://www.ifapray.org.

[xxix]
Fetto, J. (2003). Your questions answered – estimated 18.1 mil
Americans took part in karate or some other form of martial art at
least once in the past year. Information from American Demographics.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_4_25/ai_100751497.
Retrieved August 2005

[xxx]
De Castro, E., Oropeza, B. J., & Rhodes, Ron. (1993). Enter the
dragon. Christian Research Journal, Fall, 27.

[xxxi]
Fetto, J.

[xxxii]
___. (1999). Study finds predictors for youth violence and drugs.
Adapted from a news release issued by the University of Southern
California.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/06/990614075139.htm.
Retrieved 8-4-05, 2005

[xxxiii]
Grossman, p. 57.

[xxxiv]
The Dark Side of Karate, p. 66.

[xxxv]
___. (2002). Feeling groovy – statistics on drug use among
teenagers:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_2002_Jan_1/ai_82264529/print

[xxxvi]
See
http://www.nida.nih.gov/DrugPages/mtf.html. The Monitoring the
Future Survey, conducted by the

University of Michigan’s Institute
for Social Research and funded by the National Institute on Drug
Abuse (NIDA), at the National Institutes of Health, has tracked 12th
graders’ illicit drug use and attitudes towards drugs since 1975.
Although a large surge of teen drug use in the mid-1990s has mostly
stabilized, a recent survey of 50,000 junior high and high school
students shows their attitudes shifting in favor of legalizing
marijuana and giving fewer criminal penalties for illegal drug use.

[xxxvii]
One national survey found that 85 percent of violent teens reported
using marijuana, and 55 percent

reported using
several illegal drugs. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(2001).
Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General. Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 69 and Parker, R.N.
and Auerhahn, K. (1998). Also: Alcohol, drugs, and violence. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 291-311, both quoted at
http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/teens/drugs.asp.

[xxxviii]
‘Combat meth’ bill introduced in Senate Judiciary Committee. (2005).
CitizenLink Daily Email Newsletter. Retrieved July 29, For
more information, visit
http://www.citizenlink.org.

[xxxix]
Berkes, F. (2005). Study: Meth epidemic fueling family break ups:
National Public Radio.

[xl]
Dawson, J., Sandvig, Zoe, Watson, Laura, & Putnam, Whitney. (2005).
Powerful spell. WORLD Magazine, 20,
http://www.worldmag.com/subscriber/displayarticle.cfm?id=10863.

[xli]
The use of the word occult refers to the study and use of
supernatural power that the Bible forbids,

such as witchcraft, divination,
clairvoyance, spiritualism, and so forth.

[xlii]
15 Hird, “Taekwondo & the Martial Arts”

[xliii]
___. (2004). Book review: “The secret power within: Zen solutions to
real problems (secret power within).”
http://www.campusi.com/isbn_0316583502.htm

[xliv]
For more information, see Table 3.1: Religious and Historical
Elements in the Development of the

Martial Arts, The Dark Side of
Karate, pp. 15-20.

[xlv]
Eisele, R. E. A Christian response? Martial arts – religion
analysis service.
http://www.pastornet.net.au/response/articles/23.htm.

[xlvi]
Bishop, John. Karate School Queenpin: L.A.’s New Business Star
Raises the Bar!

http://www.masuccess.com/features/barnes.htm. Website of the
Martial Arts Industry Association. December, 2002.

[xlvii]
Dark Side of Karate, pp. 26-27.

[xlviii]
Dark Side of Karate, p. 69.

[xlix]
Dark Side of Karate, p. 68.

[l]
Hird, “Taekwondo & the Martial Arts.”

[li]
Grossman, p. 64.

[lii]
Dark Side of Karate, p. 70.

[liii]
Dark Side of Karate, p. 94.

[liv]
Kjos, “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” last paragraph.

[lv]
Grossman, p. 89. 

---

©
2005 Linda L. Nathan,  First North American Rights

Linda Nathan is the president of Logos Word Designs, Inc. (http://www.logosword.com),
a Christian writing, editing, and publicity service. She is the
author of the book, The Dark Side of Karate (AuthorHouse
2004), and the booklet, The Martial Arts: Should I Be Involved?
She and her husband Richard have been involved in
apologetics ministry since 1987. To order the book, go
to



http://www.logosword.com/karate

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