Martial Arts and Philosophy Beating and Nothingness

Martial arts and philosophy have always gone hand in hand, as well as fist in throat. Philosophical argument is closely paralleled with hand-to-hand combat. And all of today’s Asian martial arts were developed to embody and apply philosophical ideas. In his interview with Bodidharma, Graham Priest brings out aspects of Buddhist philosophy behind Shaolin Kung-Fu — how fighting monks are seeking Buddhahood, not brawls. But as Scott Farrell’s chapter reveals, Eastern martial arts have no monopoly on philosophical traditions: Western chivalry is an education in and living revival of Aristotelian ethical theories. Several chapters look at ethical problems raised by the fighting arts. How can the sweaty and brutal be exquisitely beautiful? Every chapter is easily understandable by readers new to martial arts or new to philosophy.

Graham Priest practices Shitoryu Karatedo and is an Australian national kumite referee and kata judge. Just to demonstrate his lack of judgment, he writes books on logic and metaphysics, among them Beyond the Limits of Thought (2002) and Logic: A Very Short Introduction (2001). For fun, he writes articles on Buddhist philosophy. Damon Young is a black belt in Goju-Kai Karate and an Honorary Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of Distraction (2008), as well as a frequent contributor to newspapers and radio. Making the most of his philosophy training, he played a mafia thug in the Jackie Chan movie, Mr. Nice Guy.