Bowing At Karate

[MiriPiri]

I recently started karate and we have bow when entering the dojo. THis is just standing up and lowering body, Japanese style.

Before lesson begins and often at end, we are required to go on our knees then bow once to denote respect to the teacher, then again to denote respect to those watching.

This is not religious, it is merely a Japanese martial arts custom. It probably does originate from religion, way back, but there are no religious elements to the ettiquette involved.

I was just wondering if this undermines a Sikhi's actions in a Gurudwara. I would say not because because bowing is customary rather than religious and denotes different meanings.

Forgive me for my lack of understanding.

[Guest Lohgarh Singh]

wjkk wjkf

in martial arts u bow 2 show no hard feelings n dat u intend 2 giv a clean mach.

in a real jaang u dont bow because u r going wid da intent 2 kill or do damage

[Guest SScom]

in terms of "Sikhs should not bow to non other than Dhan Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee", the meaning behind this is deeper than just the physical side of things.

You are not bowing to the teacher to say "i accept you in place of Guru Jee" or "i regard you higher than Guru Jee" or "i have denounced my Guru and now i follow your dharam"... you are merely respecting his knowledge of a spiritual marshall art in which he is a teacher of.

If any of the above statements were to be true, then you would be going against Gurmat teachings and you would be wrong, according to Guru jee.

[koonergs]

When you bow you SHOULDNT look straight at the ground but maintain eye contact with your opponent as in many tournaments ive seen people attacking the other person who is unaware of what is happenning

[Balait_da_Sher]

bowing is not disallowed in sikhi as per my understanding, what is not allowed is that when you bow to someone thinking/hoping they will fix things for u i.e. dukh door kar den ge, get you one way ticket to sachkhand etc.

[One Man Army]

gurfateh ji

i think it has more to do with ur intention. like SScom said, its not that u bowing out of sayin i accept u as my guru, it more out of respect. although iv never seen a bow when u hav 2 go on all fours. think thats an extreme way of bowing, as if u look at any chinese martial arts, it can clearly be seen the bow is jus out of respect to you sifu..... depends hw u feel bruv wen goin on all fours, id personally advise against it.... try eagle claw kung fu, wid hari singh, thats wer we learn from, teaches in birmingham.

[All-Info]

Understand the purpose behind the "Bow".

In Sikhi, we put our matha to the floor and submit ourselves to Guru Ji, simply saying, heres my head, its urs, heres my body, its urs! Do with it as you will!!! Im am yours, i am not one just a puppet in your control!

You arnt really bowing to Guru Ji are you when you think it of that?

"Bowing" is a general custom in both japanese and chinese culture, in india, alot of people touch feet of elders to show respect, or giv a hug. In their culture, bowing to the elder is a sign of respect.

Notice the bow to, for example, when bowing to the emporer, they lower their head and eyes to, similar to how we would infront of Maharaj, but when in kombat (may it be training or jang) they never hide sight of the opponent, whether it be the teacher or the dhushan.

Heres the science bit you could say.

In martial arts, you generally, (this is from my experience from a wide variety or styles), generally bring your left hand which is open to your right hand which is closed.

Notice the nature, the hand dont actually meet in the centre when done properlly, the open hand (left) goes to the closed (right) and then both come together to the middle.

Why?

Well, heres the clever bit!! Its all significant.

The open hand shows u come in peace - hence its open!! and the closed hand says you are ready to fight if so need be but you come in peace as this is the first motion - left to right.

Notice when done, you SHOULD always be lookin at your opponent.

Now take Gatkha or Shastar vidiya, we always do Namaskar to both the Akhara and the Shastar, the principle is the same, out of respect we Namaskar.

HERES WHERE THE CONCLUSION LIES!!!

We bow or submit to maharaj, they bow or submit to the ruling authority. BUT they namaskar as a sign of respect to each other just as we do when entering the Akhara and before handling Shastar.

Apologies for writing loads! been a while...

Forgive me if i made any mistakes, this is my interpretation of it.

WJKK WJKF

[International Akaali]

i thgink bowing in form of karte is introduction i do not think you are worshipping your oppenent

[disguised]

i took martial arts (karate) .. and yeah bowing jst sybolizes respect.. nothing wrong with it....

[Pheena]

I recently started karate and we have bow when entering the dojo. THis is just standing up and lowering body, Japanese style.

Before lesson begins and often at end, we are required to go on our knees then bow once to denote respect to the teacher, then again to denote respect to those watching.

This is not religious, it is merely a Japanese martial arts custom. It probably does originate from religion, way back, but there are no religious elements to the ettiquette involved.

I was just wondering if this undermines a Sikhi's actions in a Gurudwara. I would say not because because bowing is customary rather than religious and denotes different meanings.

Forgive me for my lack of understanding.

140773[/snapback]

Isn't it ironic veer ji that you used the smilie to ask a question if it is ok to bow??