The Knights of the Hospital of St. John were a rival militant order of the Knights Templar. Though they were technically older than the Templars, they were originally only chartered to administer the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem. It was not until the Templars combined the roles of warrior and monk that the Hospitallers took up arms on a professional basis.
I always thought I'd look better in black than white.
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Interesting blurb I came across:
It is a paradoxical truism that religious warfare never broke out In North East Asia before the arrival of Christianity. Why
paradoxical?
Because historically, although the concepts of Crusade or Jihad were Unknown to Far Eastern religions, Buddhist temples in China, Japan
And Korea all housed orders of fighting monks, men who were rigorously Trained in the martial arts as they were in religious
disciplines.
However, whereas the great Christian martial orders which had such a Major impact on European and Middle Eastern history – the Knights Templars, The Hospitallers, the Teutonic Knights, etc. – have now disappeared or been transformed into charitable organizations, remnants of the Buddhist per-modern
Fighting methods and orders do, in fact still exist, in the form of extant martial arts.
The most famous of these is China’s (recently resurrected) Shaolin Temple and It’s associated fighting systems; in Japan there also exists a strong relationship
Between traditional weaponry schools and Buddhist and shintoist
organizations. What is less well known is that there also exists a Korean Buddhist martial Tradition – Son Kwan Moo\ Sonmudo (literary, ‘’Zen martial way’’).
The origin of the art is unclear. Some believe it may date back to the highly Militarized society of Shilla, during which period Buddhism became the state
Religion of the Three Kingdoms; in ancient times, in the harsh
environment of Korea’s mountains, physical fitness and self-defense skills would have been Essential requirements. What is undisputed is that armed monks have
featured throughout Korean history, notably in resisting Koryo militarism, and in taking
the field against Hideyoshi’s forces in the 1590s.
Nowadays, the home of Buddhist martial arts is Pomo Temple near
Pusan, Where the art was systemized in this century by the Monk Yang-ik. On of the
Senior Masters of the present generation is a humorous and
approachable 45-Year-old Sunim (Monk), Won-Euk, who currently resides at Hoamsa (Tiger
Rock Temple), on Seoul’s southern outskirts. Two of his students teach for him
At commercial gyms, the members of which visit him on weekends for
training, Religious instruction and a taste of temple life.
The temple lifestyle is austere and disciplined – ideal for the
acquisition of Religious knowledge and martial skils. Trainees are woken at 4 a.m.
to perform 108 bows (an exercise in itself) and an hour of meditation. Following breakfast,
odd jobs are performed around the temple, after which trainees hike up the mountain before undertaking a training session under the guidance of the
Master.
Sonmudo\Sun-Kwan-Moo is very different from the Japanese-derived styles of Tae-Kwon-Do and Hapkido; no flags or screaming. There are 3 main aspects to
The training: stretching, breathing exercises and martial arts. The stretching takes
Over 30 minutes to perform and covers every part of the body. In
particular, the Stretches for the lower back area were the most extensive this writer has seen in 12 Years of martial arts training. The breathing exercises are equally extensive, covering
both static and moving postures. “Breathing is the bridge between mind and body,” notes the Sunim, who warns that this kind of training carries hidden risks and so should be attempted only under qualified instruction. Chanting of “Om” and “Am” is also emphasized – Western reaserch indicates that low chanting of vowel\consonant combinations, such as the above and the Christian “Amen” set up vibrations within the body which are beneficial for internal health.
The martial art combines lively footwork and kicking techniques
(similar to Taekkyon)
With long-arm hand movements reminiscent of Northern Chinese styles. An unusual Feature is that solo training forms are performed slowly, demanding great balance and
Control. While the younger trainees appear to specialize in the more spectacular kicking Movementswhich are so representative of Korean
martial arts, Sunim also demonstrated Some highly practical hand-and-elbow
combinations. At high levels, sword and quarterstaff Are taught.
Son-Kwan-Moo clearly offers deeper benefits than are commonly
associated with martial arts training, and it is noticeable that most of the students
are older than the average Korean martial arts trainee, and most have experience in other styles before coming to Sun-Kwan-Moo.
The excellence of the style has even been recognized by the Shaolin Temple; the Sunim Led a delegation of practitioners there last year, with the result that Sonmudo is the only Korean martial art recognized by Shaolin. In the future it is planned that practitioners of both Systems
will meet to pool their knowledge. However the martial art is only a
step on the path; Instructor Kim Ji-Woong states, “The body has no thoughts, so philosophy or religion are a Necessary component of martial arts training. We use the body to strengthen mind and spirit. Sun-Kwan-Moo is a way of
promoting Buddhism among the people.”
(*) Andrew Salmon is a freelance writer and English teacher at the
British Council -
Hmm...
Going to take issue with a few of the throw away statements.
Why was there no "religious warfare" in the Far East? Because the Truth Claim of Eastern religions is not as rigid as in the Western religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Western religions all insist they are the ONLY way to know God. All others are infidels.
Eastern religions are far more tolerant of religious deviance from orthodoxy, and place a greater premium on the end result (knowing the Transcendant) than on the particular path the individual takes to achieve the result. Hence there is less tension between believers of different faiths.
In fact, many Eastern religions can coexist quite nicely. A Japanese person is typically quite comfortable with mixing and matching Buddhist and Shinto rituals to celbrate different occasions. His day-to-day life will be guided further by the philosophical/religious tenets of Taoism and Confucianism that were imported and digest by Japanese culture centuries ago.
The fighting monks of Asia were as well versed in martial arts as they were in religion: What a blanket statement! Here are a couple more blanket statements that narrow the focus. The Chinese monks, such as the Shaolin, were primarily interested in their religious vocation. Martial arts for them were exercise and defensive. Japanese military orders, on the other hand, tended to be standing armies supporting the political intersts of the temples. Many of the warrior monks were more warrior than monk. Many were attracted to the life bcause it offered three meals and a bed. A great many Japanese warrior monks, sohei, weren't particularly religious at all, and were easily moved to a fight.
Fighting methods: Well, of course the fighting methods of the Western Military Orders died out. Leaving aside the fact that they were political institutions too which contributed to their demise, the martial methods of the orders were centered on the heavy cavalry charge. Unlike individual combat skills practiced in Asian monasteries, this skill was not conducive to transferring to a general populace. How many people alive today have any idea how to organize a cavalry charge through every step from technique to strategy? And arguably the basics of the skill were at one time more widespread than any Shaolin boxing system. But the Western Way of War moved on. In 500 more years, how many people will be able to describe the workings of a modern tank battalion?
Korean fighting monks... Ok, Korea is something of a dead space in my martial arts knowledge. My understanding is that a martial artists are looking hard beyond the modern Korean systems to find the roots of their arts and fiding a wealth of knowledge in many unusual places, including temples. Korea is a natural invasion route, and its people were forced to fight for many centuries by each other and their neighbors. A great many Korean arts show the influence of the Chinese and Japanese neighbors. So it doesn't surprise me that Korean temples and monasteries support martial arts systems used at one time to defend the monks against aggressors.
In my research of "Odinism", I have found similar statements about religious war in Northern Europe and the absence thereof prior to the arrival of Christianity.
When Christianity arrived in Northern Europe, Odinism peacfuly coexisted with Christianity. As a matter of fact, Christianity adopted several Odin ways such as a festival on the first day after the winter solstice that is noticibly longer and a festival of fertility in the spring.
Unfourtanitly the Third Reich corupted Odinism for their own evil purposes.
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