I’ve been looking more into Buddhism quite recently, I was pleasantly surprised by how much it has in common with Taoism and I’m finding an awful lot to like in it.
One of the quibbles I have is with the undertaking that forbids harming any living thing.
I went hunting on the web and found the the Buddhist code that governs the life of monks allows self defence. I was also surprised to find that there are Buddhist inspired martial arts, for example Taekwondo can be traced to the 6th century Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The Shaolin Order, also, are famed for their martial ability.
Now, as someone who trains in Taijiquan, and has some experience in other martial arts, then I see no reason that a person shouldn’t be allowed to use martial techniques purely in self defence. In my opinion, it’s a question of showing self restraint and using the minimum nessecary force, not actually trying to vindictively hurt an attacker.
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