Philosophy of Fighting

Some more wisdom from Father Elias

Fighting is communication, ending in a cry for communion of all with something that is above all. That’s what the ancient Olympics were about: one day of adoration, prayer and sacrifice, five days of competition, one last day of thanksgiving.

Combat sports, more than any other sport, educate not only the fighters, but also the spectators. The way you watch is the way you are, or will be. A bout is communication and communion, firstly between the fighters themselves, but also between the fighters and the spectators.

I’ll try to explain what I think is a very elementary truth. The “flesh”, our bodily nature created by God as a good thing, expresses something of the ways of our spirit as it walks towards its Creator, its God. On our long pilgrimage towards Him, there are many truths that our spirit and flesh understand and teach to each other, these truths shape our identity.

I’ll make two distinctions:

1. Some truths we make ourselves: they are the realizations of our life. Whatever we achieve in our life for a good cause and by giving ourselves, is our truth for ever. It can not be taken away from us, but we will share it with our beloved ones in the eternal light.
   
2. Other truths are unchangeable, like our human nature, the elements of the universe, and God (at least, if He exists).

1. Some of those unchangeable truths we can find by the power of our own spirit
   
2. Other unchangeable truths we must receive from above, by another “spirit”.

Whether the human spirit can discover or even prove the existence of a “God”, well, that’s quite a question… But it can certainly not prove that Jesus is God and that God is “Trinity”. Those things matter of faith.

The knowledge of unchangeable or “necessary” truths is “science”, or at least that’s what science should be. As an engineer admit remorsefully, that in our world today technology has usurped the place of true science.

The knowledge of the noble causes that are worth even giving one’s life for is “wisdom”; the knowledge of the means to do this is “prudence”. As a priest I remorsefully admit, that too often Christian wisdom has been reduced to set of moralistic principles, ignoring Gods unfathomable wisdom and His amazing prudence: He offers to us His Son as a means to give ourselves totally for the good causes we have discovered and chosen…

Are you getting bored? Well, it seems that fighting is an image-in-the-flesh of science, whereas dancing is an image in the flesh of wisdom. Fighting educates and expresses man’s thirst for transcendence and therefore shapes his natural and autonomous religious attitude. Dancing forebodes his union to God, who has promised to reveal His own mystery to man.

Fighting leads to adoration, dancing prepares contemplation…