MLARTC_FM.part 1.qxp

(Chris Devlin) #1

but also by non-Asian systems and contemporary eclectic systems such as
capoeira, savate, American Freestyle karate, and Russian sambo. Many
martial arts systems remain, however, that have not converted from tradi-
tional student-teacher organizational frameworks.
Thomas A. Green
See alsoJûdô; Koryû Bugei, Japanese
References
Almeida, Bira. Capoeira: A Brazilian Art Form.Berkeley, CA: North
Atlantic Books.
Carr, Kevin. 1996. “Judo.” Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient
Times to the Present.Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Draeger, Donn, and Robert W. Smith. 1981. Comprehenisve Asian Fighting
Arts.Tokyo: Kodansha International.
Friday, Karl, with Seki Humitake. 1997. Legacies of the Sword: The
Kashima-Shinryû and Samurai Martial Culture.Honolulu: University of
Hawai’i Press.
Turner, Craig, and Tony Soper. 1990. Methods and Practice of Elizabethan
Swordplay.Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Urban, Peter. 1967. The Karate Dojo: Traditions and Tales of a Martial Art.
Rutland, VT: Tuttle.


Religion and Spiritual Development:


Ancient Mediterranean and Medieval West
In every Western society from ancient Greece until the present, soldiers’
needs have entailed the incorporation of ceremonies and rites designed to
seek the aid of higher powers on behalf of individual soldiers and, in some
cases, the army as a whole. Soldiers in the Western tradition of warfare
have always found it necessary to trust in something greater than them-
selves or even than their armies or nations in order to summon the courage
necessary to risk their lives in combat. In the modern world, every Western
nation has a chaplain corps whose primary responsibilities include prepar-
ing soldiers for the stresses of battle because military planners clearly un-
derstand the adage, “There are no atheists in foxholes.”


The Ancient World
Religious piety among soldiers was such a well-accepted norm of behavior
in classical Greece that the authors of military manuals took it into account
when discussing prebattle preparations. Onasander argued in his Strate-
gikosthat “soldiers are far more courageous when they believe they are
facing dangers with the will of the Gods” (Aeneas... 1923, 309). Many
Greek field commanders took this advice to heart when leading their
troops into battle. The Spartans routinely brought herds of goats with them
on campaign so that sacrifices could be offered not only as a preparation


Religion and Spiritual Development: Ancient Mediterranean and Medieval West 447
Free download pdf