The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) hits our shores for the second time in February 2011 as Penn and Fitch line up amongst others for UFC127. There has been a polarisation amongst Christians on this issue for years, in magazines both in the UK and in Australia and currently on the internet in forums globally.
This discussion about UFC and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in competition always seems to end in a draw. No-one has yet delivered a decent theological knockout or an effective pragmatic submission hold. As a Christian and as a Fighter I have wrestled with this issue for years. I do think that we have both a responsibility and freedom in Christ to better understand conflict and the way in which it manifests itself, especially in the ring.
There are a couple of questions worth considering before we launch into round 1. What is pain and why is it there? What is violence and why is it there?
It seems to me that the purpose of pain is to provide within our body a stimulus to which we can respond in a way that preserves our body. Praise God! It provides the motivation to sensibly submit in a situation of inter-personal conflict. Pain is also an indicator that we have responded too late and that the damage is already done.
The purpose of violence is much harder to establish to our common satisfaction. I have engaged with this to some degree in a thesis I wrote a few years ago. It is by no means conclusive but I think it gives a theologically grounded justification for inter-personal violence in certain very specific circumstances.
Given the particular consideration of martial arts as training for handling situations of conflict and given my reformed evangelical biblical Christian position, I have tried to think through the environments in which pain may be dispensed? I concluded that:
We may dispense pain in a controlled training environment in both:
o preparation for real conflict;
o preparation for controlled conflict; and
We may dispense pain in a non-training environment in both:
o a situation of real conflict;
o a situation of controlled conflict.
Concerning the situation of real conflict developed a matrix of ‘appropriate’ responses (page 43) outlining the circumstances and limitations within which pain should be dispensed. I have concluded that self-defence is acceptable at certain levels in certain circumstances for the benefit of self-preservation or the preservation of others at risk with consideration given to benefiting the propagation of the gospel.
From this point on we can either:
o prepare for real conflict; and/or
o prepare for controlled conflict;
o participate in real conflict;
o participate in controlled conflict;
and finally, and most relevantly for this discussion we can both,
o observe real conflict;
o observe controlled conflict.
Now in Christian life context and motivation are everything. So I ask myself:
Why might a Christian watch UFC? Why do I watch UFC?
Do I watch UFC to develop my understanding and appreciation of fighting method and conflict resolution?
Do I delight in watching one man made in God’s image make another bleed?
I have watched the UFC from No 1. I was struggling last year as to whether to attend my first real-life UFC (though it was a sell out before I made a firm decision either way). As in any pursuit in life, I must surely spend ongoing time with the Lord to search my heart for my motivation.
I hope that I am rightly motivated in my viewing. I certainly have to keep myself accountable to others to ensure that this is so – in this way my accountability in viewing UFC is no different to pornography or spending or other idols or temptations alluded to in the Bible that can creep into pole position in my heart.
I hope that my viewing of fighting tournaments trains me in the art of pain dispensation more effectively so that alongside my practical preparation for conflict I might be a gentler man in the circumstances of both controlled and real life conflict.
I hope, in response to my weaker brother, should my viewing UFC lead him to sin, that I would stop viewing UFC immediately. I ought to desist from a particular behaviour when my behaviour causes my brother to act against his conscience in observation or participation (not simply because it might not agree with his sensitivities on the issue).
I hope that the controlled conflict I view in UFC is as well mediated, assessed, regulated, medically supervised as it appears to be and is really the safest possible environment within which to allow pain dispensation within conflict between men.
Most of all I hope to come to a resolution as I wrestle with the issues because, and I can put it no better than Dennis Denuto, it does seem to me that the ‘vibe’ of the NT is for the Christian to reject violence as a way of life. Whilst Jesus himself certainly opted to use peaceful means to achieve his purposes, even though he had supremely powerful resources at his disposal in the garden of Gethsemane when he was attacked, his attitude and aptitude here are not legislative for the Christian. He had a greater purpose in his rejection of a violent methodology to curtail his arrest and that was to obediently fulfil his Father’s salvific purposes on the cross.
Still, I can find no explicit NT encouragement or discouragement on violence or pain dispensation other than to accept whatever might come my way for the sake of the gospel. But as I get older (approaching 40 this year) I do grow more and more suspicious of my motivation in viewing UFC.
I have 30 years experience in martial arts. I have a black belt in Korean Hapkido, a black belt in Japanese Jiu Jutsu, a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jutsu and a kaleidescope of coloured belts from other systems – both self-defence and sport. I have competed in amateur tournaments and trained amateur fighters. I now train in BJJ because my groundwork leaves a lot to be desired and because the system is so professionally, safely and effectively taught and mediated.
It would be wonderful if the Lord would provide a clear and emphatic way forward to conclude this discussion. In my own journey, I expect to arrive at an opinion appropriate for a mature-aged, conservative, Anglican evangelical who is tiring of fighting for all those who say ‘aye’ and really ought to be concentrating on fighting the good fight of the faith. After all, as Paul noted, physical training is of come value, but godliness is of value in this life and the life to come.
