Dear Rabbi Brody,
Your website has strengthened my emuna considerably and you have helped me so much in my derech. Your post on the ADD child was beautiful. I am planning to enroll my son (11) in martial arts (not an ADD child...just small physically).
How do I explain to my dear, Christian friend that martial arts is not bound up with negative, harmful "eastern" spiritual elements. She is really quite concerned.
Chag Sameach, MM
Dear MM,
Thanks for your sweet note. Tell your friend that I only suggest things for "peaceful warriors" only, those who fight the Evil Inclination. Specifically, Tai chi, is unlike Western exercises/contact sports primarily based on competition (look at all the fist fights in hockey, football, baseball, etc.). Tai chi is not competitive but highly personal. Its overriding philosophy - which Yehoshua Bin Nun and Avner ben Ner were well versed in - is to get in touch with your own mind, body and spirit, being mindful always of the subtle shifts that occur during stretches, movements and holding of positions. Also, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov combined bodily movement (walking in the fields) with meditation (hisbodedus). Peaceful warriors do pretty much the same.
Tell me - which sports activity do you prefer for your child, this or this? I rest my case...
Have a wonderful Pesach! Yours, LB
My tremendous thanks to the Israel Tai Chi Center
Update
On Motzaei Shabbos, my mailbox was jammed with Jewish parents all over the place asking why I recommend Tai Chi, and expressing fears that it borders on idol worship.
First of all, one of the biggest Tai Chi masters in the world is former IDF Special Forces commando Nir Malchi (pictured at left), a remarkable gem of a person and an astounding baal tshuva who's now pitched in the battle of his life against the nasty big C. Grand Master Nir, a yarei shamayim merabim, is head of the Israeli Tai Chi Center.
Second, before Shabbos, I explained to the Melitzer Rebbe all about Tai Chi. The Rebbe said that he was sorry that so many religious people and schools neglect the health of children's bodies and the need for wholesome, regular, exercise. The Rebbe shlit'a also said that according to my description, Tai Chi exercises (not combat) sound like a perfect idea, and he stands behind my recommendation. I don't agree that you send your child to a Taoist monk to learn Tai Chi, but from a place similar to the Israel Center, it would be fine to learn.
Third, you'd be amazed to see how much Tai Chi exercises help you concentrate in davening and learning.
Two parents have written to me that their kids have been kicked out of schools in New Jersey for not agreeing to take Ritalin. The Melitzer Rebbe shlit'a says that you should thank Hashem - no parent should send a child to a school where they drug the kids.
I reemphasive that a phys-ed program such as Tai Chi (hiking, cross-country running, and weightlifting are also good - I'd pick the activity with the best coach) together with a Torah tutor has beat the Ritalin problem in five cases that I've been involved in during this past year alone.
Ritalin pushers rank high in my book of villains, together with the doctors that misread sonograms. Drugs have no place in Jewish education. Period.
