Socrates, an Athenian soldier, was a calmly efficient killing machine. His student Plato was an accomplished and broad-shouldered wrestler. Martial arts and philosophy have always gone hand in hand, as well as fist in throat. Philosophical argument is closely parallel with hand-to-hand combat. And all of today's Asian martial arts?like Karate, Kung-Fu, Judo, or Aikido?were developed to embody and apply philosophical ideas. The Japanese martial tradition of Budo, for instance, was influenced by the three philosophical traditions of Shinto, Confucianism, and Zen Buddhism, and these… (more)