|
Apologetics & San Jieh Dao
By Sifu Bahram Khozairy
Copyright © 2005 by Bahram Khozairy. All Rights Reserved.
Since 1997, when I initially introduced my newly formulated art and philosophy of San Jieh Dao, I have been asked over and over again, “what is Apologetic”? And throughout the last several years, through various publications, seminars, lectures and audio and video tapes, I have been attempting to not only answer this question, but to also demonstrate the strength and power of apologetics spiritually, mentally and physically in action. The question of apologetic can be answered quite easily, but what I find consistently difficult for students and the general public to grasp are the applications of apologetics. Its surface meaning is to make an apology or being in a sorry state or an expression of regret. However, the root meaning of this term has far more expression and meaning than what the general public has heard or is familiar with.
To make clear, the term ‘Apologetic’ comes from the Greek term ‘Apologia’, which simply means ‘to defend’ or ‘defend’ or ‘to make a case.’ The Webster Dictionary defines it as “the branch of theology charged with the defense of Christianity.” It also states “a defense in writing of the author’s principles, etc.” The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, defines ‘apologia”, as “answer (for self), clearing of self, defense.” It also defines its derivative term ‘apologeomai’ as “to give an account (legal plea) of oneself, i.e. exculpate (self): answer (for self), make defense, speak for self.” Ultimately, Apologetics within the context of Biblical Theology means, “to defend the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Apostle Paul used this term quite often in the New Testament (Philippians 1:7, 16) and in many other areas. The early Christians and Scholars such as Justin Martyr (100 AD – 165 AD), Athanasius (296 AD – 373 AD), Martin Luther (German Reformer 1483 AD – 1546 AD), Zwingli (Swiss Reformer 1484 AD – 1531 AD), John Calvin (French Reformer 1509 AD – 1564 AD) and many others were vigorous Protestant Apologists and Defenders of the Christian faith. Others during our modern era, such as the late Dr. Walter Martin (Father of American Apologetics, 1928 – 1989), Dr. Norman Geisler, Dr. John Ankerberg and others are the notable and scholars in the field of Apologetics.
Now, that’s apologetics within the context of Biblical Theology, but what about Apologetics in the context of San Jieh Dao, and how do they relate to one another? Although, it takes quite a large amount of space and volumes of writing for me to give a very thorough and in-depth answer (hence my SJD volumes of books that will be published in the near future), I would like to address this question very briefly by mentioning a few important but succinct points.
First of all, I have build San Jieh Dao’s foundational philosophy based on the fact that absolute truth exists. Absolute truth exists not only within the realm of life (our normal daily life), but also within the combative reality as well. We know this, because we can identify pain as pain. We can identify a broken hand, cut limb, disabilities, weaknesses and limitations as such. Certainly the opposite of all these realities are as real as well (lack of pain, healthy hand, healthy limb, normal abilities, strengths and … etc). In a sense, both the reality of good and reality of evil, the reality of pain and reality of happiness are real and can be empirically verified without a doubt. If anyone denies a pain as pain (as an example), they are deceiving themselves and self deception is certainly the worst kind of all deceptions. Since absolute reality and truth exists, the subjective reality exists as well. However, all subjective realities must at one point or another adhere to the absolute reality. In the example of SJD, the absolute reality of the art, its elements, its philosophies and concepts are quite real, and yet at the same time, student’s intake of those absolutes will vary from one student to another. The student’s comprehension levels, their ability to perform and exemplify their mental intake of the absolute and objective material will differ from one student to another student, and this (as a relative example) will be classified as the relative and subjective reality with the art.
Getting back to the earlier philosophical disposition, all the Tri Fold elements, material and curriculum of the arts can be explained, defined and defended, because of the way I have shaped and fashioned them from the ground up. They can be explained in an objective level, with full assurance that they will be comprehensible to the dedicated and serious students of San Jieh Dao. They will be transparent to the SJD followers, because of their logical and objective nature. This is where San Jieh Dao’s apologetics gets in gear. People may question the art, but they cannot refute it. Simply because of the way I fashioned the art, its nature and its structure. And because of this and because of the fact that SJD is a logical and objective scientific art, it can be explained and defined. It is based on objective truth, with reference points and objective orientations. And yet, as objective as San Jieh Dao is, it allows for the subjective freedom, development and growth of the students. All subjective freedoms are certainly to be bound within the objective reality of the art. This is SJD’s nature and it is certainly the way God has made all things within our universe. Men are free to do as they wish. However, their freedom is bound and limited by the laws of the land. Once that law is violated, men’s freedom is also affected and in many times, taken away.
In combat, a wrong kick, a wrong punch and a wrong move can be a cause for the loss of combat and possibly the loss of life. We would certainly identify the loss of combat and loss of life as realities that exist, but we also must identify the cause (i.e. the wrong action) of those results as well. Again, this is one of SJD’s major foundationally philosophy and based on this logical formation, the art can be defined and defended on the Tri Fold level (physically, mentally, spiritually). Therefore, apologetics is purely integrated within San Jieh Dao and it is this unique aspect of the SJD that gives it such potency. It is what allows SJD to be known as to why it is, what it is. It allows the SJD instructor to be able to give answers and reasons as to why we train, what we train, why we think what we think, and why we believe what we believe. Thus, the instructors of SJD must be able to understand the whys of the arts, so that they can give legitimate, logical and truthful Tri Fold answers, when they are questioned, regarding the art. It is also another reason what sets SJD apart from JKD and makes San Jieh Dao comprehensible to its followers.