Courtesy

I was watching a mixed martial arts match on television last night. It was an excellent match. A Japanese fighter did his best to enter the American "venue" if you will, and he did a pretty good job. He lost the match, but he made an excellent showing.

He didn't speak any English, but he was about as courteous as they come. At least twice during the match, after he and his American opponent tried to bean each other but good, he raised his hand high in the air, prompting the American fighter to do the same and then touch gloves to show that he bore no ill will toward him, and foster good sportsmanship between the two men.

I don't know whether this made an impression on the American fighter, as a lot of MMA fighters who get highly publicized in the sport tend to talk a tremendous amount of trash, before, during and after matches. The pre-fight publicity in this country can be pretty disgusting.

Every fighter that I have ever met or watched from Japan has always demonstrated courtesy and respect for their opponents, at least externally. I once trained in Kempo with a man who had trained for a time with Masutatsu Oyama. Even through that particularly brutal experience, courtesy among his Japanese peers was a must, no matter how competitive things got.

This was highly stressed when I began training in the martial arts, but it is something that is slowly being lost in this country. I don't know if it is the independent, two six-gun mentality that has come down through our heritage or what, but the idea of submitting to one another in a courteous bow of respect is anathema to some people. Maybe that is an element involved in mankind's rebelliousness when it comes to God. I do know one thing though. Eventually, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.