Are Taoist Martial Arts Off-Limits to Christians?

Author: Bret Gordon

​I’ve been writing a lot about the Taoist origins of the internal arts lately, and naturally the question arises: Can Christians study practices that developed within Taoist and Buddhist cultures? For some believers, the association with monasteries, Eastern philosophy, and unfamiliar metaphysical language suggests potential spiritual conflict. Yet simply because these arts were once practiced by monks does not automatically make them religious acts. 

​A Buddhist monk performing coordinated breathing exercises is no more inherently engaged in idol worship than a Catholic priest who goes to the gym to lift weights. In both cases, the movements are neutral. It is the intent behind the activity that gives it moral or spiritual character. A squat remains a squat whether performed by an athlete, a pastor, or a monk. Likewise, standing meditation, soft forms, or slow-motion spirals remain physical practices unless one layers spiritual ideology onto them.

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This distinction is central to Paul’s teaching in the New Testament, where he repeatedly emphasizes that created things are morally neutral unless imbued with intent contrary to God. “I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself.” Romans 14:14

Here Paul directly addresses concerns about practices originating in non-Christian contexts. Food sacrificed to idols was not inherently idolatrous. What mattered was the heart of the person eating. His epistle to Titus echoes this same thought: “To the pure, all things are pure...” Titus 1:15

These verses are not invitations to spiritual carelessness or a license to commit sin, but rather affirmations of spiritual maturity, reminding Christians that external forms, cultural customs, and physical techniques do not contaminate the soul unless one chooses to let them.
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This is a critical frame for understanding internal arts. Taijiquan, Qigong, Baguazhang, Xingyiquan, Aiki Jujutsu, or related practices do not possess spiritual power simply by virtue of their origin. They are skill sets based on observations of human physiology, structure, balance, and movement efficiency. If a Taoist monk once used these methods to contemplate the Tao, that does not obligate a modern Christian to interpret them the same way. A technique’s former meaning does not determine its current application any more than Gregorian monks chanting psalms forces a modern singer to treat vocal training as a religious rite. Movement exists before meaning. Humans assign meaning, the motions themselves are neutral.
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A deeper scriptural foundation strengthens this argument even more: “all things were created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:16

This includes not only the materials of creation but the principles embedded within it: gravity, leverage, breath, balance, coordination, elastic recoil of fascia, spiraling lines of force, and the neuromuscular patterns that generate smooth, efficient movement. These are universal truths, part of God’s intelligent design long before any culture attempted to explain them.

The Chinese understanding of Yin and Yang, for example, arose from careful observation of natural opposites: expansion and contraction, effort and relaxation, rising and sinking. While Taoist philosophers framed these patterns cosmically, Christians can recognize them simply as descriptions of how God structured the body. Flexors and extensors alternate. Agonist and antagonist muscles work in harmony. Tension and release complement each other to create coordinated movement. These are not mystical forces but observable realities of the human organism.

When viewed this way, Taiji philosophy becomes much more accessible. Yin and Yang don't need to be interpreted as metaphysical energies or spiritual principles. They can instead be understood as poetic labels for how the body functions. 

This leads naturally to the doctrine of stewardship, a foundational Christian responsibility. Genesis 1:27 teaches that human beings are made in the image of God, granting the body an inherent dignity. 1 Corinthians 6:19 further deepens this truth by calling the body “a temple of the Holy Spirit.” The Christian’s task, then, is not to shy away from training the body but to cultivate it responsibly and reverently. Strengthening the body, improving mobility, reducing pain, developing balance, and learning to move with grace and control are not merely physical pursuits. They are acts of stewardship. Keeping the body healthy and capable honors the One who created it. Whether that strengthening comes from resistance training, calisthenics, running, yoga-style stretching, or internal martial arts is secondary to the purpose for which one trains.

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Internal arts are particularly valuable in this context because they emphasize principles that modern science validates and Christians can appreciate without hesitation: relaxed power, efficient biomechanics, stabilization through structure rather than force, breath-led movement, mental focus, and nervous-system regulation. These benefits are not “Taoist” in nature. They are human. They belong to everyone because they arise from God’s design of the body. To reject these disciplines purely because of their cultural origin would be akin to rejecting mathematics because the ancient Babylonians practiced it or rejecting herbal medicine because early physicians followed animistic beliefs. Truth is not defiled by the hands that discovered it.

Furthermore, Christians throughout history have adopted, transformed, and redeemed countless cultural practices, from art and music to philosophy and medical techniques. Augustine incorporated Platonic thought. Aquinas built upon Aristotle. Missionaries used local melodies and rhythms to teach hymns. The early Church repurposed Roman education systems and Greek rhetorical methods for preaching. The idea that Christians can only use practices with explicitly Christian origins is not only historically false but would severely limit the Church’s ability to live and minister in the world. Redemption, not rejection, is the Christian pattern.

Ultimately, the question returns to intent. A Christian practicing Taijiquan or Qigong is not engaging in Taoist worship unless they choose to. They can simply train to improve posture, cultivate calmness, enhance coordination, relieve stress, or prepare the body for self-defense. A movement sequence does not become a prayer simply because someone else once used it that way. Breathing deeply does not become a religious act simply because a monk performed the same breathing centuries ago. Christians are fully capable of reclaiming these practices for the glory of God, using them to strengthen the body He designed and maintain the temple of the Holy Spirit entrusted to them. The Gospel of Mark declares: "It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart." Mark 7:15

As a Catholic, I was taught that worship is inseparable from sacrifice, and sacrifice is inseparable from intent. Worship is never something stumbled into unintentionally. It is a deliberate act of offering directed toward the One to whom we give ultimate devotion. In the same way, Catholic teaching on mortal sin makes it clear that grave matter alone does not constitute guilt. There must also be full knowledge and deliberate consent. You cannot accidentally commit a mortal sin, and likewise you cannot accidentally worship a false god simply by practicing a movement, breathing pattern, or exercise that someone else once used religiously. A practice only becomes idolatrous when it replaces the place of prominence that God alone should hold, when the heart begins to elevate a created thing to the level of the Creator. Without that intentional displacement, physical training remains just that: training, discipline, and the stewardship of the body God entrusted to us.

Paul offers the final word in 1 Corinthians 10:31: “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” That includes how we move, how we breathe, how we train, and how we care for God’s creation, our bodies. Internal martial arts, approached with clarity of intent and grounded in Scripture, become not a compromise of faith but a celebration of God’s wisdom woven into the human form. ​

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