Book Takes a Chop at Karate

Associate Pastor Tonie Gatlin (Grace Christian Fellowship, Portland, OR) was a nationally acclaimed black-belt karate champion, teacher and trainer with her own school before her dynamic conversion to Christianity in 1984. In her new book, The Dark Side of Karate (written with Linda Nathan), Gatlin offers “a fast-paced tour through the meteoric heights and depths of her life, looks deeply into the nature of the martial arts and examines both within the rise of the largest occult revival in history: the New Age Movement.”

After her conversion, Gatlin taught karate to both Christians and non-Christians until, she says, “The Lord opened [my] eyes to the destructive elements within the martial arts and impressed [me] with the need for this book.” God, she says, took off her karate armor completely, replacing it with His armor (found in Ephesians 6).

“The Dark Side of Karate was born out of the reality that I wasn’t to think of myself more highly than I should, be bowed down to, or lord it over students or anyone,” says Gatlin. “Karate inflated my ego, dethroned the Lord, and made me the ruler of my life. God had no place because the powers I used and trusted in were for self. But the book is my testimony of God’s love and how He delivered me. It warns that there is a dark side to karate and that practitioners can’t be separated from these evil influences. My prayer is that all those who read it will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit.”

For more information visit www.darksideofkarate.com.

Page copied courtesy of Light and Life Magazine from

http://www.freemethodistchurch.org/Magazine/Articles/July-Aug_2004/J-A_2004_News_Gatlin.htm