IDO MOVEMENT FOR CULTURE

The culture of violence has many faces. It may express itself in a morally justified and socially accepted action. However, in a situation when it serves destruction or represents the civilization of death it is morally reprehensible and as such it is contested. Examples are here popularized in media scene of violence and cruelty (mainly for the commercial reasons) and participation in gladiators’ shows where the contestants risk life and health and the spectators fulfill their primitive instincts.
The authors of the article focus mainly on the cultural phenomenon of boxing and other similar combat sports and they reflect on the show of violence. They analyze the problem of aggression as a source of violence; the presence of brutality and violence in mass and sport culture; they describe connections of professional boxing and the problem of contemporary gladiators. Apart from the issues of boxing and boxers’ ethics the cases of extraordinary Polish professional boxers have been presented. Martial arts (e.g. karate) have been compared with contact combat sports – boxing and kick-boxing. This comparison indicates the undoubted superiority of the noble traditional ways, far-eastern martial arts which as being the ways of non-aggression and overcoming one’s own weaknesses counteract the cult of force and violence.