ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the martial arts of Kendo and Taekwondo as forms of naturalisation. Following philosophical phenomenology, naturalisation involves giving the person the means to ‘fit’ into their life-world – thereby easing basic existential worries such as the fear of death. I suggest that ‘religion’ and ‘nationalism’ are ways of categorising non-dominant and dominant modes of naturalisation. In turn, I look at how Kendo can be conceive as a ‘nationalistic’ mode of naturalisation and second at how Taekwondo can be conceived as a ‘religious’ mode of naturalisation. In conclusion I make some comments on how these modes of naturalisation interact with more traditionally conceived “religious” modes like Christianity.
