Ken Gullette -- "The study of martial arts is a journey of self-discovery; a unification of body and spirit."

I hear it a lot. Maybe you do, too if you study martial arts. It's a sarcastic comment, in my experience it usually goes something like this:

"You know kung-fu but I can shoot you before you can kick me."

or...

"I have a Glock that says your martial arts are useless."

The mass shooting at the Connecticut school two days ago is an example of the world we live in. The killer was rushed by the principal and school psychologist and he killed them both.

What good is it to study kung-fu if we would have ended up dead by trying to get close to this guy in an effort to defend the children and adults in that school?

It's easy to ask the question, and I've reflected on this during the past 48 hours. I lost a daughter in 1980, and my heart aches knowing a little of the pain the parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles are feeling about the death of those children and the adults.

Indeed, what good is a martial art in the 21st Century?

In an episode of the wonderful Kung Fu TV show, Master Kan told young Caine, "Training in the martial arts is for spiritual development, but it is based on self-defense."

The study of martial arts is a journey of self-discovery -- of self-discipline -- of the things you learn about yourself when you set difficult goals, work hard, and achieve them.

The correct study of martial arts also takes you on a philosophical and spiritual journey. Along the way, you discipline the mind and spirit so you know, and reflect, the reality of the world. 

And the wisest and best martial artist wins without engaging in combat.

Each of these are bits of wisdom I began absorbing when I watched the Kung Fu show when I was 18 or 19. It was wisdom I had never heard before -- it was certainly not discussed in my fundamentalist church. And so I began studying Taoism and Zen, and I found a path that has offered me a lot of peace through some very trying times.

Like everyone, I fall short of my spiritual goals. I sometimes allow angry people, particularly those preaching hatred and intolerance in politics, to push me off-center. It's something I'm working on. But there are many times in daily life when I use this training to remain centered and understand the world for what it is.

It doesn't matter what martial art you study -- kung-fu, karate, MMA -- you would be as vulnerable in the school shooting situation as the principal was. Being tough isn't the answer. In other situations when facing an unarmed opponent, or someone with a knife or stick, your skills would come in quite handy.

The study of martial arts teaches you to defend yourself, but more importantly, if you are open to the idea and have a good teacher, you learn to meld your mind and body into one, so that neither are used against others.

Adam Lanza was a troubled young man with mental disorders. He was unable to feel empathy toward others and apparently, people around him had to watch out because if he burned himself or if he fell and injured himself, he could not feel pain. There is not very much that any of us could have done for this young man. That should be a conversation within the medical, psychiatric and law enforcement community. I believe some people with violent tendencies can be helped through the study of martial arts when philosophy is included. But I doubt that the best martial arts philosopher could help someone who is deeply disturbed.

Today, even though he could not feel pain, Adam's actions have created pain that has rippled across the world. And I expect in the next few days I'll hear more comments such as, "Your martial arts would have been useless against him so what good are they?"

Perhaps they would have been useless, but that alone is not why I am still studying kung-fu after 39 years.

The people who ask this question are those who have not yet taken -- or completed -- their own journey of self-discovery. If they are religious, they have not yet completed their journey to true God Realization, which is a lot more than believing in an invisible being. And if someone who asks this question is involved in the martial arts, they either haven't taken the same path I have, haven't had a teacher to point the Way, or they aren't interested in traveling that path.

I still have a way to go, too. But as Master Kan said in the very first episode of Kung Fu, "To know nature is to put oneself in harmony with the Universe. Heaven and Earth are one. So must we seek a discipline of mind and body with ourselves."

So we continue to practice, to study, and seek to understand. More importantly, we learn to deal with conflict in ways other than violence.