Wrestling, with Spirit
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA 

 

Silentium Wrestling offers a unique type of 'spiritual' wrestling practice. It is open to all people who desire (and are deemed fit and able) to practice a combative and contemplative art that draws its inspiration from Asian and Western wrestling methods and its silent meditative sitting from Christian spiritual practices of the 'inner' tradition. Establishing and developing a ‘contemplative-wrestling’ community in a spirit that seeks to humbly serve God and our fellow human beings in a fellowship of mutual respect, are core values at the heart of Silentium Wrestling.

“Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.” (1John 2:10)

 

We all wrestle with the challenges of life sometimes.

The willingness to grapple is indicative of the readiness to wrestle with the struggles of life.  Learning to push when we need to apply force, yield when we need to be flexible, persevere and be steadfast, dig deep and find more of our inner resources, even discovering that there are times when we need to submit.

In the willingness to enter the wrestling circle is found the courage to accept that suffering is a natural part of life, and the skills and character forged there are the deep learning to help handle one’s struggles with fortitude and positivity of spirit. It is the struggle between spiritus and materia, darkness and light, self and other, human and God; and the deep understanding and empowerment that arises from the willingness to enter into the wrestle, to endure and to not give up. The strengthening and fortitude, the persistence and rectitude, respect for fellow wrestlers and the deep, silent presence of God are a way and a life in Silentium Wrestling.

In Silentium Wrestling working against and with an opponent we find the external challenger assists us in manifesting and bringing to consciousness the true opponent within ourselves- that internal adversary with which we grapple everyday.

Wrestling and silent prayer helps us express something beyond words. There are daily battles within and without, small and large, and we wrestle to seize the divine within our human struggles. In this practice there is physical and spiritual wrestling combined.

​

"For though I fall

I will rise again.

Though I sit in darkness,

The Lord will be my light."

(Micah 7:8)

​

Silentium Wrestling seeks to fortify the spirit through practising His presence, strengthen the body and humble the soul through wrestling training, and foster fellowship and community through shared practice and principle.  Our energy is refreshed and renewed in the still, calm sitting in the presence of God. Resting peacefully in the presence of the Lord is the way we revitalise our spirit and our strength; and wrestling is how we direct and make good use of it. Endless activity drains vitality, as being overly sedentary results in stagnation and loss of motivation. Harmonising the contemplative and the active is the practice of Silentium Wrestling.

Wrestling and grappling express the dynamic, changing force of life, while Silentium touches the stillness of the eternal.  

 

“The discipline of sitting before the Lord is very important. It is only when your spirit is still and when the ears of your spirit are open that you can really hear the Lord and experience the wisdom and insights that come from the Holy Spirit.”  
Sr Briege McKenna

​

  

​

​

​

​

​
 

​