Good question...

We at the Academy believe in living for the loosely interpreted 'Code of the Jedi' and therefore feel that we are obligated to study the martial arts. We do not study to gain the ability to maim or harm, but to protect. We study general knowledge (literature, mathematics, sciences) to protect against ignorance, what then should we do to protect against physical harm? Study martial arts.

Our choices of diciplines here are many, my personal choice is Aikido, where there are no 'attacks', you take the energy of an attack and direct it away. Defeating an attacker and protecting those who we are sworn to without killing or maiming is my duty as one who chooses to live as a Jedi.

Don't assume martial arts is the study of just hurting another. It like all knowledge can be used for good or bad, depending on the person who implements it. Knowledge of martial arts is a very powerful tool, and in trying to change the world for the better we should use tools such as this to aid us in living the Jedi way.

-Baal Legato