If you take anything to extremes, it could be seen as problematic. Physical competitions in classic Greece were done in the nude and often attributed to the gods. From Wikipedia, it was said that the heroes
Heracles and
Theseus invented pankration (one of the Olympic sports) as a result of using both wrestling and boxing in their confrontations with opponents. Theseus was said to have utilized his extraordinary pankration skills to defeat the dreaded
Minotaur in the
Labyrinth. Heracles was said to have subdued the
Nemean lion using pankration, and was often depicted in ancient artwork doing that. Heck, the Grecian Olympics were shut down by the Emperor Theodosius in AD 393 because they were pagan and dedicated to Zeus.
So theoretically, you shouldn't run competitively, wrestle, box, perform martial arts of any kind or exert yourself physically in ANY manner because St. Paul writes to Timothy that "For bodily exercise is of a little profit, but godliness is profitable for everything, holding
the promise of the present life and of the
one coming."
Of course, lack of exercise is one of the reasons why I developed diabetes during seminary and can not do the longer fasts because of their reliance on carbohydrates. IMHO, we've pretty much removed the spiritual side of eastern spiritual practices and have remarketed them as Christianized versions.
Kajukenbo - Christian Martial Arts - Harvest at Kumulani Chapel So I do do yoga at home for its low impact (my knees at 51 can't take the pounding of running and I'm probably going to need to have my shoulder replaced at some point). I'd love to try tai chi because I have no interest in the hard martial arts.
TL; DR Everything can have a pagan origin, just avoid the practitioners who still utilize Eastern spiritual exercises as a part of their program. You wouldn't go to a boxing school that practices as the Greeks did, nude and dedicated to Zeus.
Chronia polla! Happy New Year!