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Don J. Modesto wrote:
Hopefully Fred Little will weigh in for you. He's far more knowledgeable about such matters than myself. Hope this helps, though.
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A young man once went to his Jesuit priest and asked, "Father, is it permissible to smoke a cigarette while I pray?"
The priest took a long drag off his unfiltered Camel and shook his head sadly as he replied, "Oh lad, if only you had asked me if it's possible to pray while you smoke a cigarette."
Although from a different tradition, the story does convey an attitude toward the relationship between worldly activity and religious practice that is quite common in the Buddhist world.
This is true even in the language of the Five Precepts, which are presented not as "thou shalt nots" but rather as vows to "undertake to refrain" from activities which increase confusion and suffering.
The approach -- at least for lay Buddhists -- is one of "harm reduction" rather than prohibition. Monastics, of course, have a much more rigorous set of disciplinary requirements, but that would seem to be outside the bounds of the initial question. Within that set of parameters, the decision as to whether or not your martial arts practice is beneficial is a very individual thing.
Hope this helps.
Fred Little