In a martial art context self-knowledge means having a clear understanding of one's physical and mental competence. It is about what a martial artist can do physically and mentally. This kind of self-knowledge does not lead to enlightenment or an enhanced spiritual state. It has nothing to do with religions or systems of belief. To become a Buddhist, Taoist, etc, to achieve this kind of self-knowledge would be unnecessary and, possibly, psychologically damaging - a change of religion for one famous martial artist led him to denounce all white people as devils. World-class martial artists who have changed their religions during their careers did so without any appreciable improvement in their martial art ability.
Some great empire builders and famous warrior-kings believed their success in battle was attributable to a deity. They may have believed their success in battle had nothing to do with self-knowledge or knowledge of their enemy. Sargon, founder of the ancient kingdom of Akkad, gave Ishtar credit for his victories; David, king of Judah and Israel, gave Yahweh credit for his victories; Constantine, the first Roman emperor to be converted to Christianity, gave Jesus credit for his success in war. In some examples victory is achieved by the action of a god or the god's agent: Yahweh parted the sea for Moses, the angel of Yahweh killed to rescue the children of Israel. A religious martial artist might argue that victory in battle comes only from God - there are religious fighters today who believe their god will give them victory over their enemies by making bombs and missiles go astray.
Many wars have been fought over religion and many people have been killed over their religious beliefs. Clearly, the behaviour of an individual is affected by what the individual believes to be true. An individual's model of reality can be defined by their religious beliefs.
Some martial traditions, ancient and modern, insist their fighters go to be with their God when they die in battle. Some traditions maintain life is a constant battle between the forces of light and the forces of darkness or the forces of good and evil. In other traditions the forces of light will eventually triumph over the forces of darkness in one last battle or war after which God (or God's chosen agent) will rule over the entire human race.
War and religion have a long association, and many of mankind's most important gods have been gods of war. Often the leaders of successful armies are religious - two of the world's most powerful armies are in the charge of religious men who would probably claim their victories were the result of god being on their side. The most successful armies existing today came out of Christian tradition: the very tradition Bruce Lee rejected. Of course it could be argued that what Bruce rejected was not the teaching of Jesus but the teaching of Paul, who the author of Revelation identifies as Antichrist. Non-Pauline Christian tradition places the Antichrist on the side of the Beast. The author of Revelation identifies Israel as the Beast.
The roots of Christianity are to be found in solar religions that feature a winged messenger or bird of heaven. Such religions are related to, and probably derive from, the solar religion that appeared in Europe more than twenty thousand years ago. Remnants of this religion include wood henges and stone henges designed as circles within circles. These monuments represent and commemorate an early visual experience (a vision) generated by a paranormal intelligence. Any recipient of the vision would have seen concentric circles stretching from just above their head all the way to the sun. In all probability this vision is also remembered in the hairstyle of the so-called Venus of Willendorf; which suggests at least one female was a recipient of the experience. It could be that women were the first religious teachers in Europe. Ancient European traditions testify that the sun was thought of as female - a sun goddess.
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