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By Popular Demand: “Tradition” vs. “Modernity” in the Chinese Martial Arts
Source: South China Morning Post. An Old Story It is a pattern that we know well. After a debate about the utility of the traditional martial arts (and what that suggests about the state of...
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Lives of Chinese Martial Artists (19): Cheng Zongyou, Shaolin’s Martial...
Introduction Few individuals have influenced on our understanding of the martial arts during the late Ming dynasty more than Cheng Zongyou. His manuals provide historians with a glimpse into a...
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Bartitsu and Suffragette Jujitsu of the Early 20th Century
Source: Wikimedia Introduction Greetings! I am traveling for a conference and workshop where I will attempt to convince a group of political scientists that they should pay attention to...
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Dissemination of Japanese Martial Arts to Korea
Introduction Greetings! I am currently on the road for a conference and workshop. As such, I will be sharing some papers that were presented at the Martial Arts Studies Research Network’s recent...
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Orientalizing the Orient: Searching for Karate’s Budo Roots in Contemporary...
Introduction Greetings! I am currently on the road for a conference and workshop. As such, I will be sharing some papers that were presented at the Martial Arts Studies Research Network’s recent...
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Chinese Martial Arts in the News: May 22nd, 2017: Wing Chun, Missing Ninjas...
I love that it is the fans who are inside the ring, and the combatants who stand outside of it in this picture. Introduction Welcome to “Chinese Martial Arts in the News!” Its great to be back...
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An Opportunity to Document the Indian Martial Arts
Introduction Prof. Phillip Zarrilli’s name will already be familiar to many. His book, When the Body Becomes All Eyes: Paradigms, Discourses and Practices of Power in Kalarippayattu, a South...
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Through a Lens Darkly (45): Creative Collages and Dueling Mythologies of the...
A collage-type postcard made in China between 1901-1907. Source: Authors personal collection. Romanticizing the Chinese Martial Arts Vintage postcards or other ephemera may be interesting to...
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Research Notes: Kung Fu at the American School in Shanghai, 1936
A young TY Wong, right, at the 1928 Central Goushu Institute’s national martial arts demonstration in Nanjing, China. Source: From the Collection of Charles Russo. Martial Arts Exhibitions, Old...
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Anime and the Education of a Martial Artist
Introduction Occasionally life takes a turn and one’s personal martial arts training gets moved to the back burner. The last couple of weeks have been like that as my wife and I have been...
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Lives of Chinese Martial Artists (20): General Li Jinglin, the “Sword Saint”...
General Li Jinglin sporting both sunglasses and a jian. Who was China’s “Number One Sword?” Few individuals come to be known as both a warlord and a “sword saint.” Even by the standards of...
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Chinese Martial Arts in the News: June 12th, 2017: London Attacks, Kung Fu in...
Sam Lau with what might win the award for the most used dummy still in active service. Source: SCMP. Introduction Welcome to “Chinese Martial Arts in the News!” This is a semi-regular feature here...
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Violence and the Martial Arts: Contagion or Cure?
A Chinese guerrilla team armed with rifles and dadaos near Guangzhou in 1941. Source: Vintage War photograph, Everett Collection. An Old Metaphor Violence has many faces. It may appear in an...
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Through a Lens Darkly (46): Two Scenes of Early 20th Century Muay Thai/Muay...
Thai Boxing. Vintage postcard, circa 1910s. Source: Author’s Personal Collection. As a researcher who focuses on the martial arts in modern China and North America, I do not claim any special...
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Venezuelan Stick Fighting: What can we learn from the modernization of a...
Introduction The release of the Summer 2017 issue of Martial Arts Studies is fast approaching. Paul and I have been quite busy over the last few weeks preparing the various articles and reviews...
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Facing Down a Wooden Dummy, and the Myth of “Perfect Practice”
Mr Bean Wins the Wing Chun Dummy, courtesy Snickers and Youtube. “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” – Vince Lombardi The Bane of my Existence I have spent a...
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The Bubishi Gets its Due: Returning the ‘Bible of Karate’ to its Chinese Roots
David S. Nisan and Liu Kangyi. 2016. The General Tian Wubeizhi: the Bubishi in Chinese Martial Arts History. Taipei: Lionbook Martial Arts Company. 136 pages of text, plus 128 pages of facsimile...
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Li Pei Xian and the Evolution of Modern Chinese “Martial Arts”
Chinese Sword Dance. A refined and middle-class vision of the Chinese Martial Arts. Vintage postcard. Source: Author’s personal collection. ***Greetings! I am currently preparing for the upcoming...
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The Soldier, the Marketplace Boxer and the Recluse: Mapping the Social...
***As I mentioned earlier this week, I am currently preparing for the upcoming Martial Arts Studies conference in Cardiff. As such I have decided to revisit one of the earlier major essays that I...
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Imagining Ip Man: Globalization and the Growth of Wing Chun Kung Fu
***I am current on the road for the annual Martial Arts Studies conference at Cardiff University in the UK. As soon as I return home I will be posting a full report of the event and sharing the...
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