Telling the Story of China’s Martial Arts: Julius Eigner, Foreign Journalists...
Introduction I first became aware of an article titled “The Ancient Art of Chinese Boxing” by Julius Eigner through a reference in the work of Stanley Henning. I seem to recall that he was not...
View ArticleChinese Martial Arts in the News: April 30th 2018: Karate, Choy Li Fut and...
Introduction Welcome to “Chinese Martial Arts in the News!” Lots has been happening in the Chinese martial arts community, so its time to see what people have been saying. For new readers, this is a...
View ArticleMay the 4th Be With You: Rhythm in the Chinese Martial Arts and Lightsaber...
***It is May the 4th, everyone's favorite Star Wars themed, merchandise based, holiday! As regular readers know I occasionally write about the Lightsaber Combat Community. Here is an essay touching...
View ArticleThrough a Lens Darkly (52): Taijiquan in Communist China and the United...
The First of Five Photos by Horst Faas to accompany story on the practice of Tai Chi Chuan. An older Chinese man practices the calisthenics called Tai Chi Chuan, sometimes called shadowboxing by...
View ArticleInfluence at Home and Abroad: Martial Arts at China’s Central Army Officer...
The Center and the Periphery What is this “a case of?” That is the basic empirical question that underlays countless discussions in the social sciences. It is difficult to know what something...
View ArticleLives of Chinese Martial Artists (11): Mok Kwai Lan – The Mistress of Hung Gar.
***In honor of the recent celebration of Mother's Day. Enjoy!*** Introduction This post is the third entry in our series examining the lives of female Chinese martial artists. While it is the...
View ArticleExplaining “Openness” and “Closure” in Kung Fu, Lightsaber Combat and Modern...
An Eternal Debate Some of the most persistent, and for students of Martial Arts Studies most significant, issues revolve around the choices individuals are forced to make. I was introduced to Wing...
View ArticleChinese Martial Arts in the News: May 21st, 2018: Kung Fu, Travel and a...
Introduction Welcome to “Chinese Martial Arts in the News!” Lots has been happening in the Chinese martial arts community, so its time to see what people have been saying. For new readers, this...
View ArticleLightsaber Combat and the Value of Myth in the Martial Arts
Solo, the latest addition to the Star Wars franchise, opens around the country tonight. As such, it is only fitting that I share with readers of Kung Fu Tea my latest article, co-authored with Chad...
View ArticleJudo and the Chinese Martial Arts: the View from 1928
Staging a Global Controversy Origin stories are very often political. People everywhere intuitively understand this. If you can pinpoint (or simply construct) the moment of something’s creation you...
View ArticleReport: A Martial Arts Studies BBQ and the Power of Local Networks
On May 27th just under 20 people gathered in Myers Park over the course of an afternoon to celebrate the arrival of summer with fellow students of martial arts studies and martial arts enthusiasts....
View ArticleTranslating the Sicilian Knife
“If translation is a form of betrayal, then the translator pays their debt by bringing fame to the ethnic culture…It is in translation’s faithless that [Sicily] survives and thrives. A faithlessness...
View ArticleBerlin 1936: Chinese Martial Arts on a Global Stage
China Picks 2 Women Boxers For Olympics — Four Men Also Chosen to Give Display of Old Chinese Art — Six candidates for the Chinese boxing [sic] for the World Olympiad at Berlin in August were...
View ArticleThrough a Lens Darkly (53): Traditional Weapons in China’s 20th Century...
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If true this will be a weighty essay. Yet that was always the thing about Harrison Forman, the renowned photo-journalist, writer and explorer. As a...
View ArticleLives of Chinese Martial Artists (22): Wang Ziping and the Strength of the...
Telling a Tale Brief biographical sketches of Chinese martial artists are some of my favorite posts to write. I am not sure why, but I find the challenge of reconstructing a very different type...
View ArticleChinese Martial Arts in the News: June 18, 2018: MMA, Taijiquan and Bruce Lee
Introduction Welcome to “Chinese Martial Arts in the News!” Lots has been happening in the Chinese martial arts community, so its time to see what people have been saying. For new readers, this...
View ArticleAddiction, Wellness and Martial Arts
Winning and Losing In the movies martial artists win their battles. Early losses, inserted into a script for the purposes of “character development,” are redeemed in a climatic final scene. Those...
View ArticleJingwu and the Creation of the “Kung Fu” Brand
Rethinking the Conventional Wisdom Our daily conversations are made up of innumerable facts drawn from what might be termed, “the conventional wisdom.” The contents of this warehouse of social...
View ArticleLabor Unions, the Growth of Kung Fu and the Survival of Wing Chun
National boxing is very popular in Fatshan city. It is reported that there are some eight national boxing schools which are directed by well-known national boxers. School fees are only from two to...
View ArticleMartial Arts Training in the Summer Heat
Feeling the Heat Here is a fun fact to consider. The modern mechanical air conditioner was invented by Willis Carrier (a Cornell graduate I might add), not in Arizona or Florida, but in western...
View Article