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Martial Arts and Restoring the Body Politic
Jackie Chan’s remix of the Karate Kid is, among other things, an interesting commentary on the ability of the martial arts to create unexpected communities. Are Martial Arts Political? My friend,...
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A (Taijiquan) Mystery in Yellow
An English language edition of Chen Yanlin’s volume. While covers might be blue, red, yellow or purple, the dust jackets were typically the same yellow design seen on the original 1947 Shanghai...
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Seeking Identity with a T-Shirt: Uniforms in the Martial Arts
A vintage photo captioned “Acrobatic School, Hong Kong” in pencil. Note the simple matching shirts and hats. Source: Author’s personal collection. The Varieties of Uniformity My Monday evening...
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Salvaging History and Saving the Martial Arts
Hong Kong harbor at night. Source: Wikimedia. This weekend has been a blur of activity. Friday evening was consumed by the first “open mat” sparring night at the Central Lightsaber Academy (which was...
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Who “Killed” Kung Fu: Habermas and the Legitimization Crisis within...
“A Sword Fight.” 1917, magic lantern slide showing Wang Wen-lin and Wang Shhh-Ching. Source: The Digital Collections of Springfield College. Zombies The air is distinctly crisp, the end of October is...
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Chinese Martial Arts in the News: Oct. 22 2018: Archery, Kung Fu Villages and...
Introduction It has been a busy weekend, so this news update will be brief. Nevertheless, I wanted to comment on some of the more interesting stories that have been floating around. For new...
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Martial Classics: The Complete Fist Cannon in Verse
A period depiction of Ming Soldiers involved in the Piracy Crisis which inspired Qi Jiguang’s now famous discussion of military training. Source: Ming Qiu Shizhou Taiwan Zoukai Tu (Victory in Taiwan by...
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Through a Lens Darkly (56): New York City’s Kung Fu and the Roaring 1920s
Introduction While I have a few connections in New York City’s TCMA community, it has always been my experience that one turns up different sorts of insights by getting out and exploring the...
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Of Pens and Swords: Jin Yong’s Journey
In recent years Louis Cha’s novels have become subjects for comic book artists. The Loss of Heroes The Chinese martial arts community has lost two giants. The death of Raymond Chow (who was...
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Performance Ethnography and the Martial Arts Studies Reader
As the indomitable Professor Farnsworth would say, good news everyone! The long anticipated Martial Arts Studies Reader (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018) is now shipping. Weighing in at 244 pages,...
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The Last Shall be First: Finding Meaning in the Martial Arts
A foreign martial arts teacher practices at Wudang. Source: Barnum’s Daughter I was recently watching the news when I saw a brief segment on “the last” Japanese swordsmith. The whole things is a...
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Swords, Visuality and the Construction of China
Chinese soldier photographed by Harrison Forman. While part of a series of issues distributed in 1938 captions indicate that these images were probably taken in the early 1930s. Source: The Forman...
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Research Notes: Judo’s Triple Transformation in The China Press (1932)
“London Sees Thrills Of Japanese Sport.” A self-defense demonstration by a female martial artist, choreographed to as to be humorous for the audience. Vintage Newsreel. 1932. Doing the Homework...
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Bruce Lee: Memory, Philosophy and the Tao of Gung Fu
Bruce Lee with his favorite onscreen weapon. ***I am off visiting family over the holiday weekend, so we are headed back to the archives. Since our (American) readers have just celebrated...
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The Modern Roots of ‘Ancient’ Martial Arts
I have just arrived back in Ithaca after spending Sunday driving rather than typing. Still, I have two items that I want to share. The first is a short interview I did with the Rochester Review after...
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2018 Christmas Shopping List: Martial Arts Equipment and Long Reads to Get...
Bernard the Kung Fu Elf riding Shotgun with Santa. (Source: Vintage American Postcard, authors personal collection.) I am not going to lie. The annual Christmas list is my favorite post of the year....
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Wabi-Sabi: Martial Arts in a Warming World
This red pine is a unique expression of the Wabi-Sabi ethos. Source:https://bonsaibark.com/2012/12/06/theres-bunjin-and-then-theres/ Martial Arts and Politics: The Big Picture The latest (dire)...
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Varieties of “Tradition”: Work, Play and Leisure in Martial Arts
A Different Kind of Race Horse races are strongholds of pageantry and tradition, but when it comes to medieval texture, few can compare with the Palio di Siena. Oddly, any footage of the event...
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Chinese Martial Arts in the News: Dec 10, 2018: Young Masters, Colorful...
Introduction Its official, holiday madness is upon us. Still, I wanted to comment on some of the more interesting stories that have been floating around. For new readers, this is a semi-regular...
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Bringing Northern Styles South: A Brief History of the Lianguang Guoshu...
Transforming Southern Martial Culture How did Taijiquan, now ubiquitous, establish itself in Southern China? What about the other northern Shaolin systems? I would think that the lion’s share...
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