Introduction Happy Lunar New Year! In honor of the holiday I decided to publish a couple of posts that focused on the important role that the traditional martial arts, and martial values more generally, have played in the celebration... Continue Reading →
Chinese Officer and Soldier with Ring Hilted Sabers Today's post is an early Christmas gift. When I first decided that it would be wise (for research purposes) to collect and catalog images of period martial artists, I was... Continue Reading →
“In business, be competent. In action, watch the timing. No fight: No blame.” Introduction I bet you didn’t know that the Dao De Jing was full of Christmas shopping advice. It turns out that it is, and... Continue Reading →
Introduction The martial arts can speak to a number of important questions, but perhaps to none as directly as popular attitudes towards violence. Much of my recent research has looked at what the organization of martial arts groups... Continue Reading →
Introduction While many of the vintage images introduced in this series have focused on martial themes, characters or weapons, few of them have attempted to reveal scenes of martial artists simply practicing their craft. And the vast... Continue Reading →
The Creation of Beijing's Police Given that this is a holiday weekend, what follows is brief but topical. Labor Day is an ideal time to look back and remember some of the hard working individuals who helped... Continue Reading →
Introduction Tigers have long been a symbol of martial values in Chinese culture. Many martial arts styles make use of tiger-based symbolism. This symbolism may reflect the tiger’s long association with the imperial military. Warrior figures wearing... Continue Reading →
Through a Lens Darkly In this occasional series I turn to photographs, postcards, slides or other forms of ephemera both as a source of information about the Chinese martial arts and as a witness to the many... Continue Reading →
Introduction When introducing topics like the transnational translation of the martial arts, the construction of popular beliefs about Asian culture through images of violence, or even the reduction of hand combat’s once radical message to yet another... Continue Reading →
Kung Fu Tea 
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