Happy Birthday Attentive readers may have noticed a few changes here at Kung Fu Tea. This blog launched its first post five years ago, on July 27th 2012. Since that point we have published well over 500 posts. Looking back at my drafts this adds up to over 2,500 pages of single…
Category: Martial Arts Studies Conference
Looking Forward and Looking Back: The 2017 Martial Arts Studies Conference
Conference Report I recently had the chance to attend (and deliver a keynote at) the 3rd Annual Martial Arts Studies conference, held at the Cardiff University. Having also attended the 2015 and 2016 conferences I can state with confidence that the field continues to move from strength to strength. Each of these…
Lightsaber Combat and Wing Chun: The Search for Meaning in the Modern Martial Arts
***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 text and slides from my keynote (titled “Show, Don’t Tell: Making Martial Arts Studies Matter.”) In…
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 text and slides from my keynote (titled “Show, Don’t Tell: Making Martial Arts Studies Matter.”) In…
Orientalizing the Orient: Searching for Karate’s Budo Roots in Contemporary Egypt
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 conference in Bath. If you missed the first or second presentation in this series, click here to see the discussion of…
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 conference in Bath. If you missed the first presentation in this series, click here for the discussion of “Bartitsu and Suffragette Jujitsu…
Bartitsu and Suffragette Jujitsu of the Early 20th Century
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 Martial Arts Studies. (If you would like to see my presentation click here). As such, I have arranged something special for Kung Fu Tea…
Conference Report: Martial Arts and Society – On the Societal Relevance of Martial Arts, Combat Sports and Self-Defense
Introduction One of the most exciting, and simultaneously frustrating, aspects of the academic study of the martial arts is their international nature. Self-defense systems, combat sports or traditional martial arts can be found in practically every region of the globe. Hence it is not surprising that the scholarly investigation of these fighting…
A Tale of Two Challenge Fights – Or, Writing Better Martial Arts History
Introduction I recently had the good fortune to attend the 2016 Martial Arts Studies conference held at the German Sports University of Cologne, sponsored by the German Society of Sport Science’s Martial Arts Commission. The theme of this year’s gathering was “Martial Arts and Society.” Over the course of three days (October 6th-8th) I saw…
Taolu: Credibility and Decipherablility in the Practice of Chinese Martial Movement by Daniel Mroz
Greetings from an Airport Somewhere in Europe! I am currently in transit, returning from my recent visit with the 5th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Sport Science’s Martial Arts Commission at the Sports University of Cologne. I hope to post a full report on the conference, as well as the text of my…
Multimedia Wing Chun: Learning and Practice in the Age of YouTube
By George Jennings (Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK) and Anu Vaittinen (Newcastle University, UK) Reference to conference presentation: Jennings, G. & Vaittinen, A. (2016). Mediated transformation: Interconnections between embodied training and multimedia resources in Wing Chun. Paper presented at the 2nd International Martial Arts Studies Conference, Cardiff University, UK, 19 July…
Martial Arts Studies 2016 Conference Report – Performance, Motivations and Historical Excavation
Introduction Earlier this week I returned from a brief trip to Canada and the United Kingdom. During this time I had the opportunity to deliver a keynote address at the 2nd annual Martial Arts Studies conference held at Cardiff University. This event, organized and hosted by the indefatigable Prof. Paul Bowman,…
