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Kung Fu Tea

Martial Arts History, Wing Chun and Chinese Martial Studies.

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Martial Studies

The Woyao Dao and Regionalism in History and Martial Studies

LK Chen's Woyao Dao. Source: LKChensword.com Introduction A package containing two of LK Chen’s fine historical reproductions recently arrived at my door. So, of course, I find myself thinking about the importance of “regionalism” within martial arts studies.  The connection between... Continue Reading →

Call For Papers: Martial Arts, Tradition and Globalisation

Photo from the Cornell Wushu Club. What are you most looking forward to as international travel normalizes? If you are anything like me it is a return to in-person Martial Arts Studies conferences! Our 2022 Conference is back and bigger... Continue Reading →

A Conversation With Daniel Amos on Ethnography and Hong Kong’s Martial Arts

John S. S. Long training with his teacher, Wong Lei, in Hong Kong, 1960. Source: http://www.seattlekungfuclub.com/ Introduction Regular readers of this blog with be no strangers to work of Daniel Amos. He has previously contributed guest posts to Kung Fu... Continue Reading →

Hong Kong Martial Artists – A Review

Hong Kong Martial Artists, 2021, by Daniel Amos (Rowman&Littlefield). Daniel Miles Amos. 2021. Hong Kong Martial Artists: Sociocultural Change from World War II to 2020. Rowman & Littlefield.  230 pages. $115 HC/$38 Kindle Some years ago, one of my younger brothers married... Continue Reading →

Read it Now: Martial Arts Studies, Issue 11!

  We are happy to announce that the Summer 2021 issue of the interdisciplinary journal Martial Arts Studies has been released and is now available for free download. Click here to see a complete list of articles. The 11th issue... Continue Reading →

“Fighting Styles” or “Martial Brands”? An economic approach to understanding “lost lineages” in the Chinese Martial Arts.

  ***Today's post continues our discussion of economic markets and modernity in the Chinese martial arts.  This essay, first posted in May of 2013, was one of my first attempts at hashing out these questions as they related to advertising... Continue Reading →

The Wing Chun Jo Fen: Norms and the Creation of a Southern Chinese Martial Arts Community.

  ***I am happy to report that I am making good progress on my current writing project.  But it is still an ongoing task, and one that consumed much of my weekend.  As such our post for this Monday is... Continue Reading →

Mythology of the Kukri: Sign and Symbol

Introduction: The Symbolic Language of Weapons Victor Turner, the cultural anthropologist, famously argued that all symbols are "multivocal," meaning a single symbol can take on a multiplicity of meanings.  Humans have a way of looking at complexes of symbols, perhaps... Continue Reading →

The Value of a Comparative Case: Jean-Marc de Grave discusses “The Training of Perception in Javanese Martial Arts.”

Introduction: A drift on the sea of knowledge. Let me ask you a question.  Do you ever feel like you have too much to read, study or research?  Are you familiar with that creeping feeling that you will never, ever,... Continue Reading →

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