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Kung Fu Tea

Martial Arts History, Wing Chun and Chinese Martial Studies.

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Martial Studies

Lives of Chinese Martial Artists (20): General Li Jinglin, the “Sword Saint” of Wudang

    Who was China’s “Number One Sword?”   Few individuals come to be known as both a warlord and a “sword saint.”  Even by the standards of China’s tumultuous 1920s, the carving out of two such notable public personas... Continue Reading →

Anime and the Education of a Martial Artist

    Introduction   Occasionally life takes a turn and one’s personal martial arts training gets moved to the back burner.  The last couple of weeks have been like that as my wife and I have been engulfed in a... Continue Reading →

Research Notes: Kung Fu at the American School in Shanghai, 1936

      Martial Arts Exhibitions, Old and New   Earlier today I saw a Facebook notice reminding me that I am about to miss an event with the lightsaber combat group that I am currently doing an ethnography with. ... Continue Reading →

Through a Lens Darkly (45): Creative Collages and Dueling Mythologies of the Chinese Martial Arts

    Romanticizing the Chinese Martial Arts   Vintage postcards or other ephemera may be interesting to students of martial arts studies for a variety of reasons.  When assessing this material, we are often drawn to photographic images that might... Continue Reading →

An Opportunity to Document the Indian Martial Arts

    Introduction   Prof. Phillip Zarrilli's  name will already be familiar to many.  His book, When the Body Becomes All Eyes: Paradigms, Discourses and Practices of Power in Kalarippayattu, a South Indian Martial Art (Oxford UP, 2000) was an important... Continue Reading →

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... Continue Reading →

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... Continue Reading →

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... Continue Reading →

Lives of Chinese Martial Artists (19): Cheng Zongyou, Shaolin’s Martial Missionary

    Introduction   Few individuals have influenced our understanding of the martial arts during the late Ming dynasty more than Cheng Zongyou.  His manuals provide historians a glimpse into a world of martial arts practice that is at the... Continue Reading →

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