It goes by many names. Organization, bureaucracy…”hard work”… It’s the sort of social effort that defines modern industrialized life. Weber famously termed it the “iron cage” of rationality. We so frequently speak of, or imagine, the martial arts as... Continue Reading →
Matthew Polly. 2018. Bruce Lee: A Life. New York: Simon and Schuster. 656 pages. $35 USD. Introduction Matthew Polly is perhaps the best known and most popular author writing on the martial arts today. His first two books... Continue Reading →
Rethinking the Conventional Wisdom Our daily conversations are made up of innumerable facts drawn from what might be termed, “the conventional wisdom.” The contents of this warehouse of social knowledge are so widely shared that none of us stop... Continue Reading →
***In honor of the recent celebration of Mother's Day. Enjoy!*** Introduction This post is the third entry in our series examining the lives of female Chinese martial artists. While it is the case that the vast majority of... Continue Reading →
Regulating Kung Fu in Canton The brave new world of electronic databases and digital humanities is certainly opening many doors to new and exciting types of research. Increasingly scholars can sit down at any university terminal and access previously... Continue Reading →
Zhou Kun Min. 2017. Quanzhou Taizuquan: The Art of Fujian Emperor First Kung Fu. Tambuli Media. 241 pages. $32.95 USD. I recently hosted a round table discussion focused on the state of the martial arts publishing industry in... Continue Reading →
Introduction: What is a Qilin and why do they dance? Let me start off by wishing everyone a happy New Year! Since multiple holidays fall on the same weekend this year, I am current away from the office visiting... Continue Reading →
Rebel Yell Its hard to deny that there is something a bit subversive about the martial arts. Or maybe that’s not quite right. Dutiful law enforcement officers and loyal soldiers spend as much time actually training in these systems as... Continue Reading →
Introduction This is my keynote address from the recent (Nov. 9-10th, 2017) conference on fightbooks held at the German Blade Museum in Solingen. A full report on this event is coming soon, but I am eager to share this... Continue Reading →
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