***This was one of the more popular posts I wrote during the first year of KFT (2012). I still love talking about, and training with, wooden dummies. What better training companion can you have in the middle of cold weather... Continue Reading →
***Here is one of the first substantive posts that I ever wrote on Wing Chun for the blog back in 2012, about three years before my book (with Jon Nielson) came out. Wing Chun mythology is always a hot topic.... Continue Reading →
Today’s post comes courtesy of Joseph Svinth who shared an intriguing, if brief, find with me a few weeks ago. Kung Fu legends revel in accounts of high stakes challenge matches. In a typical story a young martial arts... Continue Reading →
The Problem with Being “First” I am distrustful of attempts to locate the “first” instance of anything popular or famous. Generally speaking, these quests misunderstand the way that the social world works. We all stand on the shoulders of... Continue Reading →
On Legends and their Grains Not all legends contain a grain a truth. Such an assertion is wishful thinking and sells short the remarkable faculty that is the human imagination. Still, grains manifest frequently enough that they keep historians... Continue Reading →
LK Chen's Magnificent Chu Jian. Source: LKChenswords.com Rediscovering a Lost Sword Culture A single puzzle piece is useless on its own. Sometimes it takes one mystery to illuminate another. Such is the case with the following text and sword. Historians... Continue Reading →
History as the cure for Ideology Everyone has a personal mental image of the Chinese martial arts. The detail may vary, but there are some undeniably common elements. Grainy photos, complex postures, exotic weapons, strangely vigorous old men. The... Continue Reading →
Introduction: Gender and the History of the Chinese Martial Arts Women are a challenging subject in Chinese martial studies. One the one hand traditions about female boxers, nuns, bandits and heroes abound in the folklore of the “Rivers and Lakes.” ... Continue Reading →
Given that many of the readers of Kung Fu Tea come to this blog to read about the history or development of traditional fighting systems, I am willing to bet that each and every one of us has complained... Continue Reading →
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