In January of 2013 I posted an essay titled "A Social and Visual History of the Hudiedao (Butterfly Sword) in the Southern Chinese Martial Arts." As a student of Wing Chun I have always been fascinated by these weapons, and... Continue Reading →
***While never discussed within the Chinese martial studies literature, Alfred Lister may have been the single most important western observer of the Chinese martial arts in the second half of the 19th century. Over a period of four... Continue Reading →
First, the Important Stuff Is it possible to approach history without theory? I think not. It is the existence of some sort of preexisting story or framework of understanding that we carry around in our heads which... Continue Reading →
A New Pole I had been meaning to get a new “long pole” (or Luk Dim Boon Kwan) for a while. As the name implies, these are somewhat unwieldly training tools and (unless you own a... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
Introduction: A Secret Book We have all seen the movie. We have all had this dream. A mysterious Kung Fu manual, purporting to relate the secrets of past masters, falls into your possession. What will you find... Continue Reading →
Introduction In a recent post we explored the life and career of Xiang Kairan (1890-1957), a seminal figure in the creation of the modern, media driven image, of the traditional Chinese martial arts. Born to a wealthy... Continue Reading →
I recently received a letter from SUNY Press letting me know that The Creation of Wing Chun: A Social History of the Southern Chinese Martial Arts, will soon be released in paperback. This is wonderful news and due... Continue Reading →
Introduction Welcome to the fifth entry in our series of guest posts titled “Doing Research.” If you missed the first essay by D. S. Farrer (which provides a global overview of the subject), the second by Daniel Mroz... Continue Reading →
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