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Kung Fu Tea

Martial Arts History, Wing Chun and Chinese Martial Studies.

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Weapons

Collecting Chinese Swords and other Weapons in late 19th Century Xiamen (Amoy)

  Introduction: Xiamen and the Chinese Martial Arts Marketplace I am interested in the martial arts history of Fujian province.  Many areas of China can rightly claim an illustrious past when it comes to producing famous boxers, military officers or... Continue Reading →

A Social and Visual History of the Hudiedao (Butterfly Sword) in the Southern Chinese Martial Arts.

    *****An updated and revised edition of this article is now available.  Click here to read more.  Thanks!******   Hudiedao, wu dip do, bat cham do, shuang dao, double short broadswords, butterfly swords......These weapons are known by literally dozens... Continue Reading →

Forgetting about the Gun: Firearms and the Development of the Southern Chinese Martial Arts.

Giving Up the Gun: Revisiting a Classic Argument. In 1979 a Dartmouth English Professor named Neol Perrin wrote one of the more popular and more widely read books on the history of the martial arts.  It was titled Giving Up... Continue Reading →

A Social and Visual History of the Dadao: The Chinese “Military Big-Saber.”

Rediscovering the Dadao: A Forgotten Legacy of the Chinese Martial Arts. Any review of the history of the Chinese martial arts in the 20th century will quickly suggest that these civilian art forms have, at various points, been co-opted and... Continue Reading →

Identifying and Collecting the Nepalese Military Kukri.

Introduction: The Traditional Military Kukri. New projects are always a learning experience, and one of the things that I have found most surprising here at Kung Fu Tea has been the persistent popularity of the one post which I wrote... Continue Reading →

Chinese Archery Resources

Traditional Chinese Archery Resources Yeah, I have been bitten by the bug.  It seems that archery, in all its many forms, is a hot commodity.  Between the "Hunger Games" and "Brave" it has gotten a huge amount of free publicity. ... Continue Reading →

The British Army Kukri: An artifact of western orientalism or the 20th century’s greatest combat knife?

  Collecting the Military Kukri As I have mentioned in other posts, not all of my martial studies interests fall within the domain of Chinese culture.  The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal is also fascinating.  It’s political, religious and military history... Continue Reading →

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