An Unexpected Find It is basically a truism to say that the Western public didn’t know very much about the Chinese martial arts in the 1920s. More interesting is the question of why. Given the global popularity of Judo and... Continue Reading →
Introduction Friday morning posts are usually written the day before, and it just so happens that this week’s Thursday falls on Valentine’s Day. That complicates things for reasons that are both understandable and a few which are a little... Continue Reading →
Men fighting men to determine worth (i.e., masculinity) excludes women as completely as the female experience of childbirth excludes men….The female boxer violates this stereotype and cannot be taken seriously—she is parody, she is cartoon, she is monstrous.... Continue Reading →
Wonder Woman with a Dadao In China the realm of social violence, and the martial arts in particular, has been male dominated. That does not mean that women never became a part of such activities. After all, they... Continue Reading →
***Over the last couple of years a discussion has emerged within the literature on how scholars should define and classify the martial arts, and whether such efforts are even a good idea. Alex Channon, a Senior Lecturer in Physical... Continue Reading →
Captain America Thwarted I spotted a flash of red, white and blue as I looked up from the electronic display mounted on the top of the treadmill. It was telling me a depressing story of miles left to go. ... Continue Reading →
Introduction Within the field of International Relations Stephen Chan (OBE) needs no introduction. He is a Professor of Global Politics in the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. He also served... Continue Reading →
Introduction I have been working on a couple of projects that have taken me away from the blog over the last couple of weeks. One of the more challenging of these has been a review David Faure’s very detailed writings... Continue Reading →
Introduction Stories of skilled female warriors have a long history in China. The legend of the Maiden of Yue illustrates these ancient roots. Yet it was during the final decades of the Qing dynasty that the female martial artist... Continue Reading →
Kung Fu Tea 
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