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 →
Doing the Homework Students of Martial Arts Studies are the fortunate few. As research areas go, ours is pretty interesting. Yet as I review the literature (even recent publications from big name academic presses), it is clear that many... 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 →
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 →
Introduction I am interested in the frequent, seemingly unconscious, way in which the word “traditional” is appended to the name “martial arts” in modern speech and writing. One does not simply study “Japanese wrestling” or “Chinese... 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 →
Introduction Greetings from the road! I am currently wrapping up my trip to the 2016 Martial Arts Studies Conference at Cardiff University and am on my way back to the London. Given my limited time and internet access we... 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 →
Conference Report: Martial Arts Studies - Gender Issues in Theory and Practice Brighton University (UK), 5th February 2016 Introduction On February 5th Brighton University sponsored the first in a series of specialized conferences and meetings funded by the... Continue Reading →
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