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 →
A Thought Experiment I suspect that anyone with even a passing interest in Chinese martial arts history has already compiled a mental list of the past masters and personalities that they would most like to visit on the off... Continue Reading →
I was recently invited to contribute an article to a forthcoming volume on the history and development of Wing Chun. The catch was that it had to be less than five thousand words. I have literally written hundreds of... Continue Reading →
The Chinese martial studies community suffered a great loss with the recent passing of Brian Kennedy (1958-2019) at the age of 61. Any such event is a tragedy, and this was all the more unexpected as Brian was active... Continue Reading →
Of Boy Scouts and Kendo A recent post focused on the role of the global scouting movement in promoting the spread of the Asian martial arts during the first half of the 20th century. In that essay I mentioned... Continue Reading →
Kai Filipiak. 2012. “'Saving Lives'—Lu Kun’s Manual on City Defense.” Journal of Chinese Military History. 139-188. Introduction Winter is a great time to catch up on one’s reading. And if you run a blog that means... Continue Reading →
Introduction Given that this post will be released on Columbus Day, I thought that it might be fun to think about some "new world" martial arts history. Lau Bun was both a colorful and critical figure in the early... Continue Reading →
Introduction Gu Ruzhang is one of the best known martial artists of the Republic of China era. He is remembered today as a pioneer who helped to bring Northern Shaolin to Southern China. Most accounts of his illustrious career start... Continue Reading →
Introduction Greetings! I am currently on the road for a conference and workshop. As such, I will be sharing some papers that were presented at the Martial Arts Studies Research Network's recent conference in Bath. If you missed the... Continue Reading →
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