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Kung Fu Tea

Martial Arts History, Wing Chun and Chinese Martial Studies.

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Martial Arts Studies

Martial Arts as Politics: The Act of Seeing

  Look at Me!   I took a break from the kicking drill just as an insistent, irritated, voice rang out. “Coach, look at me!  Look at me!  LOOK AT ME!  Hey Coach. COACH! Look at me!”  Of course it... Continue Reading →

Kung Fu Documentaries and Their Discontents

  Given that many of the readers of Kung Fu Tea come to this blog to read about the history or development of traditional fighting systems, I am willing to bet that each and every one of us has complained... Continue Reading →

Conference Report: Fighting Bodies and Knowledge at Trier University

  ***The following is a guest post by Paul Bowman who recently had the good fortune to attend a fascinating set of meetings at Trier University organized by Dr. Eric Burkart and Dr. Eva Bishoff.  From the sounds of thing... Continue Reading →

Who “Owns” Kung Fu? Intangible Cultural Heritage, Globalization and the Decentering of the Asian Martial Arts

  ***In the last week I have found myself delving ever deeper into the literature on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) designations and the traditional martial arts.  When seeking to understand the relationship between politics and these fighting systems, one would... Continue Reading →

Brian Kennedy and the Development of Chinese Martial Studies

  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 →

Doing Research (11): Apprenticeship as Method in Martial Arts Studies

  Welcome to the eleventh entry in our ongling series of 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 (how to... Continue Reading →

Chinese Martial Arts in the News: August 19, 2019: Hong Kong, Bruce Lee and New Books!

  Introduction Its been a long hot month with lots of Chinese martial arts news.  That means that now (before the start of the new semester) is the perfect time to get caught up on recent events! For new readers,... Continue Reading →

Three Thoughts on Hong Kong, Social Dislocation and the Fog of War

  “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” Niels Bohr (among others).     With Trepidation I would like to outline three quick points about the current situation in Hong Kong, particularly as it relates to (and sometimes sidesteps)... Continue Reading →

Debating Rules and Standards in the Martial Arts

  Why do the rules matter? Recently I was invited to help organize a local martial arts gathering and tournament.  I have never done anything like this before (most of my organizational expertise is concentrated in the academic realm) but... Continue Reading →

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