My schedule over the next four to six weeks is going to be pretty crazy. I have a couple of writing projects followed by some heavy duty transoceanic conference travel. As such we will be dipping into our... Continue Reading →
Seeking Identity through the Martial Arts: The Case of Mexicanidad By George Jennings Jennings, G. (2017). Out of the labyrinth: The new Mexican martial arts riding the wave of Mexicanidad. Paper presented at the 3rd Martial Arts Studies... 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 →
Introduction Today’s post is the result of a happy coincidence. As regular readers will be aware, I occasionally collect and share vintage images of the Chinese martial arts. Many of these come from the sorts of ephemera... Continue Reading →
"Inoue said the Japanese style of judo traditionally focused more on quantity rather than quality, trying to instill a tough mentality. But in Europe, which Inoue describes as “the mainstream of judo today,” judoka train more efficiently. “A... Continue Reading →
***For today's post we are headed back to the archives. I am becoming more interested in the ways that the traditional martial arts have been promoted by the Chinese government as a means of generating "soft power" within the realm... Continue Reading →
“I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the condition of... Continue Reading →
Denis Gainty. 2013. Martial Arts and the Body Politic in Meiji Japan. New York: Routledge. Introduction In this post I have the distinct pleasure of discussing Prof. Gainty’s work on the relationship between the martial arts, embodied identity,... Continue Reading →
Introduction We all know the story (and those who do not may want to quickly review the most popular version of it here). With the destruction of the Shaolin Temple at the hands of a fearful... Continue Reading →
Recent Comments