Introduction It is my distinct pleasure to introduce the first entry in a new series of guest posts titled "Doing Research." Compared to other fields of scholarly inquiry, Martial Arts Studies has a distinctly democratic flavor. This stems from... Continue Reading →
Introduction History is difficult. It goes beyond gaining access to appropriate sources, records and languages. The challenges that we face are often more basic and conceptual. At the present moment there is a lot of interest, both in... Continue Reading →
“No man can do justice to another’s human total.” -Victor Turner, The Forest of Symbols (1967, p. 150). Introduction If culture is understood as a system of interlocking signs, a complex of meanings, beliefs and practices that... Continue Reading →
Introduction I would like to begin this week here at Kung Fu Tea by revisiting an essay that I first posted about a year ago. Last week I wrote a short piece considering the sources of the social distrust that... Continue Reading →
1928: What Happened in the World of Kung Fu? -The Central Guoshu Institute was established by the Nationalist (KMT) government and subsequently held its first national martial arts tournament in Beijing. -Cheung Lai Chuen... Continue Reading →
Sixt Wetzler. “Myths of the Martial Arts.” JOMEC Journal. Issue 5. June 2014. 15 pages. Introduction Increasingly a wide range of academic students are contributing to the field of Chinese martial studies. We have seen important work... Continue Reading →
by Esther Berg Introduction: More on Theory and Martial Arts Studies Here comes yet another reader response to the debate on ‘theory’ in Martial Arts Studies. To shortly summarize the state of discussion: In 2011, D. J. Farrer and John... Continue Reading →
By Stanford Chiou This post is my contribution to the recent discussion at Kung Fu Tea on the place of theory in martial studies (see here and here). There is no escaping the assumptions—or “theories”—on which perspectives are built, and... Continue Reading →
Alex Channon and George Jennings. 2014. “Exploring Embodiment through Martial Arts and Combat Sports: A Review of Empirical Research.” Sport in Society (February). Introduction: Why study embodiment in the Asian martial arts? One of the major trends that we have... Continue Reading →
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