On Legends and their Grains Not all legends contain a grain a truth. Such an assertion is wishful thinking and sells short the remarkable faculty that is the human imagination. Still, grains manifest frequently enough that they keep historians... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
***We have now come to the point in the semester that I call "deadline season." As such, we will be dipping into the archives over the next few weeks to give me some additional time to work on... Continue Reading →
Regulating Kung Fu in Canton The brave new world of electronic databases and digital humanities is certainly opening many doors to new and exciting types of research. Increasingly scholars can sit down at any university terminal and access previously... Continue Reading →
Introduction The "writing sabbatical" continues and I am happy to report that the book chapters and papers are progressing nicely. This weekend's post comes to us from the early days of Kung Fu Tea, and it covers a... Continue Reading →
In January of 2013 I posted an essay titled "A Social and Visual History of the Hudiedao (Butterfly Sword) in the Southern Chinese Martial Arts." As a student of Wing Chun I have always been fascinated by these weapons, and... Continue Reading →
***While never discussed within the Chinese martial studies literature, Alfred Lister may have been the single most important western observer of the Chinese martial arts in the second half of the 19th century. Over a period of four... Continue Reading →
Introduction Spirit possession is a fascinating but rarely discussed aspect of the traditional Chinese martial arts. Reformers in the field of physical culture spent much of the 20th century attempting to erase the national embarrassment of the Boxer... Continue Reading →
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