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Martial Arts History, Wing Chun and Chinese Martial Studies.

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Taijiquan

Lives of Chinese Martial Artists (4): Sun Lutang and the Invention of the “Traditional” Chinese Martial Arts (Part I).

I am currently working on a paper that has me thinking about Sun Lutang again.  To my mind he has always been one of the quintessential pioneers of the modern Chinese martial arts.  So here is Part One of a... Continue Reading →

Zheng Manqing and the “Sick Man of Asia”: Strengthening the Nation through Martial Arts

    Introduction: Zheng Manqing Accepts a Challenge While doing some preliminary historical research on Zheng Manqing, the well-known painter, physician and Taijiquan master, I came across a fascinating account of a challenge match that he was involved with during... Continue Reading →

Bringing Northern Styles South: A Brief History of the Liangguang Guoshu Institute

    Transforming Southern Martial Culture   How did Taijiquan, now ubiquitous, establish itself in Southern China?  What about the other northern Shaolin systems? I would think that the lion’s share of the credit must go to the Jingwu Association... Continue Reading →

2018 Christmas Shopping List: Martial Arts Equipment and Long Reads to Get You Through the Winter Months

  I am not going to lie. The annual Christmas list is my favorite post of the year. So welcome to Kung Fu Tea’s seventh annual holiday shopping list!  Not only are we going to find some cool gift ideas, but hopefully... Continue Reading →

A (Taijiquan) Mystery in Yellow

    Unanswered Questions   Everyone likes a good mystery. They engage, they motivate and (whether we want to admit it or not) they make the hours vanish. That certainly explains at least part of the popularity of historical studies... Continue Reading →

Martial Classics: The Poetry of Motion – Qi Jiguang in Verse

  ***I hope that the following guest post will be the first entry in a new occasional series here at Kung Fu Tea. While I am neither a linguist or historian of ancient China, I have found myself regularly attending... Continue Reading →

Through a Lens Darkly (55): Taijiquan and the Soft Power Paradox

    As previously noted, I have been taking a couple weeks off from the blog to focus on another writing project that needs my attention. Nevertheless, I ran across an image that I wanted to share. As I did a... Continue Reading →

Chinese Martial Arts in the News: August 27, 2018: The Back to School Edition!

  Introduction Welcome to “Chinese Martial Arts in the News.”  The nights are getting chilly and the new semester is just getting under way.  That means it is time for our "Back to School" news update.  While we have been... Continue Reading →

Through a Lens Darkly (54): Preserving a Fading China

  Introduction You may not know her name, but if you have any interest in modern Chinese history, it is almost certain that you have seen her photographs. Hedda Morrison (1908-1991), while not acknowledged as a leading artistic photographer during... Continue Reading →

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