Introduction How should we understand the traditional Chinese martial arts? Are these practices really intended to be a form of practical self-defense, or are they actually some other sort of social performance? Are the arts that we practice today “authentic?”... Continue Reading →
Introduction: If Kung Fu is so popular, why can’t Wushu get into the Olympics? I am first and foremost a political scientist. When I look at the “traditional Chinese martial arts” what I see is emerging trends in civil... Continue Reading →
A lot of schools have that in their motto: mental, physical and spiritual. But when you get into the school, you just fight and do forms. When do we get to that part I see at the Shaolin Temple... Continue Reading →
Introduction: A Breakthrough for the Field of Chinese Martial Studies. The “Book Club” is a semi-regular feature at Kung Fu Tea in which we collectively read and discuss important works in the fields of martial studies, history or the... Continue Reading →
Giving Up the Gun: Revisiting a Classic Argument. In 1979 a Dartmouth English Professor named Neol Perrin wrote one of the more popular and more widely read books on the history of the martial arts. It was titled Giving Up... Continue Reading →
Introduction This is the third and final installment of our in-depth review of Meir Shahar’s groundbreaking work, the Shaolin Temple. Today we will be looking at the evolution of unarmed boxing in late Ming and Qing era China. I... Continue Reading →
The Traditional Chinese Martial Arts: Something that Young Adults used to do? Globalization and technology are having an unmistakable effect on martial arts around the world, and the Chinese martial arts are no exception. Of course this will not come... Continue Reading →
Are the Asian Martial Arts Inevitable? I suspect that students of Chinese martial studies are overlooking one of the most perplexing, interesting and possibly illuminating questions that our field can ask. We spend so much time recording, studying and theorizing... Continue Reading →
Lately I have been thinking about the role of religion in the Chinese martial arts and the different (though related) question of its place in Chinese martial studies. I blame Stanley Henning. I should preface this post by saying... Continue Reading →
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