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Kung Fu Tea

Martial Arts History, Wing Chun and Chinese Martial Studies.

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The Invisibility of Kung Fu: Two Accounts of the Traditional Chinese Martial Arts

      Introduction: Race and the Invisibility of the Chinese Martial Arts     There is some debate as to which statesman can rightfully claim the honor of being the “first” American advisor employed by China’s new Republican government.... Continue Reading →

Historical Fact vs. Social Discourse in the World of China’s 19th Century Martial Artists

      Introduction: What do historical documents reveal?     Students of martial arts studies often investigate the various “discourses” which surround these fighting systems. Such discussions turn to the media (movies, TV programs, video games, internet postings, wuxia... Continue Reading →

Yim Wing Chun and the “Primitive Passions” of Southern Kung Fu

    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 →

Chinese Martial Arts in the News: February 13th, 2015: Bruce Lee, Martial Arts Studies and the Return of the Kung Fu Panda

      Introduction   Welcome to “Chinese Martial Arts in the News.”  This is a semi-regular feature here at Kung Fu Tea in which we review media stories that mention or affect the traditional fighting arts.  In addition to... Continue Reading →

Martial Arts Studies: Answering the “So what?” question

    “We now come to the most critical yet most prickly of all questions: does any of this matter beyond the martial arts and combat sports, symbolically rich but socially marginal activities after all…The greatest challenge that the fighting... Continue Reading →

The Chinese Gentle Art Complete: Reviewing the Bible of Ngo Cho Kun (Five Ancestors Boxing)

      “Without ‘letters,’ the effort to spread the martial arts across the nation is bound to fail.” -Cai Yangwu, a slogan of the Jingwu (Pure Martial) Association.       Introduction: Books Are the Way   It may... Continue Reading →

Government Subsidization of the Martial Arts and the Question of “Established Churches”

        Introduction: Rational Choice Theory in Martial Arts Studies     This essay picks up on a few threads in my ongoing attempt to parse out whether there is a place for “rational choice theory” in martial... Continue Reading →

Why do difficult and expensive martial arts thrive?

      Introduction: Is there room for rationality in the martial arts?   The study of hand combat suggests many types of questions. Following the “levels of analysis” typology I tend to mentally organize these into three categories; the... Continue Reading →

Kung Fu Tea Selects the Top Chinese Martial Arts Webpage of 2014

      Introduction   Welcome to our third annual discussion of the top webpages in Chinese martial studies. The purpose of this series is to acknowledge some of the individuals who have made great contributions to our understanding of... Continue Reading →

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