As the indomitable Professor Farnsworth would say, good news everyone! The long anticipated Martial Arts Studies Reader (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018) is now shipping. Weighing in at 244 pages, and featuring articles by over a dozen of the most... Continue Reading →
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Performance Ethnography and the Martial Arts Studies Reader
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Nonviolence and Martial Arts Studies
***One of my goals in creating Kung Fu Tea was to inspire more enthusiasm for (and participation in) the scholarly discussion of martial arts. As such, I am happy to share a reader's lengthy response to a recent essay.... Continue Reading →
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Book Review: The Martial Arts Studies Reader, by Qays Stetkevych
Greetings! I am still traveling for a conference on Chinese History. Unsurprisingly my paper is an attempt to introduce a new group of scholars to the joys of Martial Arts Studies. Speaking of which, have you ordered a... Continue Reading →
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Stickman doh ‘fraid no damom: Stick and machete fighting in the New world – Part 1
What follows is the first part of a short series on New World stick and knife fighting traditions by my friend Dr. Michael J. Ryan (SUNY Oneonta). I first became aware of this vast and fascinating body of material when... Continue Reading →
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History and Myth in Lightsaber Combat
Introduction In the coming months I expect that readers will be seeing a few new blog posts discussing my ongoing work with the Lightsaber Combat community. I have a chapter and conference paper that will be looking at performance... Continue Reading →
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An Overview of Ma Shi Tong Bei Training
***Greetings. I am currently traveling for a duanbing ("short weapon," e.g., Chinese competitive fencing) workshop with Ma Yue Shifu in Michigan. As such I thought it might be appropriate to publish something about the fascinating Ma family and their... Continue Reading →
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Conference Report: Fighting Bodies and Knowledge at Trier University
***The following is a guest post by Paul Bowman who recently had the good fortune to attend a fascinating set of meetings at Trier University organized by Dr. Eric Burkart and Dr. Eva Bishoff. From the sounds of thing... Continue Reading →
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The Immigrant Experience: Asian Martial Arts in the United States and Canada, by Joseph R. Svinth
***Happy Thanksgiving! This is a day when we commemorate the initial act of European immigration to North America. From that point onward the flow of people and ideas across our borders has never really stopped. As such, it... Continue Reading →
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Field Notes: Sticks, Blades and Movement Along the Pacific Rim
Introduction Michael J. Ryan has has been kind enough to share with us some of his field notes from a recent hoplology project which he had the good fortune to participate in. The focus of these exchanges, interviews and... Continue Reading →
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Guest Post: Covid-19 Confessions and Martial Arts Studies
Introduction What follows is the first in a series of guest posts wrestling with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and its impact on martial arts, martial artists and Martial Arts Studies. Given the dislocation and losses that have been suffered by... Continue Reading →
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Nationalism, Immigration and Identity: The Gracies and the Making of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 1934–1943
***With the ongoing discussion of the very serious COVID-19 situation, it is easy to forget that we just released the ninth issue of Martial Arts Studies. This open issue is packed with an exceptional variety of full length research... Continue Reading →
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Capoeira in the Age of COVID: An Art of Resilience
Introduction This is the third essay in our short series examining the ways that the current health crisis has impacted those of us who sit at the intersection of martial arts practice, communities of martial artists, and Martial Arts... Continue Reading →
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COVID-19 and A Little Change of Plans
"A Little Change of Plans" by Prof. Thomas Green In the beginning… As the news began to arrive about what was eventually labeled Covid-19, I was enjoying my first week of retirement from university teaching. I settled into a... Continue Reading →
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Reflections on Training Alone: Martial Arts in a Time of Pandemic
Introduction This is the fifth guest post in our short series examining the ways that the current health crisis has impacted those of us who sit at the intersection of martial arts practice, communities of martial artists, and Martial... Continue Reading →
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Reflections on COVID-19, transnational (im)mobility, and collective ways of organizing
Introduction This is the tenth guest post in our series examining the ways that the current health crisis has impacted those of us who sit at the intersection of martial arts practice, communities of martial artists, and Martial Arts... Continue Reading →
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Guest Post: The Meaning and Origin of Taolu in Chinese Martial Arts
Introduction Like many of you, I am currently recovering from our 6th annual Martial Arts Studies Conference which selected as its theme "Martial Arts, Religion & Spirituality." Some great papers were given and I continue to be impressed by the ever... Continue Reading →
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2020 MAS Conference: Martial Arts vs. Martialité
Shūkongōjin, painted clay, 733; in the Hekkedō (Sangatsudō), Tōdai Temple, Nara, Japan. Height 1.739 metres.Sakamoto Photo Laboratory, Tokyo Introduction This week saw the successful completion of the sixth annual Martial Arts Studies conference. The evolving situation with COVID-19 led the... Continue Reading →
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Views from the South – Martial Arts of Vietnam, Part I
Giáng long thôi sơn (“Descending dragon presses the mountain”)—Vietnamese martial artists training amidst Cham ruins in Bình Định of southcentral Vietnam. Source: ZingNews. ***Greetings! What follows is the first installment in a short series discussing the martial arts and martial culture of Vietnam.Trần Khải... Continue Reading →
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Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming on the Development of the TCMA in North America
Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming. Source: from the personal collection of Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming. Introduction Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming generously sat down with Kung Fu Tea for a lengthy and wide ranging discussion of his martial arts experiences in both Taiwan and... Continue Reading →
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Inventing MMA: Martial Arts Between Culture, Media and Sport
"Inventing MMA: Martial Arts Between Culture, Media and Sport" By Dr. Kyle Barrowman Introduction: Traditional Thinking In the Preface to his recent monograph The Invention of Martial Arts, Paul Bowman identifies an important link between current trends in martial... Continue Reading →
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