Performance Ethnography and the Martial Arts Studies Reader
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,...
View ArticleNonviolence 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...
View ArticleBook 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...
View ArticleStickman doh ‘fraid no damom: Stick and machete fighting in the New world –...
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...
View ArticleHistory 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...
View ArticleAn 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...
View ArticleConference 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...
View ArticleThe Immigrant Experience: Asian Martial Arts in the United States and Canada,...
***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...
View ArticleField 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...
View ArticleGuest 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...
View ArticleNationalism, Immigration and Identity: The Gracies and the Making of...
***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...
View ArticleCapoeira 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...
View ArticleCOVID-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...
View ArticleReflections 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,...
View ArticleReflections on COVID-19, transnational (im)mobility, and collective ways of...
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...
View ArticleGuest 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...
View Article2020 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...
View ArticleViews 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...
View ArticleDr. 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...
View ArticleInventing 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...
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