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...
View ArticleGeneral Zhang Zhijiang: Mixing Christianity and Kung Fu
A Different Take on an Old Debate If you study the traditional Chinese martial arts and have spent any time on the internet, you will have heard some variant of these debates before. Do I need...
View ArticleThe Purpose of “Place” in Wing Chun and the Chinese Martial Arts
A Sense of Purpose I was taking notes when I heard one of the most interesting comments to come up in the session. “I am not just another person, I have a purpose.” I wasn’t part of this......
View ArticleRemembering Macau Wing Chun
“Echoes of Memories” It is the elusiveness of memory that captivates us. People tend to think of their memories as a personal hard drive, always running in the background, silently backing up...
View ArticleChinese 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....
View ArticlePolitics and Identity in Chinese Martial Arts – An Essential Overview
Lu Zhouxiang. 2018. Politics and Identity in Chinese Martial Arts. New York and London: Routledge. 232 pages. $140/$45 USD (Hardcover/Digital). Perhaps the clearest testament to the growing...
View ArticleLabor Unions, the Growth of Kung Fu and the Survival of Wing Chun
***Its Labor Day in the United States and I am currently off on a fieldwork trip. As such this seems like a great time to revisit a post from earlier this year on the importance of guilds and...
View ArticleThrough 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...
View ArticleRethinking Wing Chun’s Opera Rebels
***After a quick return to the blog earlier this week, I have directed my attention back to my other ongoing project. The good news is that this manuscript chapter just a couple of days from...
View ArticleChinese Martial Arts in the News: September 24th, 2018: Shaolin, Bull Fights,...
Introduction Welcome to “Chinese Martial Arts in the News.” I recently finished the heavy lifting on my draft chapter, so I am now returning to a normal posting schedule. Thanks for your...
View ArticlePolitical Extremism, Violence and Martial Arts
A Preamble Everyone knew that the situation was deteriorating, and recent events had sensitized government officials to the growing threat of extremist groups within the area’s largest martial arts...
View ArticleMartial 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...
View ArticleMartial Arts and Restoring the Body Politic
Are Martial Arts Political? My friend, Paul Bowman, recently asked the rhetorical question, “Should martial arts be active or passive players in politics?” The question is rhetorical in a double...
View ArticleA (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...
View ArticleSeeking Identity with a T-Shirt: Uniforms in the Martial Arts
The Varieties of Uniformity My Monday evening study-group just passes a milestone. Somehow it never even occurred to me that this was on the horizon, though I was the one who (inadvertently) set...
View ArticleSalvaging History and Saving the Martial Arts
This weekend has been a blur of activity. Friday evening was consumed by the first “open mat” sparring night at the Central Lightsaber Academy (which was a blast), Saturday was devoted to a day-long...
View ArticleWho “Killed” Kung Fu: Habermas and the Legitimization Crisis within...
Zombies The air is distinctly crisp, the end of October is upon us, and Halloween rapidly approaches. Clearly, it is time to talk about zombies. We seem to go through periods of collective...
View ArticleChinese Martial Arts in the News: Oct. 22 2018: Archery, Kung Fu Villages and...
Introduction It has been a busy weekend, so this news update will be brief. Nevertheless, I wanted to comment on some of the more interesting stories that have been floating around. For new...
View ArticleMartial Classics: The Complete Fist Canon in Verse
Translator’s Note Here is the full translation of the Qi Jiguang’s Fist Method as it appears in the Wubei Zhi, offered as a follow-up to my initial discussion of the challenges of translating this...
View ArticleThrough a Lens Darkly (56): New York City’s Kung Fu and the Roaring 1920s
Introduction While I have a few connections in New York City’s TCMA community, it has always been my experience that one turns up different sorts of insights by getting out and exploring the...
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