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Shaolin Kung Fu and the Paradox of Intangible Cultural Heritage
Breaking a ceramic figure by Martin Klimas. Source: http://www.martin-klimas.de/en/index.html Su Xiaoyan. 2016. “Reconstruction of Tradition: Modernity, Tourism and Shaolin Martial Arts in the...
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Chinese Martial Arts in the News: Feb. 27th 2017: Shaolin, Feiyue Sneakers...
Spring is the season for sharpening your Kung Fu. Source: Shanghai Daily. Welcome to “Chinese Martial Arts in the News.” This is a semi-regular feature here at Kung Fu Tea in which we review media...
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Villains, Guns and Humor: Giving Texture to the Early 19th Century Chinese...
“Muslim Bandits,” Xinjiang, China [c1915] Marc Aurel Stein [restored] Any traveler can attest that detours come in two forms. They all take a little longer, and most offer nothing but delay....
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Roland Barthes and the DNA of Martial Arts Studies
Robert Downey Jr. and Eric Orem working on the wooden dummy. Paul Bowman. 2016. Mythologies of Martial Arts. London and New York: Rowman & Littlefield. 184 pages. Professor Paul Bowman’s...
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Why is Ip Man a Role Model?
Donny Yen reprises his role as Ip Man. Is this “Ip Man” your role model? ***Greetings! I am currently on the road for research. As such, we will be delving into the archives for today’s post....
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Remembering Yim Wing Chun, the Boxer Rebellion and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
What at first appears new is often something remembered. The human mind has trouble categorizing and finding meaning in anything that is truly unique or alien. Good storytellers know that...
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Doing Research (10): Trying to Think Inside the Box with Paul Bowman
Introduction Welcome to the tenth entry in our series of guest posts titled “Doing Research.” If you missed the first essay by D. S. Farrer (which provides a global overview of the subject),...
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Through a Lens Darkly (44): Martial Arts in Pre-War Japanese Schools
Kendo at Ina Middle School, probably late 1930s. Vintage postcard. Authors personal collection. Introduction Today’s post is the result of a happy coincidence. As regular readers will be aware,...
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The Boxer Rebellion and Stories We Tell about Chinese Martial Arts
Vintage postcard showing a “Young Boxer” with sword. Early 20th century. Source: Authors personal collection. Confronting the Boxers It is probably an irony that I have written so little on the...
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Chinese Martial Arts in the News: March 27th 2017: Taijiquan, Ip Man 4 and...
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...
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“I am a Jedi (knight), like my father before me.” Authenticity and Legitimacy...
A Dance Studio in a Galaxy Far, Far Away “You, put your phone down!” I looked around, unsure about the sudden exclamation from the instructor who had just been summing up the essential concepts...
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Research Notes: Jingwu and the Female Martial Artists of 1920
Chinese post card from the PRC showing a young girl studying a sword routine as her teacher looks on. Introduction I am interested in the frequent, seemingly unconscious, way in which the word...
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A Sword’s Story
A Duandao. The blade is about 18 inches long, and the original sword was probably 25 inches when originally mounted. Collected in China, 1900. Author’s personal collection. What is it? The...
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How did China’s Boxers become “The Boxers”?
A Girl Who Lived with Monkeys No text can be read in isolation. Each is connected to other works through a network of invisible threads. These are the product of suggestion, desire, memory and...
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The Wing Chun Jo Fen: Norms and the Creation of a Southern Chinese Martial...
Twin Chinese Pagodas in Singapore. Source: Wikimedia. ***I am happy to report that I am making good progress on my current writing project. But it is still an ongoing task, and one that consumed...
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Lives of Chinese Martial Artists (13): Zhao San-duo—19th Century Plum Flower...
The Yellow River Breaches its Course. Water Album by Ma Yuan. Source: Wikimedia. ***I am happy to report that the book chapter that I have been working is going well and that I can finally see...
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Chinese Martial Arts in the News: April 24, 2017: Southern Kung Fu, Taijiquan...
Introduction Welcome to “Chinese Martial Arts in the News!” Its great to be back at my keyboard after spending the last week and half on other projects. I managed to finish the draft of my...
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An Introduction to Martial Arts and Public Diplomacy
Taijiquan practitioners in a park. Source: http://english.cntv.cn ***On May 11th and 12th I will be participating in a Political Science workshop at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah. While...
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By Popular Demand: “Tradition” vs. “Modernity” in the Chinese Martial Arts
Source: South China Morning Post. An Old Story It is a pattern that we know well. After a debate about the utility of the traditional martial arts (and what that suggests about the state of...
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Lives of Chinese Martial Artists (19): Cheng Zongyou, Shaolin’s Martial...
Introduction Few individuals have influenced our understanding of the martial arts during the late Ming dynasty more than Cheng Zongyou. His manuals provide historians a glimpse into a world of...
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