Download or read book Chinese Martial Arts Changing Views and Practices written by Michael DeMarco and published by Via Media Publishing. This book was released on with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since ancient times, some observant people have made the revered Book of Change (Yijing) their lifelong study. Change is the fundamental principle found in every aspect of our lives. Change is the Way of the universe. Confucian and Daoist texts are filled with anecdotal and philosophic discourse related to this theme. There is little wonder why we find the concept of change in the diverse Chinese martial traditions. This anthology presents articles from the Journal of Asian Martial Arts that are related to the theme of change. This does not mean that the authors are writing solely about philosophic ideas such as yin-yang, taiji, five phases (wuxing), or the eight hexagrams (bagua). From the content of these articles you will see how the views, needs, purposes and understandings of Chinese martial arts have changed over the centuries. By expounding on these themes, each author demonstrates how the actual practice of martial arts has changed in tandem with these fluctuating views. Supported by in depth research, interviews, and field experience, the nine articles included here offer us a view of Chinese martial arts from many angles. Of course effectiveness is one of the criteria for skills that are valued as being truely martial. To improve the effectiveness, some leading practitioners gained insights from nature, particularly from the animal kingdom. Also, in both ancient and modern times, Chinese practitioners borrowed from other styles. The concept of “mixed martial arts” is nothing new.There have been spinoffs to the warrior arts. Even centuries ago the martial arts were utilized in entertaining “flowery’ performances, as in Peking opera. The variety of martial movements were certainly conducive for good health so there is a long tradition of incorporating these in exercises practices solely for health and longevity. In the early twentieth century, martial arts became a political tool for boosting the spirit of country, vitalizing the “sick man of Asia.” Perhaps the most notable change in Chinese martial arts can be seen in the modern sportification of it. Motivated by rank, trophies, and money, the combative elements have been forsaken in favor of competition and show. Orignally practical, techniques have been transformed into pure acrobatics. This special anthology provides an encompassing overview of the development and variety of Chinese martial arts. You will come to appreciate the ancient roots and the forces that have influenced how and why these arts are practiced today.
Download or read book China written by John Lagerwey and published by Hong Kong University Press. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last 40 years, our vision of Chinese culture and history has been transformed by the discovery of the role of religion in Chinese state-making and in local society. The Daoist religion, in particular, long despised as "superstitious," has recovered its place as "the native higher religion." But while the Chinese state tried from the fifth century on to construct an orthodoxy based on Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, local society everywhere carved out for itself its own geomantically defined space and organized itself around local festivals in honor of gods of its own choosing-gods who were often invented and then represented by illiterate mediums. Looking at China from the point of view of elite or popular culture therefore produces very different results.--John Lagerwey has done extensive fieldwork on local society and its festivals. This book represents a first attempt to use this new research to integrate top-down and bottom-up views of Chinese society, culture, and history. It should be of interest to a wide range of China specialists, students of religion and popular culture, as well as participants in the ongoing interdisciplinary dialogue between historians and anthropologists.--John Lagerwey is professor of Daoist history at the ?cole Pratique des Hautes ?tudes and of Chinese studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is author of Taoist Ritual in Chinese Society and History and editor of the 30-volume "Traditional Hakka Society Series" as well as the recently published four-volume set Early Chinese Religion.-----
Download or read book The Best Fight A Memoir of a Martial Art Practitioner Publisher and Author written by Michael DeMarco and published by Via Media Publishing. This book was released on 2023-10-10 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A needle may draw a thread through printed pages to bind a book. In this little memoir, I feel like a needle that drew a common thread though a segment of martial art history. This book details three interrelated activities: (1) martial art studies, (2) involvement as founder of Via Media Publishing, producing a quarterly journal and books, and (3) teaching martial arts. Publishers, writers, researchers and serious martial art practitioners will benefit with the detailed overview of Via Media and its publications. Via Media produced the Journal of Asian Martial Arts, known for its high academic and aesthetic standards. Its contents reflect the history of two decades and provides rich information for practitioners and scholars, making The Best Fighta valuable reference work. In addition to reading, the primary way to learn a martial art is through instruction. In reading about my studies and teaching experience, readers can relate to their own involvement in martial arts. What is important here is the portrayal of my instructors, their teaching methods, and reasons for being involved in martial arts. Their accounts should offer insights and inspiration for others who study and practice any martial art.
Download or read book Qigong Fever written by David A. Palmer and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2007-03-27 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Qigong a regimen of body, breath, and mental training exercises was one of the most widespread cultural and religious movements of late-twentieth-century urban China. The practice was promoted by senior Communist Party leaders as a uniquely Chinese healing tradition and as a harbinger of a new scientific revolution, yet the movement's mass popularity and the almost religious devotion of its followers led to its ruthless suppression. In this absorbing and revealing book, David A. Palmer relies on a combination of historical, anthropological, and sociological perspectives to describe the spread of the qigong craze and its reflection of key trends that have shaped China since 1949, including the search for a national identity and an emphasis on the absolute authority of science. Qigong offered the promise of an all-powerful technology of the body rooted in the mysteries of Chinese culture. However, after 1995 the scientific underpinnings of qigong came under attack, its leaders were denounced as charlatans, and its networks of followers, notably Falungong, were suppressed as "evil cults." According to Palmer, the success of the movement proves that a hugely important religious dimension not only survived under the CCP but was actively fostered, if not created, by high-ranking party members. Tracing the complex relationships among the masters, officials, scientists, practitioners, and ideologues involved in qigong, Palmer opens a fascinating window on the transformation of Chinese tradition as it evolved along with the Chinese state. As he brilliantly demonstrates, the rise and collapse of the qigong movement is key to understanding the politics and culture of post-Mao society.
Download or read book Politics and Identity in Chinese Martial Arts written by Lu Zhouxiang and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-06-12 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chinese martial arts is considered by many to symbolise the strength of the Chinese and their pride in their history, and has long been regarded as an important element of Chinese culture and national identity. Politics and Identity in Chinese Martial Arts comprehensively examines the development of Chinese martial arts in the context of history and politics, and highlights its role in nation building and identity construction over the past two centuries. ? This book explores how the development of Chinese martial arts was influenced by the ruling regimes’ political and military policies, as well as the social and economic environment. It also discusses the transformation of Chinese martial arts into its modern form as a competitive sport, a sport for all and a performing art, considering the effect of the rapid transformation of Chinese society in the 20th century and the influence of Western sports. The text concludes by examining the current prominence of Chinese martial arts on a global scale and the bright future of the sport as a unique cultural icon and national symbol of China in an era of globalisation. Politics and Identity in Chinese Martial Arts is important reading for researchers, students and scholars working in the areas of Chinese studies, Chinese history, political science and sports studies. It is also a valuable read for anyone with a special interest in Chinese martial arts.
Download or read book Armed Martial Arts of Japan written by G Hurst I and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1998-07-11 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique history of Japanese armed martial arts--the only comprehensive treatment of the subject in English--focuses on traditions of swordsmanship and archery from ancient times to the present. G. Cameron Hurst III provides an overview of martial arts in Japanese history and culture, then closely examines the transformation of these fighting skills into sports. He discusses the influence of the Western athletic tradition on the armed martial arts as well as the ways the martial arts have remained distinctly Japanese. During the Tokugawa era (1600-1867), swordsmanship and archery developed from fighting systems into martial arts, transformed by the powerful social forces of peace, urbanization, literacy, and professionalized instruction in art forms. Hurst investigates the changes that occurred as military skills that were no longer necessary took on new purposes: physical fitness, spiritual composure, character development, and sport. He also considers Western misperceptions of Japanese traditional martial arts and argues that, contrary to common views in the West, Zen Buddhism is associated with the martial arts in only a limited way. The author concludes by exploring the modern organization, teaching, ritual, and philosophy of archery and swordsmanship; relating these martial arts to other art forms and placing them in the broader context of Japanese culture.
Download or read book The Creation of Wing Chun written by Benjamin N. Judkins and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2015-07-16 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the social history of southern Chinese martial arts and their contemporary importance to local identity and narratives of resistance. Hong Kong's Bruce Lee ushered the Chinese martial arts onto an international stage in the 1970s. Lee's teacher, Ip Man, master of Wing Chun Kung Fu, has recently emerged as a highly visible symbol of southern Chinese identity and pride. Benjamin N. Judkins and Jon Nielson examine the emergence of Wing Chun to reveal how this body of social practices developed and why individuals continue to turn to the martial arts as they navigate the challenges of a rapidly evolving environment. After surveying the development of hand combat traditions in Guangdong Province from roughly the start of the nineteenth century until 1949, the authors turn to Wing Chun, noting its development, the changing social attitudes towards this practice over time, and its ultimate emergence as a global art form.
Download or read book A Panoramic View of Chinese Culture written by Wu Dingming and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Panoramic View of Chinese Culture is an accessible introduction to the beautiful, vibrant world of Chinese customs, history, and civilization. Written for English speakers, with simplified Chinese translations of key words, the text invites students of China and the Chinese language to engage with the text in new and interesting ways. Covering everything from history, philosophy, and religion, to sports, cuisine, and medicine, A Panoramic View of Chinese Culture covers a vast array of topics with elegance and ease.
Download or read book Hong Kong Martial Artists written by Daniel Miles Amos and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-03-24 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This imaginative and innovative study by Daniel Miles Amos, begun in 1976 and completed in 2020, examines sociocultural changes in the practices of Chinese martial artists in two closely related and interconnected southern Chinese cities, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The initial chapters of the book compare how sociocultural changes from World War II to the mid-1980s affected the practices of Chinese martial artists in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong and neighboring Guangzhou in mainland China. An analysis is made of how the practices of Chinese martial artists have been influenced by revolutionary sociocultural changes in both cities. In Guangzhou, the victory of the Chinese Communist Party lead to the disappearance in the early 1950s of secret societies and kungfu brotherhoods. Kungfu brotherhoods reappeared during the Cultural Revolution, and subsequently were transformed again after the death of Mao Zedong, and China’s opening to capitalism. In Hong Kong, dramatic sociocultural changes were set off by the introduction of manufacturing production lines by international corporations in the mid-1950s, and the proliferation of foreign franchises and products. Economic globalization in Hong Kong has led to dramatic increases both in the territory’s Gross Domestic Product and in cultural homogenization, with corresponding declines in many local traditions and folk cultures, including Chinese martial arts. The final chapters of the book focus on changes in the practices of Chinese martial arts in Hong Kong from the years 1987 to 2020, a period which includes the last decade of British colonial administration, as well as the first quarter of a century of rule by the Chinese government.
Download or read book Chinese Martial Arts written by Peter A. Lorge and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the global world of the twenty-first century, martial arts are practised for self-defense and sporting purposes only. However, for thousands of years, they were a central feature of military practice in China and essential for the smooth functioning of society. This book, which opens with an intriguing account of the very first female martial artist, charts the history of combat and fighting techniques in China from the Bronze Age to the present. This broad panorama affords fascinating glimpses into the transformation of martial skills, techniques and weaponry against the background of Chinese history, the rise and fall of empires, their governments and their armies. Quotations from literature and poetry, and the stories of individual warriors, infuse the narrative, offering personal reflections on prowess in the battlefield and techniques of engagement. This is an engaging and readable introduction to the authentic history of Chinese martial arts.
Download or read book Martial Arts and Well being written by Carol Fuller and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-12-06 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Martial Arts and Well-Being explores how martial arts as a source of learning can contribute in important ways to health and well-being, as well as provide other broader social benefits. Using psychological and sociological theory related to behaviour, ritual, perception and reality construction, the book seeks to illustrate, with empirical data, how individuals make sense of and perceive the value of martial arts in their lives. This book draws on data from over 500 people, across all age ranges, and powerfully demonstrates that participating in martial arts can have a profound influence on the construction of behaviour patterns that are directly linked to lifestyle and health. Making individual connections regarding the benefits of practice, improvements to health and well-being – regardless of whether these improvements are ‘true’ in a medical sense – this book offers an important and original window into the importance of beliefs to health and well-being as well as the value of thinking about education as a process of life-long learning. This book will be of great interest to a range of audiences, including researchers, academics and postgraduate students interested in sports and exercise psychology, martial art studies and health and well-being. It should also be of interest to sociologists, social workers and martial arts practitioners. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781315448084, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.
Download or read book Martial Arts as Embodied Knowledge written by D. S. Farrer and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2011-12-01 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This landmark work provides a wide-ranging scholarly consideration of the traditional Asian martial arts. Most of the contributors to the volume are practitioners of the martial arts, and all are keenly aware that these traditions now exist in a transnational context. The book's cutting-edge research includes ethnography and approaches from film, literature, performance, and theater studies. Three central aspects emerge from this book: martial arts as embodied fantasy, as a culturally embedded form of self-cultivation, and as a continuous process of identity formation. Contributors explore several popular and highbrow cultural considerations, including the career of Bruce Lee, Chinese wuxia films, and Don DeLillo's novel Running Dog. Ethnographies explored describe how the social body trains in martial arts and how martial arts are constructed in transnational training. Ultimately, this academic study of martial arts offers a focal point for new understandings of cultural and social beliefs and of practice and agency.
Download or read book Chinese Beliefs and Practices in Southeast Asia written by Hock-Tong Cheu and published by Partridge Publishing Singapore. This book was released on 2021-08-16 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book consists of fifteen chapters which can be divided into five major themes: (i) Chinese religion, (ii) Chinese attitudes toward religion, (iii) Chinese spirit cults in Malaysia, (iv) the development of local spirit cults, and (v) major festivals celebrated in Malaysia. The first section deals with three Chinese religious traditions in Malaysia, in particular, and other countries like Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand in Southeast Asia, in general. The second section attempts to discuss on Chinese attitudes towards religion, Chinese religious conception and its implication in their social life, and how Confucian ethics have contributed to the economic success of the Chinese in Malaysia. The Third section seeks to examine the various aspects of the Nine Emperor Gods, the Datuk Kong (Malay keramat), and the spread of Malay and Chinese spirit cults to Sabah, East Malaysia. The fourth section deliberates on three major processes of change in the development of spirit cults in Malaysia: the localization of Chinese locality cults, including Tudigong and Dabogong, the Sinicization of the Malay keramat, and the indigenization or desinicization of an aboriginal Datuk Seman in Broga, Selangor. And the last section winds up with the practical aspects of celebrating festivals in Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia, with special emphasis on festivals in general in the Chinese calendar, the festival of the Nine Emperor Gods in Southeast Asia, and the socio-psychological aspects of the Nine Emperor Gods Vegetarian Festival in Thailand.
Download or read book Chinese Internal Boxing written by Robert W. Smith and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2012-01-10 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chinese Internal Boxing: Techniques of Hsing-I and Pa-kua is an illustrated martial arts guide to two soft-style Chinese martial arts. Chinese internal boxing and other internal martial arts do not depend on muscular strength. Instead, their power is drawn from the cultivation and practical application of internal energy, or ch'i, making them perfect for people of all ages and all levels of fitness. With clear, easy-to-follow instructions and over 380 black-and-white photos and diagrams, this indispensable martial arts book is ideal for both wushu beginners and advanced practitioners. It describes in detail and fully illustrates the basic techniques of Hsing-I and Pa-kua, including the five fists and twelve animal styles of Hsing-I and Pa-kua's eight palm shapes and eight traditional methods of walking the circle.
Download or read book Bruce Lee The Tao of Gung Fu written by Bruce Lee and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 1997-11-15 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Tao of Gung Fu reveals Bruce Lee's thoughtful analysis of the tapestry of Chinese martial arts—offering glimpses into the varied styles and his commentary on these arts. Lee's intense curiosity led him to accumulate this knowledge and expose the limitations of strict adherence to tradition, which inspired him to develop his cosmopolitan "way of no way." The Tao of Gung Fu includes insights into various Chinese martial arts and training methodologies, sketches of martial arts techniques, Lee's personal scrapbook of his famous thesis, "The Tao of Gung Fu." Witness Lee's personal cultivation of excellence in martial arts. His application of philosophy to physical movements epitomizes the unification of mind and body—a genuine way of living for the martial artist. Chapters include: What is Gung Fu?—An Introduction to Chinese Gung Fu, On Yin and Yang, and Bridging the Gap of Yin and Yang Some Techniques of Gung Fu—The Fundamentals of Gung Fu, The Basic Striking Points of Gung Fu, Introducing the Wing Chun Straight Punch, and The Practice of Forms Taoism in the Chinese Art of Gung Fu—On Wu-Hsin (No-Mindedness), On Wu Wei (Nondoing), and Centered Thoughts Ideas and Opinions—Traditions and Histories of Chinese Gung Fu, The Question of Psychic Center, and Bruce's view on Gung Fu Appendices—Bruce Lee's gung fu background at the time he wrote this book, Gung Fu terminology, and Letters and gung fu scrapbook This Bruce Lee Book is part of the Bruce Lee Library which also features: Bruce Lee: Striking Thoughts Bruce Lee: The Celebrated Life of the Golden Dragon Bruce Lee: Artist of Life Bruce Lee: Letters of the Dragon Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body Bruce Lee: Jeet Kune Do
Download or read book Chinese Combatives An Anthology written by Michael DeMarco and published by Via Media Publishing. This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to traditional Chinese martial arts custom, instruction in the lethal arts were transmitted under strict secrecy. At the turn of the twentieth century, the martial arts had started to be taught publically with a focus on health. However, many fighting techniques were not shown or taught. As a result, today some systems are more well-known than others. This anthology brings together some of the lesser-known arts in one volume and some aspects of their theory, application, and place historical place in society. The first two chapters by Shannon Phelps give a wonderful presentation of the Fu family Wudang arts—including the unique sixiangquan, a blending of liangyiquan, baguazhang, xingyiquan, and taijiquan under the genius of Fu Zhensong (1872–1953) and family. Dr. Daniel Amos authored the next two chapters reflecting his studies of Southern Praying Mantis. His first-hand experience and scholarly background offered him a special view as an insider into the social aspects involving the practitioners. These include association with criminal associations, spirit possession for fighting application and protection, and the changing relationships within the “gongfu family.” Chapters 5, 6 and 7 cover important concepts and practices of baijiquan an piguzhang as transmitted by Li Suwen (1864–1934) and brought to Taiwan by Liu Yunqiao (1909–1990). The authors stress the importance of fundamental training methods, starting from the static horse stance, to dynamic changing stances while incorporating various techniques performed with explosive issuing energy (fajing). Of particular interest for many will be the sections dealing with big spear (daqiang) training. The final chapter provides a comprehensive overview of tongbei boxing history, styles, and principles, including special highlights of the White Ape system. The authors emphasize the traditional mindset, inner feelings, and overall fighting spirit needed to train the real high-level skills. Training methods and sample applications bring life to tongbei theory. By providing great detail on the styles presented—along with associations with other noted styles and masters—this special anthology is an important reference for any interested in Chinese martial arts. I personally thank the authors for sharing their exceptional work.
Download or read book The History of Karate and the Masters Who Made It written by Mark I. Cramer and published by Blue Snake Books. This book was released on 2018-07-24 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise yet comprehensive history of traditional Okinawan and Japanese karate, with biographies of the great karate masters This concise-yet-comprehensive history of traditional Okinawan and Japanese karate includes authoritative biographies of the great karate masters of the past and the philosophical issues they faced as karate changed and evolved. Bringing a fresh understanding to the study of the martial arts, Mark I. Cramer dispels many of the often-repeated martial-arts myths as he details the lineages of the modern styles of karate and describes the social, cultural, and political events that influenced them. While most books focus on a single style of karate or the biography of just one of the great teachers, this book offers a well-researched and detailed overview. By bringing all of this knowledge together in one volume, Cramer—an award-winning inductee into the USA Karate Federation’s Hall of Fame—fills a crucial gap.
