Download or read book The Invention of Martial Arts written by Paul Bowman and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2021 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Invention of Martial Arts examines the media history of what we now call 'martial arts' and argues that martial arts is a cultural construction that was born in film, TV and other media. It argues that 'martial arts' exploded into popular consciousness entirely thanks to the work of media. Of course, the book does not deny the existence of real, material histories and non-media dimensions in martial arts practices. But it thoroughly recasts the status of such histories, combining recent myth-busting findings in historical martial arts research with important insights into the discontinuous character of history, the widespread 'invention of tradition', the orientalism and imagined geographies that animate many ideas about history, and the frequent manipulation of history for reasons of status, cultural capital, private or public power, politics, and/or financial gain. In doing so, The Invention of Martial Arts argues for the primacy of media representation as key player in the emergence and spread of martial arts. This argument overturns the dominant belief that 'real practices' are primary, while representations are secondary. The book makes its case via historical analysis of the British media history of such Eastern and Western martial arts as Bartitsu, jujutsu, judo, karate, tai chi and MMA across a range of media, from newspapers, comics and books to cartoon, film and TV series, as well as television adverts and music videos, focusing on key but often overlooked texts such as adverts for 'Hai Karate', the 1970s disco hit 'Kung Fu Fighting', and many other mainstream and marginal media texts"--

Download or read book True Notebooks written by Mark Salzman and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2004-08-31 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1997 Mark Salzman, bestselling author Iron and Silk and Lying Awake, paid a reluctant visit to a writing class at L.A.’s Central Juvenile Hall, a lockup for violent teenage offenders, many of them charged with murder. What he found so moved and astonished him that he began to teach there regularly. In voices of indelible emotional presence, the boys write about what led them to crime and about the lives that stretch ahead of them behind bars. We see them coming to terms with their crime-ridden pasts and searching for a reason to believe in their future selves. Insightful, comic, honest and tragic, True Notebooks is an object lesson in the redemptive power of writing.

Download or read book Heal Yourself and the World with Tai chi written by Bob Klein and published by . This book was released on 2021-01-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bob Klein explains how an ancient system of exercises teaches you to regain power in your life and to regain senses that have been lost in modern times. He explains how each detail of Tai-chi training is designed to solve the problems of everyday life. What is consciousness and how does it control your body and your perceptions? What is it that creates your thoughts and behavior? How much control do you have over what is going on inside of you?Learn to be immune to intimidation and to be more powerful than your own fear. Feel completely connected to the natural world around you. Increase the power of your attention and creativity. Strengthen your body and immune system. Understand what is going on inside of other people. You don't need to do Tai-chi to read this book. It uses this healing system to let you see our culture and your life through ancient eyes. But if you do practice Tai-chi, Mr. Klein explains how every aspect of Tai-chi training is designed to produce a specific healing effect in the student, and how to escape from prisons of our own making. It is a powerful and life-changing read.

Download or read book Martial Arts Studies written by Paul Bowman and published by Disruptions. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book disrupts disciplinary boundaries to make a case for the future direction and growth of martial arts studies as a unique field

Download or read book Secrets of the Ninja written by Ashida Kim and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2018-11-13 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ashida Kim is one of a handful of men in the world who have learned the true art of Ninjitsu, the Silent Way of stealth and assassination in feudal Japan. Initial attempts to bring these secrets to the public were met with resistance due to the brutal and terrifying effectiveness of the techniques. The Ninja can fight or disappear. Looked for, cannot be seen, listened for, cannot be heard, felt for, cannot be touched. Now, you too can become a master of invisibility with the ability to penetrate anywhere unseen and vanish without leaving a trace. You will learn: * Nine Steps for erasing sight and sound * Attacking from ambush * Sentry Removal * The Art of Escaping * Ninja Weapons * The Power to Cloud Men's Minds * And much more... "Train yourself and be your own master. Dare to be great. Anyone can do the things I do if they but know how. One of your skill and determination need only follow this simple course of instruction to be certain of success."

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 Internal Body Mechanics for Tai Chi Bagua and Xingyi written by Ken Gullette and published by . This book was released on 2018-08-02 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the book Ken Gullette wishes he had been able to read when he first began studying Tai Chi, Bagua and Xingyi in 1987. It gets to the point, stripping the mystical mumbo jumbo away, leaving detailed, real-world explanations of the six fundamental body mechanics that everyone should know when they study Tai Chi (Taiji), Bagua and Xingyi. For the first time, these body mechanics are organized and discussed clearly, with more than 250 images and highly-detailed but simple language. If you are a student or even a teacher of these arts, you should be able to learn something here that will deepen your own insight into the arts. Ken has studied with some top internal arts masters, and during the first ten years he was teaching, he boiled down the body mechanics he learned into six key concepts. In this book, he explains them in the same step-by-step detail that he uses in teaching his students, building on each of the concepts until you have a clear roadmap of what you need to practice for high-quality internal structure and movement. As Ken explains it, "The true intent of the internal arts is self-defense. The body mechanics in this book are the starting point you need to develop the structure and internal strength that is required for the relaxed power, the iron wrapped in cotton, that the internal arts are known for. This is the starting point upon which all other skill is built." Ken has studied these arts since 1987, is a tournament champion, winning in empty-hand and weapons forms, no-contact, light-contact and full-contact matches, and he has students worldwide who have studied his DVDs and his website, www.internalfightingarts.com. Concepts covered in these pages include: the ground path, peng jin, whole-body movement, silk-reeling energy, Dantien rotation, and opening/closing the kua. From the explosiveness of Xingyi to the relaxed power of Tai Chi and Bagua, the road to internal skill is long and difficult, but very satisfying. There is nothing "soft" about these arts. They are powerful arts of self-defense. And it all starts here.

Download or read book Beyond Bruce Lee written by Paul Bowman and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-26 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In order to understand Bruce Lee, we must look beyond Bruce Lee to the artist's intricate cultural and historical contexts. This work begins by contextualising Lee, examining his films and martial arts work, and his changing cultural status within different times and places. The text examines Bruce Lee's films and philosophy in relation to the popular culture and cultural politics of the 1960s and 1970s, and it addresses the resurgence of his popularity in Hong Kong and China in the twenty-first century. The study also explores Lee's ongoing legacy and influence in the West, considering his function as a shifting symbol of ethnic politics and the ways in which he continues to inform Hollywood film-fight choreography. Beyond Bruce Lee ultimately argues Lee is best understood in terms of "cultural translation" and that his interventions and importance are ongoing.

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 Martial Arts and Well being written by Carol Fuller and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-12-06 with total page 135 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 The Swedish System of Educational Gymnastics written by Nils Posse and published by . This book was released on 1891 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book We Beat the Street written by Sampson Davis and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-04-20 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Growing up on the rough streets of Newark, New Jersey, Rameck, George,and Sampson could easily have followed their childhood friends into drug dealing, gangs, and prison. But when a presentation at their school made the three boys aware of the opportunities available to them in the medical and dental professions, they made a pact among themselves that they would become doctors. It took a lot of determination—and a lot of support from one another—but despite all the hardships along the way, the three succeeded. Retold with the help of an award-winning author, this younger adaptation of the adult hit novel The Pact is a hard-hitting, powerful, and inspirational book that will speak to young readers everywhere.

Download or read book Introduction to Baguazhang written by Kent Howard and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2021-07-27 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This clear, step-by-step guide to the fundamentals of Bagua Zhang lays out the principles, practices, and underlying philosophy of this cerebral and sophisticated Chinese internal martial art. Leading readers from the most basic precepts of Bagua Zhang practice to advanced techniques, Kent Howard draws on his deep understanding of the art and his decades of teaching to set students on a path toward mastery. While Bagua Zhang is often perceived as a complex martial art that is difficult to learn, Howard breaks it down into clear and easily absorbed principles and exercises that beginners can master and incorporate into higher levels of practice at their own pace. Numerous easy-to-follow photographs illustrate core practices such as circle-walking, post standing, and palm changes, as well as foundandational techniques of posture and alignment, fluid motion, generating whole-body power, absorbing and redirecting energy, striking while in motion, and much more. In addition to providing a solid foundation for a lifetime practice, Bagua Zhang Fundamentals also offers more advanced practitioners valuable tips on how to increase their knowledge and understanding of this multifaceted martial art.

Download or read book Chinese Theatre and the Actor in Performance written by Jo Riley and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1997-06-13 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work gives an 'inside' view of Chinese theatre and the actor in performance for the first time. It challenges western theatre artists such as Brecht, Grotowski, Barba and Schechner, who have extracted from Chinese theatre elements which might enrich their own theatres. It is based on personal observations of and dialogue with Chinese actors, experiences which were impossible before 1980. Riley's study is well illustrated with photographs and diagrams and is accessible to anyone interested in theatre, even those with no knowledge of Chinese or Chinese theatre.

Download or read book Non Stop Jiu Jitsu written by Stephan Kesting and published by . This book was released on 2020-07-12 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins is a BJJ black belt world champion, and Stephan Kesting is a renowned BJJ black belt educator with 40 years in the martial arts. In Non Stop Jiu-Jitsu you'll get their ultimate resource for breaking down high level jiu-jitsu into simple steps so you can add it to your game as fast as possible. This book is laid out in gorgeous full colour and multi-page spreads where you'll learn plug and play gameplans for exactly how to control and submit your opponent on the ground. These techniques and combinations have been developed and tested over decades of competition so you know you can rely on them when the chips are down. You'll also get advanced details, training tips and conceptual breakdowns that will make your jiu-jitsu more powerful than ever before. * 275 FULL COLOUR PAGES: Every page and technique is brought to life with high quality, full colour photography, clearly showing all the details you need to master the material.* STEP-BY-STEP TECHNIQUES: Every technique is broken down into easy-to-follow steps so that you always know how to advance your position properly.* DETAILS, CLOSEUPS AND ALTERNATE ANGLES: Every technique is shown from multiple angles, with special attention paid to the little details that make the difference between success and failure.* FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENTS AND ADVANCED APPLICATIONS: The book covers the most important and fundamental movements in BJJ, exactly how to apply those movements in sparring, and how to link them together into advanced applications.* COMPETITION PROVEN STRATEGIES: The techniques, tips and strategies shown have been field tested in hundreds of high level matches against some of the best competitors in the world.

Download or read book Son Of Shaolin Ogn written by Jay Longino and published by Image Comics. This book was released on 2017-09-20 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A kung-fu epic set in the back alleys and subway tunnels of Harlem, New York. Kyrie, an aspiring street artist who is struggling to make ends meet, learns that he is the last living descendant of a secret sect of ancient Shaolin elders. Confused and unsure of where to turn, he finds a father figure in the mysterious Master Fong. Fong trains Kyrie in martial arts in anticipation of an attack from Red Fist, a relentless killer who has already murdered the rest of Kyrie's bloodline. Introduction by AISHA TYLER. Film rights recently sold to Sony / Columbia Pictures with DWAYNE 'THE ROCK' JOHNSON attached to produce.

Download or read book Theorizing Bruce Lee written by Paul Bowman and published by Rodopi. This book was released on 2010 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Bruce Lee is a complex and contradictory figure, and it's a formidable task to take on the multiple facets of his legacyûfighter, film star, philosopher, nationalist, multiculturalist, innovator. With an approach as multidisciplinary and iconoclastic as Lee's approach to martial arts, Bowman provides an original and exhilarating account of Lee as 'cultural event'. No one has done a better job of explaining why the martial arts 'legend' remains such an important and provocative figure."ûLeon Hunt (Brunel University), author of Kung Fu Cult Masters: From Bruce Lee to Crouching Tiger. --