scholarly journals Constructing and Negotiating Chinese Cultural Identity in Diaspora Through Music and Martial Arts

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 105-119
Author(s):  
Colin McGuire
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Martial Arts ◽  
Cognitive Semantics ◽  
Kung Fu ◽  
Embodied Practice ◽  
Self Defence

The Hong Luck Kung Fu Club has been a fixture of Toronto’s Chinatown for over fifty years. Its curriculum includes not only self-defence skills, but also percussion music for accompanying martial arts demonstrations and lion dancing. Hong Luck’s blurred genre is a tool for preserving, transmitting, and promoting culture. At the same time, practitioners negotiate their identities in diverse ways. I thus interpret kung fu as a flexible, embodied practice whose purview extends beyond physical combat. Based on fieldwork at Hong Luck, this article uses cognitive semantics and phenomenology to demonstrate that kung fu, lion dance, and percussion help (re)construct Chinese identities emergently and strategically.

Force, Reaction Time, and Precision of Kung Fu Strikes

2009 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 295-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osmar Pinto Neto ◽  
Marcos Tadeu Tavares Pacheco ◽  
Richard Bolander ◽  
Cynthia Bir
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Pressure Sensor ◽  
Martial Arts ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Load Cell ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Kung Fu ◽  
Force Reaction ◽  
Force Data

The goal was to compare values of force, precision, and reaction time of several martial arts punches and palm strikes performed by advanced and intermediate Kung Fu practitioners, both men and women. 13 Kung Fu practitioners, 10 men and three women, participated. Only the men, three advanced and seven intermediate, were considered for comparisons between levels. Reaction time values were obtained using two high speed cameras that recorded each strike at 2500 Hz. Force of impact was measured by a load cell. For comparisons of groups, force data were normalized by participant's body mass and height. Precision of the strikes was determined by a high speed pressure sensor. The results show that palm strikes were stronger than punches. Women in the study presented, on average, lower values of reaction time and force but higher values of precision than men. Advanced participants presented higher forces than intermediate participants. Significant negative correlations between the values of force and precision and the values of force and reaction time were also found.

scholarly journals Estudio bibliométrico sobre las monografías de artes marciales publicadas en España (1906-2006)

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikel Pérez Gutiérrez ◽  
Carlos Gutiérrez García
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Martial Arts ◽  
Cultural Influences ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Font Size ◽  
Reading Habits ◽  
Spanish Society ◽  
Kung Fu ◽  
Sporting Performance

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This paper examines the martial arts monographs published in Spain between 1906 and 2006 from a bibliometric point of view. Starting from Pérez and Gutiérrez’s previous bibliography (2008), the total number of published monographs following the criteria of subject, decade and the combination of both was analyzed. The results showed a total of 2.036 books (1.285 original editions) with a prevalence of Japanese and Chinese martial arts. A group of eight subjects exceeded a hundred volumes (karate, judo/jujutsu, taijiquan, wu-shu/kung fu, classics, qigong, philosophy, history and education, and aikido), with two patterns of bibliographic evolution appearing. The first, represented by Japanese martial arts considered as a group and martial arts focused on the utilitarian and/or sporting performance aspects (judo/jujutsu, karate and wu-shu/kung fu), developed increasingly until the 80’s when it followed a steady-state and/or drop. The second model, which characterises the Chinese martial arts group and martial arts mainly focused on healthy and/or spiritual aspects of training (taijiquan, qigong, aikido), has increased significantly from the 90’s until the present moment. The interpretation of these patterns and the evolution of the martial arts bibliographic production in Spain highlights some aspects such as the development of the Spanish society and sports practice, bibliographic production, reading habits, or the cultural influences of eastern countries on Spain.</span></span></span></p>

scholarly journals Conditioning Weapons: Ethnography of the Practice of Martial Arts Training

Societies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Domaneschi
Keyword(s):  
Martial Arts ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Kung Fu ◽  
Affective Component ◽  
Cognitive Components ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Relationship

Drawing on the inspiring work by Wacquant about apprenticeship in boxing, I present data generated from a five-year ethnographic study of one Wushu Kung Fu Association in Italy. Drawing on a Bourdieusian version of theories of social practice, the aim is to investigate in depth the relationship between habitus and materials, as it seems an underestimated issue both in Wacquant’s presentation and in most martial arts studies developed from his work. The aim is to explore the relationship between the practitioner and the set of weapons—a chief part of the martial art training—as an endless work of conditioning. To this aim, according to what Wacquant calls “enactive ethnography”, I completely immersed myself inside the fieldwork in order to be able to explore the phenomenon and to personally test its operative mechanism. The challenge here is to enter the theatre of action and, to the highest degree possible, train in the ways of the people studied so as to gain a visceral apprehension of their universe as materials and springboard for its analytic reconstruction. Drawing on the difference between the cognitive, conative, and emotive components of habitus through which, according to Bourdieu, social agents navigate social space and animate their lived world, I show how conditioning works not only on the conative or cognitive components (learning techniques and incorporating kinetic schemes), but how a deeper psychological form of conditioning also comes into play, which aims to neutralize the shock due to the fear generated by the threat of a contusion. It is at this point, therefore, that the affective component of the habitus becomes crucial in constructing a sort of intimacy bond with the tool. The detectable transformation in the habitus of the practitioner, eventually, can be deciphered, starting from the characteristics of the tool that produces, in the ways and limits given by its material features, such a transformation. In the end, I stress the relevance of recognizing the active role of objects in transforming the habitus and I briefly discuss the potentiality of enactive ethnography in analyzing social practices.

scholarly journals Xiuzhen (Immortality Cultivation) Fantasy: Science, Religion, and the Novels of Magic/Superstition in Contemporary China

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Zhange Ni
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Martial Arts ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Literary Genres ◽  
Neoliberal Governance ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
Martial Arts Fiction ◽  
Organizing Center ◽  
Embodied Practice

In early twenty-first-century China, online fantasy is one of the most popular literary genres. This article studies a subgenre of Chinese fantasy named xiuzhen 修真 (immortality cultivation), which draws on Daoist alchemy in particular and Chinese religion and culture in general, especially that which was negatively labelled “superstitious” in the twentieth century, to tell exciting adventure stories. Xiuzhen fantasy is indebted to wuxia xiaoshuo 武俠小說 (martial arts novels), the first emergence of Chinese fantasy in the early twentieth century after the translation of the modern Western discourses of science, religion, and superstition. Although martial arts fiction was suppressed by the modernizing nation-state because it contained the unwanted elements of magic and supernaturalism, its reemergence in the late twentieth century paved the way for the rise of its successor, xiuzhen fantasy. As a type of magical arts fiction, xiuzhen reinvents Daoist alchemy and other “superstitious” practices to build a cultivation world which does not escape but engages with the dazzling reality of digital technology, neoliberal governance, and global capitalism. In this fantastic world, the divide of magic and science breaks down; religion, defined not by faith but embodied practice, serves as the organizing center of society, economy, and politics. Moreover, the subject of martial arts fiction that challenged the sovereignty of the nation-state has evolved into the neoliberal homo economicus and its non-/anti-capitalist alternatives. Reading four exemplary xiuzhen novels, Journeys into the Ephemeral (Piaomiao zhilv 飄渺之旅), The Buddha Belongs to the Dao (Foben shidao 佛本是道), Spirit Roaming (Shenyou 神遊), and Immortality Cultivation 40K (Xiuzhen siwannian 修真四萬年), this article argues that xiuzhen fantasy provides a platform on which the postsocialist generation seek to orient themselves in the labyrinth of contemporary capitalism by rethinking the modernist triad of religion, science, and superstition.

The Invention of Martial Arts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Bowman
Keyword(s):  
Martial Arts ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Cultural Construction ◽  
Media History ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Kung Fu ◽  
Financial Gain ◽  
Real Material ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of

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 book argues for the primacy of media representation as key player in the emergence and spread of martial arts, and 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, taiji, and mixed martial arts (MMA) across a range of media, from newspapers, comics, and books to cartoons, films, and TV series, as well as television adverts and music videos, focusing on often overlooked texts such as adverts for ‘Hai Karate’, the 1970s hit ‘Kung Fu Fighting’, and other mainstream and marginal media texts.

scholarly journals Quality of life in Brazilian martial arts and combat sports practitioners

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 212-220
Author(s):  
Juliano Schwartz ◽  
Monica Takito ◽  
Darren Warburton ◽  
Leandro Antonietti ◽  
Emerson Franchini
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Martial Arts ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Normative Values ◽  
Combat Sports ◽  
National Data ◽  
Kung Fu ◽  
Brazilian Version ◽  
The Social

Abstract Study aim: Martial arts and combat sports have been an alternative for individuals seeking the health benefits of physical activity and exercise, but little is known about its practitioners’ quality of life. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the quality of life of practitioners of five of the most common modalities in Brazil. Material and methods: A total of 922 young men, competitive and recreational practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, kung-fu, and taekwondo, answered the Brazilian version of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Results: The results for each domain – physical, psychological, social, and environmental – are, respectively, as follow (mean ± standard deviation): Brazilian jiu-jitsu: 74 ± 11, 75 ± 12, 77 ± 17, 67 ± 14; judo: 74 ± 13, 75 ± 12, 77 ± 15, 64 ± 12; karate: 76 ± 13, 75 ± 12, 78 ± 15, 64 ± 13; kung-fu: 77 ± 13, 75 ± 13, 74 ± 17, 65 ± 13; taekwondo: 76 ± 12, 76 ± 11, 78 ± 16, 64 ± 13; total: 75 ± 13, 75 ± 12, 77 ± 16, 65 ± 13. There was no difference between modalities and no interaction between modalities and experience level. All groups and the total sample presented higher values than the normative national data in the physical and psychological domains. This was also the case for the judo, karate, and taekwondo groups, as well as the total sample in the social domain, and for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the whole sample in the environmental domain. Additionally, in the whole sample competitors scored higher than recreational practitioners in the psychological domain. Conclusion: These findings reveal that the practice of these modalities is associated with higher quality of life than the normative values. Longitudinal studies are warranted for a better understanding of this association.

scholarly journals Report on the 4th International Martial Arts and Combat Sports Scientific Society (IMACSSS) Symposium

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Martin Bugala
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Martial Arts ◽  
Scientific Society ◽  
Combat Sports ◽  
Continuous Development ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Scientific Level ◽  
International Conference ◽  
Self Defence

<p>The report deals with the symposium of the International Martial Arts and Combat Sports Scientific Society (IMACSSS) which was held as a part of the 10<sup>th</sup> International Conference on Kinanthropology at Masaryk University. The symposium was organised by the Department of Gymnastics and Combatives of Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, the Czech Republic. The symposium was attended by 20 members who contributed their knowledge and experience, which provoked the international cooperation aimed at spreading and developing experience with training in martial arts and combat sports. The members of the symposium discussed new approaches and knowledge in martial arts, combat sports, self-defence and education in security field. Presented topics showed the progress and continuous development in the field of martial arts and combat sports at the scientific level.</p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document