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Research Notes: The Chinese and Japanese Martial Arts as Seen on Western...
“Chinese Reoccupy Great Wall Area.” 1933. Still taken from Vintage Newsreel. “In the west, Asian martial arts are everywhere. They are part of the texture of popular consciousness. Nonetheless I...
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Through a Lens Darkly (43): Chinese Amazons and the “Weapons of the Forefathers”
“Back to Weapons of Forefathers in War with Japanese.” Vintage newspaper photograph. June 1937. Source: Author’s private collection. Wonder Woman with a Dadao In China the realm of social...
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Chinese Martial Arts in the News: May 22nd, 2017: Wing Chun, Missing Ninjas...
I love that it is the fans who are inside the ring, and the combatants who stand outside of it in this picture. Introduction Welcome to “Chinese Martial Arts in the News!” Its great to be back...
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Research Notes: The Big Knife and Ma Liang’s Attempted Comeback
A captured Chinese dadao being held by a Japanese soldier. Note the unique saw back blade. Source: Author’s Personal Collection. Given that it is a holiday weekend, I will be keeping this research...
View ArticleThrough a Lens Darkly (53): Traditional Weapons in China’s 20th Century...
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If true this will be a weighty essay. Yet that was always the thing about Harrison Forman, the renowned photo-journalist, writer and explorer. As a...
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 ArticleSwords, Visuality and the Construction of China
Deciphering an Icon Recently I came across a few of Harrison Forman’s wartime photos, probably taken in the early 1930s, but circulated to newspapers and (re)published in 1938. While his photos of...
View ArticleResearch Notes: The Chinese and Japanese Martial Arts as Seen on Western...
***Greetings! I have spent the last week putting the finishing touches on my keynote for the (fast approaching) 2019 Martial Arts Studies conference in Los Angeles. In fact, I just finished my...
View ArticleA Social and Visual History of the Dadao: The Chinese “Military Big-Saber”
***Is there any topic more beloved by modern students of Chinese martial arts history than the dadao? I can't think of one. Enjoy!*** Rediscovering the Dadao: A Forgotten Legacy of the Chinese...
View ArticleThrough a Lens Darkly (8): Butterfly Swords, Dadaos and the Local Militias of...
Introduction: The Butterfly Swords and Southern Martial Arts Defend the Nation I recently ran across two photographs that I think students of the southern Chinese martial arts may find very...
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