Chinese Martial Arts

Chinese Martial Arts PDF Author: Peter A. Lorge
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521878810
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
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.

Chinese Martial Arts

Chinese Martial Arts PDF Author: Peter A. Lorge
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521878810
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals

Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals PDF Author: Brian Kennedy
Publisher: Blue Snake Books
ISBN: 9781583941942
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Secret training manuals, magic swords, and flying kung fu masters—these are staples of Chinese martial arts movies and novels, but only secret manuals have a basis in reality. Chinese martial arts masters of the past did indeed write such works, along with manuals for the general public. This collection introduces Western readers to the rich and diverse tradition of these influential texts, rarely available to the English-speaking reader. Authors Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo, who coauthor a regular column for Classical Fighting Arts magazine, showcase illustrated manuals from the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, and the Republican period. Aimed at fans, students, and practitioners, the book explains the principles, techniques, and forms of each system while also placing them in the wider cultural context of Chinese martial arts. Individual chapters cover the history of the manuals, Taiwanese martial arts, the lives and livelihoods of the masters, the Imperial military exams, the significance of the Shaolin Temple, and more. Featuring a wealth of rare photographs of great masters as well as original drawings depicting the intended forms of each discipline, this book offers a multifaceted portrait of Chinese martial arts and their place in Chinese culture.

Politics and Identity in Chinese Martial Arts

Politics and Identity in Chinese Martial Arts PDF Author: Lu Zhouxiang
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351610031
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
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.

Hong Kong Martial Artists

Hong Kong Martial Artists PDF Author: Daniel Miles Amos
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1786615444
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
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.

Chinese Martial Arts

Chinese Martial Arts PDF Author: David a Ross
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781543097832
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Did Buddhist monks and Daoist priests really practice martial arts? Is the practice of Chinese martial arts religious? What are the White Lotus Sect and the Heaven and Earth Society? Did martial artists really think they could resist bullets using their internal power? What is the "internal school" of martial arts? These and many more questions are addressed and potentially answered by the new volume "Chinese Martial Arts, A Historical Outline." This is the first work of its kind in the English language. Beginning with the earliest historical records regarding the practice of martial arts, it progressively outlines the development of martial arts within the larger context of Chinese society. In doing so, it presents the many important events, issues and challenges which have shaped the traditions we now practice. Particular attention is paid to the evolution of the concept of using "Qi" in the martial arts, the doomed Boxer Uprising, and developments during the Republican era. Designed to be an outline rather than an exhaustive work on any one particular issue, "Chinese Martial Arts" is 226 pages with over 340 footnotes and an extensive bibliography. Destined to change the way martial artists perceive and understand what they practice. Table of Contents includes "MILITARY METHODS" "THE FOUR STAFF OCCUPATIONS" "CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE" "THE WHITE LOTUS SECT" "THE HEAVEN AND EARTH SOCIETY" "THE TAIPING CIVIL WAR" "THE BOXER UPRISING" "NEI JIA QUAN" "NEW CULTURE MOVEMENT" "NATIONAL ARTS" and "SHAOLIN LEGENDS."

A Guide to Chinese Martial Arts

A Guide to Chinese Martial Arts PDF Author: Tianji Li
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780947889555
Category : Martial arts
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description


Women in Chinese Martial Arts Films of the New Millennium

Women in Chinese Martial Arts Films of the New Millennium PDF Author: Ya-chen Chen
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 073913910X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Women and Gender in Chinese Martial Arts Films of the New Millennium, by Ya-chen Chen, is an excavation of underexposed gender issues focusing mainly on contradictory and troubled feminism in the film narratives. In the cinematic world of martial arts films, one can easily find representations of women of Ancient China released from the constraints of patriarchal social order to revel in a dreamlike space of their own. They can develop themselves, protect themselves, and even defeat or conquer men. This world not only frees women from the convention of foot-binding, but it also "unbinds" them in terms of education, critical thinking, talent, ambition, opportunities to socialize with different men, and the freedom or right to both choose their spouse and decide their own fate. Chen calls this phenomenon "Chinese cinematic martial arts feminism." The liberation is never sustaining or complete, however; Chen reveals the presence of a glass ceiling marking the maximal exercise of feminism and women's rights which the patriarchal order is willing to accept. As such, these films are not to be seen as celebrations of feminist liberation, but as enunciations of the patriarchal authority that suffuses "Chinese cinematic martial arts feminism." The film narratives under examination include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (directed by Ang Lee); Hero (Zhang Yimou); House of the Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou); Seven Swords (Tsui Hark); The Promise (Chen Kaige); The Banquet (Feng Xiaogang); and Curst of the Golden Flower (Zhang Yimou). Chen also touches upon the plots of two of the earliest award-winning Chinese martial arts films, A Touch of Zen and Legend of the Mountain, both directed by King Hu.

Aikido and Chinese Martial Arts

Aikido and Chinese Martial Arts PDF Author: Tetsutaka Sugawara
Publisher: Japan Publications Trading
ISBN: 9780870409349
Category : Aikido
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Aikido & Chinese Martial Arts V1 is a Japan Publications publication.

The Shaolin Monastery

The Shaolin Monastery PDF Author: Meir Shahar
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824831101
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
This meticulously researched and eminently readable study considers the economic, political, and religious factors that led Shaolin monks to disregard the Buddhist prohibition against violence and instead create fighting techniques that by the 21st century have spread throughout the world.

Bruce Lee The Tao of Gung Fu

Bruce Lee The Tao of Gung Fu PDF Author: Bruce Lee
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462917887
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
In the months leading up to his death, Bruce Lee was working on this definitive study of the Chinese martial arts--collectively known as Kung Fu or Gung Fu. This book has now been edited and is published here for the first time in its entirety. Bruce Lee totally revolutionized the practice of martial arts and brought them into the modern world--by promoting the idea that students have the right to pick and choose those techniques and training regimens which suit their own personal needs and fighting styles. He developed a new style of his own called Jeet Kune Do--combining many elements from different masters and different traditions. This was considered heretical at the time within martial arts circles, where one was expected to study with only a single master--and Lee was the first martial artist to attempt this. Today he is revered as the "father" of martial arts practice around the world--including Mixed Martial Arts. In addition to presenting the fundamental techniques, mindset and training methods of traditional Chinese martial arts, this martial art treatise explores such esoteric topics as Taoism and Zen as applied to Gung Fu, Eastern and Western fitness regimens and self-defense techniques. Also included is a Gung Fu "scrapbook" of Bruce Lee's own personal anecdotes regarding the history and traditions of the martial arts of China. After Lee's death, his manuscript was completed and edited by martial arts expert John Little in cooperation with the Bruce Lee Estate. This book features an introduction by his wife, Linda Lee Cadwell and a foreword from his close friend and student, Taky Kimura. 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