Martial Arts America

Martial Arts America PDF Author: Bob Orlando
Publisher: Frog Books
ISBN: 9781883319670
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
This broad survey of martial arts traditions and their evolution to modern Western practice challenging the purpose and effectiveness of many martial arts activities and training methods used in the U.S. today. By focusing on the most effective and relevant way for Americans to pursue the various martial arts, Orlando's useful insights penetrate a subject too often shrouded in mysticism and marketing hype. 30 photos. 79 illustrations.

Martial Arts America

Martial Arts America PDF Author: Bob Orlando
Publisher: Frog Books
ISBN: 9781883319670
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book Here

Book Description
This broad survey of martial arts traditions and their evolution to modern Western practice challenging the purpose and effectiveness of many martial arts activities and training methods used in the U.S. today. By focusing on the most effective and relevant way for Americans to pursue the various martial arts, Orlando's useful insights penetrate a subject too often shrouded in mysticism and marketing hype. 30 photos. 79 illustrations.

The Complete Guide to American Karate and Tae Kwon Do

The Complete Guide to American Karate and Tae Kwon Do PDF Author: Keith D. Yates
Publisher: Blue Snake Books
ISBN: 9781583942154
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
"Covers the development of the arts of karate and tae kwon do in the United States"--Provided by publisher.

Striking Distance

Striking Distance PDF Author: Charles Russo
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496217063
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
In the spring of 1959, eighteen-year-old Bruce Lee returned to San Francisco, the city of his birth. Although the martial arts were widely unknown in America, Bruce encountered a robust fight culture in the Bay Area, populated with talented and trailblazing practitioners such as Lau Bun, Chinatown’s aging kung fu patriarch; Wally Jay, the innovative Hawaiian jujitsu master; and James Lee, the Oakland street fighter. Regarded by some as a brash loudmouth and by others as a dynamic visionary, Bruce spent his first few years back in America advocating for a modern approach to the martial arts, and showing little regard for the damaged egos left in his wake. The year of 1964 would be an eventful one for Bruce, in which he would broadcast his dissenting worldview before the first great international martial arts gathering, and then defend it by facing down Wong Jack Man—Chinatown’s young kung fu ace—in a legendary behind-closed-doors showdown. These events were a catalyst to the dawn of martial arts in America and a prelude to an icon. Based on over one hundred original interviews, Striking Distance chronicles Bruce Lee’s formative days amid the heated martial arts proving ground that thrived on San Francisco Bay in the early 1960s.

An Illustrated History of Martial Arts in America

An Illustrated History of Martial Arts in America PDF Author: Emil Farkas
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781897307908
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
271 pages filled with hundreds and hundreds rare photos of everyone who has made an impact on American martial arts since it started in 1905 with Judo lessons being taught in the White House to Teddy Roosevelt. Names like Bruce Lee, Ed Parker, Peter Urban, Richard Kim, HIdetaka Nishiyama, Funakoshi, Kano, Wallace, Lewis, Urquidez, Smith Jackson Blanks and so many more. Each photo has a short description beside it written by America's historian Emil Farkas.

The Invention of Martial Arts

The Invention of Martial Arts PDF Author: Paul Bowman
Publisher:
ISBN: 0197540333
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
Through popular movies starring Bruce Lee and songs like the disco hit "Kung Fu Fighting," martial arts have found a central place in the Western cultural imagination. But what would 'martial arts' be without the explosion of media texts and images that brought it to a wide audience in the late 1960s and early 1970s? In this examination of the media history of what we now call martial arts, author Paul Bowman makes the bold case that the phenomenon of martial arts is chiefly an invention of media representations. Rather than passively taking up a preexisting history of martial arts practices--some of which, of course, predated the martial arts boom in popular culture--media images and narratives actively constructed martial arts. Grounded in a historical survey of the British media history of martial arts such as Bartitsu, jujutsu, judo, karate, tai chi, and MMA across a range of media, this book thoroughly recasts our understanding of the history of martial arts. By interweaving theories of key thinkers on historiography, such as Foucault and Hobsbawm, and Said's ideas on Orientalism with analyses of both mainstream and marginal media texts, Bowman arrives at the surprising insight that media representations created martial arts rather than the other way around. In this way, he not only deepens our understanding of martial arts but also demonstrates the productive power of media discourses.

American Martial Arts

American Martial Arts PDF Author: Percy Twenty-Five Brown
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
AMERICAN MARTIAL ARTS is an autobiographical account of the life of its author Master Percy Brown nicknamed "Twenty-Five." Master Percy Brown is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served as a machine gunner during the Vietnam era. His studies in Martial Arts began before entering the Marine Corps and continued after. The book examines the difference between learning fighting techniques and Martial Arts. The author feels that his training under three Korean Grandmasters is a blessing because of the spiritual connection absent from his training in American schools. The author believes that an examination of the differences in the philosophies gives a better understanding of the meaning of Martial Arts. The author's belief is that spiritual development and discipline were the focus of the Korean Grandmasters. When the author asked to join Grandmaster Shim's school, The Grandmaster asked him why he wanted to study Martial Arts. His answer was "I want to be a good fighter." "No since being a good fighter if you're not a good man." Was the Grandmaster's response.

Warrior Dreams

Warrior Dreams PDF Author: John J. Donohue
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
This is an analysis of the martial arts as socio-cultural and symbolic phenomena. As Americans search for a sense of purpose, belonging, and structure in life, they have chosen an Asian cultural tradition and changed it to suit the needs of contemporary American society. A brief historical summary of the development of martial arts in Japan sets the scene for the reinterpretation of the role of these arts by American mass media. Donohue, an anthropologist with a black belt in karate, explores the important role that the martial arts play in the American psyche. As a means of developing personal power, self-defense systems are aesthetic and spiritual practices as well as statements of urban paranoia reacting against street violence and life-threatening situations. Martial arts organizations are seen as symbolic vehicles for enmeshing participants in constellations of actions and philosophies that create a sense of self and community.

Aikido Comes to America

Aikido Comes to America PDF Author: Antonio Aloia
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781943155330
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
Drawing from personally conducted interviews by the author, Antonio Aloia, as well as secondary sources, Aikido Comes to America places several early US practitioners in the context of the art's arrival and dissemination amidst American popular culture, spanning from the Beat Movement of the 1950s to the Japanese film craze of the 1980s and early 1990s. This book discusses aikido pioneers including Rodney Grantham, Thomas "Doc" Walker, Sam Combes, Steven Seagal, Lisa Tomoleoni, and George Kennedy among others. Aikido Comes to America also compares additional prominent American martial artists of the time, including Jujitsu's George Kirby, American Kenpo Karate founder Edmund Parker, Bruce Lee, and Robert Trias of Shuri-ryu Karate, giving a broader picture of how martial arts were developing during the time frame.

Black Belt Patriotism

Black Belt Patriotism PDF Author: Chuck Norris
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 0805464360
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
The "New York Times" bestseller by actor, activist, and martial arts expert Norris urges Americans to recapture a national spirit of faith, freedom, and respect for tradition, history, and human life.

Now with Kung Fu Grip!

Now with Kung Fu Grip! PDF Author: Jared Miracle
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476624461
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
Why do so many Americans practice martial arts? How did kung fu get its own movie genre? What makes mixed martial arts so popular? This book answers these questions for the first time with historical research. At the turn of the 20th century, the United States enjoyed a time of prosperity but feared that men were becoming soft. At the same time, the Japanese government sponsored research to develop the best fighting techniques for its new empire. Before World War II, American men boxed and Japanese men practiced judo and karate. Postwar Americans began adopting Chinese, Brazilian, Filipino and other fighting styles, in the process establishing a masculine subculture based on physical and social power. The rise of Asian martial arts in America is a fascinating untold story of modern history, from the origin of karate uniforms to the first martial arts themed birthday party. The cast of characters includes circus strongmen, professional cage fighters, an award winning comic book artist, the inventors of judo, aikido and Cornflakes, and Count Juan Raphael Dante, a Chicago hairdresser and used car salesman with the "Deadliest Hands in the World." Readers will never look at taekwondo class the same way again.