Deconstructing Martial Arts

Deconstructing Martial Arts PDF

Author: Paul Bowman

Publisher: Cardiff University Press

Published: 2019-06-24

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 1911653032

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What is the essence of martial arts? What is their place in or relationship with culture and society? Deconstructing Martial Arts analyses familiar issues and debates that arise in scholarly, practitioner and popular cultural discussions and treatments of martial arts and argues that martial arts are dynamic and variable constructs whose meanings and values regularly shift, mutate and transform, depending on the context. It argues that deconstructing martial arts is an invaluable approach to both the scholarly study of martial arts in culture and society and also to wider understandings of what and why martial arts are. Placing martial arts in relation to core questions and concerns of media and cultural studies around identity, value, orientalism, and embodiment, Deconstructing Martial Arts introduces and elaborates deconstruction as a rewarding method of cultural studies.

Deconstructing Martial Arts

Deconstructing Martial Arts PDF

Author: Paul Bowman

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 9781911653028

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What is the essence of martial arts? What is their place in or relationship with culture and society? Deconstructing Martial Arts analyses familiar issues and debates that arise in scholarly, practitioner and popular cultural discussions and treatments of martial arts and argues that martial arts are dynamic and variable constructs whose meanings and values regularly shift, mutate and transform, depending on the context. It argues that deconstructing martial arts is an invaluable approach to both the scholarly study of martial arts in culture and society and also to wider understandings of what and why martial arts are. Placing martial arts in relation to core questions and concerns of media and cultural studies around identity, value, orientalism, and embodiment, Deconstructing Martial Arts introduces and elaborates deconstruction as a rewarding method of cultural studies.

Devastating Kung Fu Destructions

Devastating Kung Fu Destructions PDF

Author: Noah Knapp

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9781938585081

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If your assailant uses his body as a weapon to harm you, your best defence is to take that weapon away from him by destroying it one limb, joint or vital organ at a time. This is your guide to doing exactly that. Sifu Noah Knapp details dozens of ways to disrupt the function and structural integrity of the human body as a means to escaping a deadly assault. Rather than relying on pain to stop an attacker, the kung fu destructions found in this book focus on disabling your assailant so he literally cannot continue assaulting you. You will learn destructions that work against the arms, legs, head, neck and core as well as key principles for applying these devastating skills. Sifu Knapp also explains the finer points of defensive movements (reaction and return strikes) and offensive movements (ripping, capturing and conquering) plus grappling and striking options that work against all areas of the body. This is a complete course in the powerful destruction attacks of this ancient martial art.

Mythologies of Martial Arts

Mythologies of Martial Arts PDF

Author: Paul Bowman, Professor of Cultural Studies at Cardiff University, UK

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2016-12-07

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 1786601931

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Mythologies of Martial Arts is an introduction to the key myths and ideologies around martial arts in contemporary popular culture internationally. It is the first book to draw together practical experience and seminal texts across a multitude of disciplines to offer original insights into the complex, contradictory world of martial arts. It is an accessible but theoretically sophisticated book aimed at student, scholars and anyone interested in martial arts practice.

Martial Arts Studies

Martial Arts Studies PDF

Author: Paul Bowman

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2015-04-09

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 1783481293

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The phrase “martial arts studies” is increasingly circulating as a term to describe a new field of interest. But many academic fields including history, philosophy, anthropology, and Area studies already engage with martial arts in their own particular way. Therefore, is there really such a thing as a unique field of martial arts studies? Martial Arts Studies is the first book to engage directly with these questions. It assesses the multiplicity and heterogeneity of possible approaches to martial arts studies, exploring orientations and limitations of existing approaches. It makes a case for constructing the field of martial arts studies in terms of key coordinates from post-structuralism, cultural studies, media studies, and post-colonialism. By using these anti-disciplinary approaches to disrupt the approaches of other disciplines, Martial Arts Studies proposes a field that both emerges out of and differs from its many disciplinary locations.

The Invention of Martial Arts

The Invention of Martial Arts PDF

Author: Paul Bowman

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0197540333

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"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"--

Deconstructing Popular Culture

Deconstructing Popular Culture PDF

Author: Paul Bowman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-09-16

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 0230229247

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Popular culture permeates every aspect of our lives: from the music we listen to, the films and television shows we watch and the books we read. But who decides what counts as popular culture? Why is it so important? And how do we go about studying it? This book provides a comprehensive introduction to popular culture and examines the problems and possibilities of studying this fast changing field. Employing a unique approach, Bowman uses techniques of deconstruction to unpick, analyse and deconstruct contemporary examples of popular culture. The book looks at music, Hollywood film and the self-help movement to question claims behind the importance of popular culture and encourage readers to form their own interpretations of the culture they experience every day. With theory interwoven throughout, but in a way that is barely noticeable to the reader, the book provides covers the important theoretical work in the field, whilst directing the reader through ways to avoid common pitfalls in studying theory. An innovative user guide and glossary explain essential terms and ideas, making difficult concepts relevant, accessible and interesting. This witty, thought-provoking book provides a clear, novel introduction to popular culture for all students of cultural studies, media studies and sociology.

Beyond Bruce Lee

Beyond Bruce Lee PDF

Author: Paul Bowman

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2013-03-26

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 0231850360

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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.

The Martial Arts Studies Reader

The Martial Arts Studies Reader PDF

Author: Paul Bowman, Professor of Cultural Studies at Cardiff University, UK

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-09-20

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1786605503

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The first authoritative overview of martial arts studies, written by pioneers of this dynamic and rapidly expanding new field

Flash Deconstruction

Flash Deconstruction PDF

Author: Todd Purgason

Publisher: New Riders Publishing

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780735711495

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The complete book on best-business practices for the Flash professional. A book by professionals for professionals: It has a great combination of hard-edged ActionScripting techniques for the ambitious developer, wrapped in the context of proper workflow and innovative design and development.