This is the first comprehensive, fully-researched account of the historical and contemporary development of the traditional martial arts genre in the Chinese cinema known aswuxia(literal translation: ...martial chivalry) - a genre which audiences around the world became familiar with through the phenomenal 'crossover' hitCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon(2000). The book unveils rich layers of thewuxia traditionas it developed in the early Shanghai cinema in the late 1920s, and from the 1950s onwards, in the Hong Kong and Taiwan film industries.
Key attractions of the book are analyses of:
The history of the tradition as it began in the Shanghai cinema, its rise and popularity as a serialized form in the silent cinema of the late 1920s, and its eventual prohibition by the government in 1931.The fantastic characteristics of the genre, their relationship with folklore, myth and religion, and their similarities and differences with the kung fu sub-genre of martial arts cinema.The protagonists and heroes of the genre, in particular the figure of the female knight-errant.The chief personalities and masterpieces of the genre - directors such as King Hu, Chu Yuan, Zhang Che, Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou, and films such asCome Drink With Me(1966),The One-Armed Swordsman(1967),A Touch of Zen(1970-71),Hero(2002),House of Flying Daggers(2004), andCurse of the Golden Flower(2006).
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.
Participation in organized sports is promoted as a means of increasing physical activity levels and reducing chronic disease risk in adults. Hard martial arts practice (i.e. using body contact ...techniques), has gained in popularity over time. This review explores the evidence for health benefits of "hard" martial arts practice within the adult population. A systematic electronic database search was conducted, and quality assessments applied the Effective Public Health Practice Project tool. Twenty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria, examining balance, cognitive function, muscular skeletal status, psychological, cardiovascular fitness, and metabolic effects. The majority of studies reported positive effects resulting from hard martial arts practice, showing some improvement and maintenance of balance, cognitive function and psychological health. Benefits may be obtained regardless of the age of practice commencement. However, quality of the evidence is affected by methodological weaknesses across the studies. "Hard" martial arts seem to have potential to improve balance and cognitive functions that decline with age, which can lead to poorer health outcomes among the elderly (e.g. cognitive decline, falls and fractures). Benefits should be further investigated with improved intervention studies, representative samples and longer follow-up periods in order to establish associations with morbidity and mortality in the long term.
Children’s motor skills can be fully developed only by the appropriate stimulation of physical activities and the environment, and the poor development of motor skills greatly increases the risk of ...cognitive impairment, obesity, and movement coordination disorder. This study aimed to examine the effects of Chinese martial arts on the motor skills of preschool children aged 5−6 years through a randomized controlled trial. A total of 87 children aged 5−6 years served as participants in a martial arts sensory teaching group (MAST, n = 29), a martial arts traditional teaching group (MATT, n = 29), and a free activity group (FA, n = 29). The interventions were conducted twice weekly for a total of 10 weeks, with each session lasting 30 min. Children’s motor skills were assessed before and after the intervention using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2). The results indicated that the balance index scores in the MAST (p < 0.001) and MATT (p = 0.014) groups were significantly higher than those in the FA and that the MAST score was significantly higher than the MATT (p = 0.004). Meanwhile, the MAST was significantly higher in total scores on motor skills when compared to the FA (p = 0.039), and the MAST showed significantly higher scores on manual dexterity when compared to both the MATT (p = 0.021) and FA (p = 0.011). Chinese martial arts can significantly improve the balance ability of preschool children, and the MAST method was found to be better than that of the MATT. Meanwhile, the MAST had good potential for the development of preschool children’s manual dexterity and their overall level of motor skills.
The popularity of martial arts in the present times has become apparent, therefore, it is necessary to explore martial artists' preferences and the schools' competitiveness. The purpose of this study ...was to assess martial artists' preferences concerning the services offered by martial arts schools. Conjoint analysis was utilized to analyze the responses of fifty-five (55) martial artists based on the seven (7) martial arts schools' attributes. The results showed that the type of martial arts was found to be the most important attribute (30.449%) followed by distance (27.970%), price range (22.706%), social environment (11.097%), class preference (5.080%), goal (1.562%), and schedule (1.135%). Furthermore, Muay Thai or Kickboxing was the most preferred martial art, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) was the second priority, next was Taekwondo, then Karate, and finally Boxing. In addition, the martial artists' preferred distance was less than 8 km, and a monthly training cost of 150,000 to 450,000 IDR (10 to 20 USD). Martial artists liked attending open classes, treated martial arts as a hobby, and favored attending classes once or twice weekly. With the lack of conjoint-related studies in the martial arts industry, the findings contributed to academicians and addressed issues of inadequate studies. Most importantly, the researchers presented managerial implications to leverage marketing techniques and develop the business operations of martial arts schools.
This study analyzed some cases of rapid weight loss procedures in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and athletes linked to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), currently the largest promoter of the ...sport. Therefore, printed sources were used, such as specialized magazines or not; documentaries, television programs, interviews, articles on websites; documentary sources, regulations and protocols. It was noted that the rapid weight loss represents overconformity deviances, which are part of a code of conduct valued by athletes, but sometimes become problematic. The cases listed here obtained relative repercussions in the media and resulted in acute damage to the athletes, financial and marketing damage to the event promoter. There was also a certain malpractice among athletes and teams, event organizers, and the North-American Athletic Commissions to try to prevent extreme procedures for rapid weight loss from occurring more often by putting athletes at risk, causing damage to the event itself.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is an emergent sport where competitors in a ring or cage utilize strikes (punches, kicks, elbows and knees) as well as submission techniques to defeat opponents. This book ...explores the carnal experience of fighting through a sensory ethnography of MMA, and how it transgresses the cultural scripts of masculinity in popular culture. Based on four years of participant observation in a local MMA club and in-depth interviews with amateur and professional MMA fighters, Spencer documents fighters' training regimes and the meanings they attach to participation in the sport. Drawing from the philosophical phenomenology of Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Jean-Luc Nancy, this book develops bodies-centered ontological and epistemological grounding for this study. Guided by such a position, it places bodies at the center of analysis of MMA and elucidates the embodied experience of pain and injury, and the sense and rhythms of fighting.
O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o significado da conversão do judô em esporte olímpico com objetivos políticos e de identidade. Examina-se a instrumentalização da inclusão olímpica do judô que ...realizou o Japão — tanto nos fracassados Jogos de Tóquio de 1940, como na celebração de Tóquio 1964 —, para a forte configuração dum espaço simbólico de afirmação nacional que representa a nação japonesa com traços que definem a essência da sua identidade nacional. E como esta instrumentalização acabou por gerar o paradoxo dum processo de transformação global desportiva do judô que terminou de afastar a sua natureza original.
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