Theater of Combat: A Critical Look at the Chinese Martial Arts

Holcombe, Charles

doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1990.tb01286.x

“…The axé has to be positive and strong to produce a good capoeira class, and a successful teacher creates positive energy, and so, of course, a good research site has to give the ethnographer axé too. There are parallels in other martial arts, especially those from China and Japan, as Donohue (2002), Ashkenazi (2002) and Holcombe (2002) discuss.…”

Section: The Dream and The Realitymentioning

confidence: 94%

No place for women among them? Reflections on theaxéof fieldwork

Delamont

¹

2005

Sport, Education and Society

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“…Meditative practice is implicated in the use of such efficacious techniques, and there are religious dimensions to the 'internal' and 'external' labels in martial arts, which are associated with Daoism and Buddhism,respectively. 5 The oral traditions, philosophical motifs and certain practical elements of internal martial arts such as taijiquan suggest links to Daoist meditation and 'internal alchemy' (neidan) practices; 6 however, claims for pre-Qing connections between neidan and martial arts practices are controversial (Despeux 1976;Holcombe 1990;Wile 1996). In taijiquan, the neidan heritage appears in the etymology and in neigong 'internal strength' exercises; neidan allusions are also found in the texts known as the Taijiquan Classics that were 'discovered' in the nineteenth century 7 (Despeux 1976).…”

Section: Taijiquan Traditions: Chinese Martial Arts and Internal Alchemymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For martial arts, the effects of modernising or globalising processes tend to be understood in terms of the loss of meditative or religious dimensions, with the result that contemporary practices are less integrated and more readily harnessed to medical or sporting purposes. Holcombe (1990) argues that this type of differentiation has affected Chinese martial arts, eclipsing their religious heritage in ways that follow Western trends (although he notes that similar splits may have occurred in earlier periods of China's history).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Globalisation and the ‘Internal Alchemy’ In Chinese Martial Arts: The Transmission of Taijiquan to Britain

Ryan

¹

2008

East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Jo

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Taijiquan (t'ai chi ch'uan) is a Chinese martial art that has grown substantially in popularity and global reach since the mid-twentieth century. Known as an 'internal' martial art that combines combat techniques with meditation and longevity practices, it has influenced, and been influenced by, the global dissemination of Chinese medical and therapeutic techniques. Like other martial arts, its pedagogy and techniques were changed significantly in early twentieth century China and later during the Cultural Revolution, in line with ideals of physical fitness as a tool for social reform and nation building. In the mid-twentieth century, taijiquan migrated West, becoming aligned in the 1960s and 1970s with Western interest in holistic health, Asian meditative systems and Chinese martial arts, but its martial techniques were little known until the 1980s and 1990s. British taijiquan illustrates the complex outcomes of globalisation processes, resulting in the establishment of different hybrids. There is evidence of the transmission of simplified systems promoted by the Chinese government; of innovative adaptations, developed to suit Western needs; and practices that appear to have survived suppression in mainland China, to be reconfigured in the West. These varied outcomes have been enabled by diverse channels of transmission and by colonial relationships, for example between Britain and Hong Kong, whilst the opening of mainland China in the 1980s has added further exchanges and complexities. In Britain (as in China), at the start of the twenty-first century, taijiquan is mostly

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“…9 Despite their growth in an era of textual production, the practical instruction mode and lack of literacy among most masters means that martial arts are best understood as the product of 'secondary orality' (Ong 1982). 10 Biographies of youxia blended fact and fiction to create the wuxia (martial arts heroes) narrative tradition, exemplified in the fourteenth century Water Margin (Shui Hu Zhuan), which was influential by the nineteenth century and an inspiration for the use of martial arts within sectarian groups (Holcombe 1990). Wu Jianquan).…”

Section: The Standardisation and Promotion Of Chinese Taijiquanmentioning

confidence: 98%

Globalisation and the ‘Internal Alchemy’ in Chinese Martial Arts:The Transmission of Taijiquan to Britain

Ryan¹

2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Taijiquan (t'ai chi ch'uan) is a Chinese martial art that has grown substantially in popularity and global reach since the mid-twentieth century. Known as an 'internal' martial art that combines combat techniques with meditation and longevity practices, it has influenced, and been influenced by, the global dissemination of Chinese medical and therapeutic techniques. Like other martial arts, its pedagogy and techniques were changed significantly in early twentieth century China and later during the Cultural Revolution, in line with ideals of physical fitness as a tool for social reform and nation building. In the mid-twentieth century, taijiquan migrated West, becoming aligned in the 1960s and 1970s with Western interest in holistic health, Asian meditative systems and Chinese martial arts, but its martial techniques were little known until the 1980s and 1990s. British taijiquan illustrates the complex outcomes of globalisation processes, resulting in the establishment of different hybrids. There is evidence of the transmission of simplified systems promoted by the Chinese government; of innovative adaptations, developed to suit Western needs; and practices that appear to have survived suppression in mainland China, to be reconfigured in the West. These varied outcomes have been enabled by diverse channels of transmission and by colonial relationships, for example between Britain and Hong Kong, whilst the opening of mainland China in the 1980s has added further exchanges and complexities. In Britain (as in China), at the start of the twenty-first century, taijiquan is mostly

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Theater of Combat: A Critical Look at the Chinese Martial Arts

Cited by 8 publications

References 9 publications

No place for women among them? Reflections on theaxéof fieldwork

No place for women among them? Reflections on theaxéof fieldwork

Globalisation and the ‘Internal Alchemy’ In Chinese Martial Arts: The Transmission of Taijiquan to Britain

Globalisation and the ‘Internal Alchemy’ in Chinese Martial Arts:The Transmission of Taijiquan to Britain

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