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.

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.

"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"--

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

This book examines the profound interplay of martial arts, combative, and self-defense disciplines with nationalism and ethno-religious politics through the analysis of Zionism, the birth of the State of Israel, antisemitism, and the life of the contemporary Jewish Diaspora in the United States. It connects martial arts studies and political science, spearheading the new field of political hoplology. Focusing on the complex formative process of national communities, their growth, resilience, and consequences for the individuals, Krav Maga and the Making of Modern Israel presents the unique case of Krav Maga (literally hand to hand combat), a self-defense system developed between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which is now considered a staple of Israeli culture and a prime self-defense practice. Through its chapters, the book provides strong evidence supporting the idea that physical violence is indeed needed as a unifying experience to allow national communities to emerge and thrive. Furthermore, it examines the growing importance of violence for modern democratic societies and suggests the existence of a “gladiatorial effect,” or the need for a certain level of violence to exist to maintain a harmonious, stable, and cooperative society.

This is the first book to offer a comprehensive overview of the history, development and contemporary significance of sport in Asia. It addresses a wide range of issues central to sport in the context of Asian culture, politics, economy and society. The book explores diverse topics, including the history of traditional Asian sport; the rise of modern sport in Asia; the Olympic Movement in Asia; mega sport events in Asia; sport governance and policy; gender, class and ethnicity in Asian sport, and Asia’s sporting heroes and heroines. With contributions from 74 leading international scholars, it offers a new perspective on understanding Asian sport and society, telling the story of how sport in this mega-region is coming together and reshaping the world in the process. It also provides readers with a wide lens through which to better contextualise the relationships between Asia and the world within the global sport community. The Routledge Handbook of Sport in Asia is a vital resource for students and scholars studying the history, politics, sociology, culture and policy of sport in Asia, as well as sport management, sport history, sport sociology, and sport policy and politics. It is also valuable reading for those working in international sport organisations.

The book presents a range of articles and discussions that offer critical insights into the development of contemporary Chinese art, both within China and internationally. It brings together selected writings, both published and unpublished, by Paul Gladston, one of the foremost international scholars on contemporary Chinese art. The articles are based on extensive first-hand research, much of which was carried out during an extended residence in China between 2005 and 2010. In contrast to many other writers on contemporary Chinese art, Gladston analyses his subject with specific reference to the concerns of critical theory. In his writings he consistently argues for a “polylogic” (multi-voiced) approach to research and analysis grounded in painstaking attention to local, regional and international conditions of artistic production, reception and display.

This book brings together leading international scholars with the aim of exploring ritual perspectives in the study of contemporary religions. It combines significant theoretical and methodological reflections and applies it to four main fields relevant to the study of contemporary religions: indigeneity; new spiritualities and ecology; lived religion (with Islam and Africa as case studies); and finally, religion and embodiment. The structure and content of the book takes its point of departure from the research topics and collegial network of the internationally acclaimed scholar of ritual studies, Professor Anne-Christine Hornborg. The book is dedicated to her.

An in-depth exploration of the stardom and authorship of Stephen Chow Sing-chi, one of Hong Kong cinema's most enduringly popular stars and among its most commercially successful directors. In the West, Stephen Chow is renowned as the ground-breaking director and star of global blockbusters such as Kung Fu Hustle (2004) and Shaolin Soccer (2001). Among Hong Kong audiences, Chow is celebrated as the leading purveyor of local comedy, popularising the so-called mo-lei-tau (“gibberish”) brand of Cantonese vernacular humour, and cultivating a style of madcap comedy that often masks a trenchant social commentary. This volume approaches Chow from a diverse range of critical perspectives. Each of the essays, written by a host of renowned international scholars, offers compelling new interpretations of familiar hits such as From Beijing with Love (1994) and Journey to the West (2013). The detailed case studies of seminal local and global movies provide overdue critical attention to Chow's filmmaking, highlighting the aesthetic power, economic significance, and cultural impact of his films in both domestic and global markets.