Winner of the Norbert Elias Book Prize 2020 This is the first long-term analysis of the development of Japanese martial arts, connecting ancient martial traditions with the martial arts practised today. The Historical Sociology of Japanese Martial Arts captures the complexity of the emergence and development of martial traditions within the broader Japanese Civilising Process. The book traces the structured process in which warriors’ practices became systematised and expanded to the Japanese population and the world. Using the theoretical framework of Norbert Elias’s process-sociology and drawing on rich empirical data, the book also compares the development of combat practices in Japan, England, France and Germany, making a new contribution to our understanding of the socio-cultural dynamics of state formation. Throughout this analysis light is shed onto a gender blind spot, taking into account the neglected role of women in martial arts. The Historical Sociology of Japanese Martial Arts is important reading for students of Socio-Cultural Perspectives in Sport, Sociology of Physical Activity, Historical Development of Sport in Society, Asian Studies, Sociology and Philosophy of Sport, and Sports History and Culture. It is also a fascinating resource for scholars, researchers and practitioners interested in the historical and socio-cultural aspects of combat sport and martial arts.

Teaching martial arts is not merely the development of skills and techniques in others. Teaching martial arts is a life-changing transformational process for both the students and teachers. The Zen expression of "pointing at the moon" acknowledges the inherent difficulties in bringing other people to a higher level of personal understanding. This book describes the issues and considerations involved in teaching martial arts to change lives.

In this timely work, Liu Kang argues that globalization in China is both a historical condition in which the country's gaige kaifang (reform and opening up) has unfolded and a set of values or ideologies by which it and the rest of the globe are judged. Moreover, globalization signals a significant ascendancy of culture. Liu examines China's current ideological struggles in political discourse, intellectual debate, popular culture, avant-garde literature, the news media, and the internet. With careful textual analysis and observation informed by critical theories and cultural studies, he offers a forceful critique of the Chinese version of globalism that privileges economic development at the expense of social justice and equality.

Trends in Twenty-First Century African Theatre and Performance is a collection of regionally focused articles on African theatre and performance. The volume provides a broad exploration of the current state of African theatre and performance and considers the directions they are taking in the 21st Century. It contains sections on current trends in theatre and performance studies, on applied/community theatre and on playwrights. The chapters have evolved out of a working group process, in which papers were submitted to peer-group scrutiny over a period of four years, at four international conferences. The book will be particularly useful as a key text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in non-western theatre and performance (where this includes African theatre and performance), and would be a very useful resource for theatre scholars and anyone interested in African performance forms and cultures.

This collective volume contributes to a growing debate concerning the extent to which we are now living in a global society shaped by sport in addition to economy, technology and so on. It covers 36 countries from five continents, analyzed by 87 contributors, so it offers a large comparative study. It is also a data bank of national information resources for students, researchers, policy-makers, sports leaders and managers. By means of a standard framework used in all chapters, the collected data from national cases on history, management and culture of sport provide interpretations of marketing, sponsorship, finance, target groups, settings for activities, strategy of promotion and social changes as related to Sport for All. This cross-national approach seeks to offer adequate meaning to the practices of each country, stimulating further research on specific themes of physical activities for health and leisure, either in affluent or poor social conditions. The concluding chapter lays the groundwork of Sport for All.

As the millennium approaches, so do many new business opportunities. This practical and fascinating survival guide for the future throws a spotlight on today's hidden trends and reveals how they will shape the events of tomorrow.

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

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the historical, political, and technical evolution of taekwondo. Many of the supposedly ‘traditional’ and ‘ancient’ Korean cultural elements attached to taekwondo are, in fact, remnants of East Asia’s modernization drive, and largely inherited from the Japanese martial arts. The current historical portrayal has created an obstacle to a clear understanding of the history of taekwondo, and presents problems and contradictions in philosophy and training methodology. Using rich empirical data, including interviews with leading figures in the field, this book brings together martial arts philosophy with an analysis of the technical aspects and the development of taekwondo, and provides a detailed comparison of karate and taekwondo techniques. It debunks nationalistic mythology surrounding taekwondo to provide a reinterpretation of taekwondo’s evolution.

As China experiences tremendous economic and social transformation in the reform years, language use in China has also undergone remarkable changes in the past couple decades: the national obsession with learning the global English, which becomes both a resource for modernization and a source of contention; the expanding use of local languages and dialects in mass media, where standard Mandarin is promoted and legally prescribed as the principal language; the emergence of the Internet language that has become a creative source for constructing a distinct youth identity; the Cantonese writing movement that challenges the hegemony of the Chinese writing system, which is traditionally based on northern Mandarin, to name a few. The nine papers collected in this volume examine recent trends in language use in mainland China, and the associated social, economic, political, and cultural manifestations. Drawing on their backgrounds and expertise in sociolinguistics, cognitive linguistics, linguistic anthropology, and cultural studies, the authors offer interdisciplinary, insightful, and critical analysis of linguistic struggles and linguistic politics in contemporary China.As such, the carefully presented details of emerging language use in this book will be of value to scholars interested in language and culture in contemporary China. It may be used as a supplementary text for students in Chinese (socio-)linguistics, Chinese language, Chinese cultural studies, Chinese anthropology, Chinese sociology, and Chinese studies in general.