Academic Approaches To Martial Arts Research Vol 2

Download or read book Academic Approaches to Martial Arts Research, Vol. 2 written by Michael DeMarco and published by Via Media Publishing. This book was released on with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This two-volume anthology conveniently contains useful academic tools for studying the combative arts. Each chapter will prove special to all interested in the intellectual side to the martial arts. Some chapters provide fine details for categorizing the variety of what we commonly refer to as "martial arts." Other chapters focus on the martial arts as living culture and social implications. The quality of instruction can either encourage negative traits such as violence or allow a practitioner to experience a self-transformation that improves character. NOTE: print edition is a single volume.

Download or read book Academic Approaches to Martial Arts Research, Vol. 1 written by Michael DeMarco and published by Via Media Publishing. This book was released on 2017-09-25 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As soon as its first issue was published, readers of the Journal of Asian Martial Arts knew that it was unique in providing reliable materials on the subject. The journal brought a clearer perspective of Asian martial traditions. It presented valuable details on the history, theory and practice of various styles. Of greater importance, the journal set a standard for scholarly research to build the field. This anthology conveniently assembles sixteen journal articles that contain useful academic tools for studying the combative arts. Each chapter will prove special to all interested in the intellectual side to the martial arts. What martial art do you wish to research? Is it really a “martial” art? Or is it a martially-inspired art, practiced only for health or for theatrical performance?—A number of chapters provide fine details for categorizing the variety of what we commonly refer to as “martial arts.” While demonstrating the complexity of the martial arts as a field of study, the authors provide insights and methods that actually clarify and facilitate any discussion of this fascinating subject. Other chapters focus on the martial arts as living culture. We learn about the physical side of these arts just as we learn about other aspects of culture, except that often the martial arts being taught are from Asia. It is extremely important to understand just how a foreign art enters and adapts to another culture minus much of its associated history and culture. The social implications are enormous as shown in some of the chapters. Anyone who practices an Asian martial art may be exposed to related cultural aspects, such as Oriental philosophy and social customs. These can have an effect on the practitioner’s character. When elements of different cultures are absorbed, their embodiment can be seen in the individual’s daily actions. The question of violence is paramount in this potentially activity. With proper instruction, chances are better for a practitioner to experience a self-transformation that improves character, nurturing qualities such as patience and respect. This anthology’s table of contents hints the in-depth material that fills nearly 300 pages. This publication is for those who take researching martial traditions very seriously.

Download or read book Academic Approaches to Martial Arts Research, Vol. 1 written by Michael DeMarco and published by Via Media Publishing. This book was released on 2017-09-17 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This two-volume anthology conveniently contains useful academic tools for studying the combative arts. Each chapter will prove special to all interested in the intellectual side to the martial arts. Some chapters provide fine details for categorizing the variety of what we commonly refer to as "martial arts." Other chapters focus on the martial arts as living culture and social implications. The quality of instruction can either encourage negative traits such as violence or allow a practitioner to experience a self-transformation that improves character. The paperback edition is available in a single volume.

Download or read book Armed Martial Arts of Japan written by G Hurst I and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1998-07-11 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique history of Japanese armed martial arts--the only comprehensive treatment of the subject in English--focuses on traditions of swordsmanship and archery from ancient times to the present. G. Cameron Hurst III provides an overview of martial arts in Japanese history and culture, then closely examines the transformation of these fighting skills into sports. He discusses the influence of the Western athletic tradition on the armed martial arts as well as the ways the martial arts have remained distinctly Japanese. During the Tokugawa era (1600-1867), swordsmanship and archery developed from fighting systems into martial arts, transformed by the powerful social forces of peace, urbanization, literacy, and professionalized instruction in art forms. Hurst investigates the changes that occurred as military skills that were no longer necessary took on new purposes: physical fitness, spiritual composure, character development, and sport. He also considers Western misperceptions of Japanese traditional martial arts and argues that, contrary to common views in the West, Zen Buddhism is associated with the martial arts in only a limited way. The author concludes by exploring the modern organization, teaching, ritual, and philosophy of archery and swordsmanship; relating these martial arts to other art forms and placing them in the broader context of Japanese culture.

Download or read book Martial Arts Studies written by Paul Bowman and published by Disruptions. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book disrupts disciplinary boundaries to make a case for the future direction and growth of martial arts studies as a unique field

Download or read book The Best Fight: A Memoir of a Martial Art Practitioner, Publisher, and Author written by Michael DeMarco and published by Via Media Publishing. This book was released on 2023-10-10 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A needle may draw a thread through printed pages to bind a book. In this little memoir, I feel like a needle that drew a common thread though a segment of martial art history. This book details three interrelated activities: (1) martial art studies, (2) involvement as founder of Via Media Publishing, producing a quarterly journal and books, and (3) teaching martial arts. Publishers, writers, researchers and serious martial art practitioners will benefit with the detailed overview of Via Media and its publications. Via Media produced the Journal of Asian Martial Arts, known for its high academic and aesthetic standards. Its contents reflect the history of two decades and provides rich information for practitioners and scholars, making The Best Fighta valuable reference work. In addition to reading, the primary way to learn a martial art is through instruction. In reading about my studies and teaching experience, readers can relate to their own involvement in martial arts. What is important here is the portrayal of my instructors, their teaching methods, and reasons for being involved in martial arts. Their accounts should offer insights and inspiration for others who study and practice any martial art.

Download or read book Teaching and Learning Japanese Martial Arts: Scholarly Perspectives, Vol. 2 written by Michael DeMarco and published by Via Media Publishing. This book was released on 2017-03-21 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In contrast to the overabundance of writings about martial arts that are often promotional and misinformative, there are rare works by scholars that are praiseworthy for their sincere, unbiased approach to writing. This is the very definition of “scholarly.” This two-volume anthology brings together the best scholarly works published in the Journal of Asian Martial Arts on the topic of teaching and learning Japanese martial arts. In this second volume, you’ll find eight chapters that dive deep into Japanese martial traditions, combining aspects of history and culture that explain how teaching methods developed and evolved. Chapter one asks: What defines and gives meaning to the practice of karate? The Dr. Wingate looks to the ideology of karate as presented in the writings of founder Ginchin Funakoshi and traditional Japanese martial arts as “ways” of self-cultivation. This ideology is often greatly different from the ideology held by modern practitioners. This chapter explores the differences. Next, Dr. Donohue comments on the ideological complex surrounding training in the Japanese martial traditions. These systems, while remaining relatively uniform through time, have, in fact, been subject to considerable philosophical interpretation and emphasis. Why many practice martial artists has little to do with the essential nature of these arts. Dr. Grossman presents a thesis in his chapter that we can arrive at a deeper understanding of any martial arts—using aikido as an example—if we consider it to be a symbolic form of communication, as well as a martial art, and utilize the science of semiotics to translate the “message” encoded in the “body language” of aikido techniques. A photographic technical section illustrates this process. The next chapter by Sakuyama Yoshinaga discusses the potential growth for learning in children. How can adults provide the best learning environment? The author believes that inspiration comes through subtle emotions of the human heart, influencing others. The theory is found in ancient samurai traditions and applied by the author in teaching Shorinji Kempo. Chapter five by Dr. Dykhuizen point out how Asian martial arts are being practiced in cultures other than those within which they originated. Specific information concerning how practitioners from different cultures understand them becomes increasingly useful to martial artists and martial arts scholars. This chapter summarizes findings of an investigation among aikido practitioners. The Japanese Imperial family is said to have been given three symbols of authority by the gods: a mirror, a jewel, and a sword. Dr. Donohue uses this symbolic structure to discuss varying perspectives on the Japanese martial arts. Each aid in our understanding and appreciation of the multifaceted dimensions of the martial arts. In his chapter, Dr. Edinborough examines how Japanese martial arts, specifically the approach developed by Inaba Minoru, can be functionally understood as a form of art. Through referring to the aesthetic theories, the article examines budo as a means of organizing experience, recognizable alongside painting, dance, theater, and literature. The final chapter by Marvin Labbate looks close at the training hall. Dressed in a uniform, students line up in a ready position, come to attention, sit, meditate, and bow. This ritualized pattern is performed at the beginning, during, and at the end of each class, but what does it mean? In this chapter, each element of the ritualized pattern will be discussed to provide a clear understanding of its original intent. If you are interested in Japanese martial traditions, you will find much in these eight chapters that clarify why the arts are taught according to a longstanding tradition—and also why there have been evolutionary changes in the instructional methods. There is sound logic for the old traditions, as well as for the changes. The scholarly research presented in this anthology will improve a teacher’s way of instructing and help a student understand what to expect out of his or her studies.