Martial Arts

One of the strongest claims made by proponents of mixed martial arts (MMA) is that the confrontations are more authentic than other types of combat sports or, in the words of one promotion, ‘as real as it gets’. Since the advent of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the United States in 1993, the franchise has become one of the most rapidly growing sports in the world, especially since the take-over of the UFC by Zuffa LLC. Twenty years later, the UFC and its imitators have transformed the global understanding of martial arts and established a successful business model for promoting martial arts-based prize fighting. However, on closer examination, the development of the rules for ‘no holds barred’ fighting demonstrate a desire on the part of the promoters to stage fights that meet audience expectations, including particularly dramatic forms of violence and decisive outcomes. Instead of fighting in some kind of ‘de-regulated’ space, the UFC and other MMA appear to be ‘hyper-violence’, a type of stylized unarmed combat, especially telegenic, that obscures the actual effects of that violence on participants, even as it focuses the camera almost obsessively on particularly dramatic violent moments. Ironically, the regulations of ‘as real as it gets’ fighting seek to produce a confrontation that meets audience expectations, shaped especially by choreographed violence in movies and videogames.

This investigation examined the long term effect of Karate techniques training on communication of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Thirty school aged children with ASD were randomly assigned to an exercise (n = 15) or a control group (n = 15). Participants in the exercise group were engaged in 14 weeks of Karate techniques training. Communication deficit at baseline, post-intervention (week 14), and at 1 month follow up were evaluated. Exercise group showed significant reduction in communication deficit compared to control group. Moreover, reduction in communication deficit in the exercise group at one month follow up remained unchanged compared to post-intervention time. We concluded that teaching Karate techniques to children with ASD leads to significant reduction in their communication deficit

We have been lied to about what real Pythagorean harmonics alchemy is. The lie started with Philolaus who wrote a book, even though he was not a real practitioner of the Pythagorean training, requiring five years of silence meditation as incubation. The lies in this book were then spread by Plato and Archytas and powerful lies they were! They created Western civilization which has enabled very fancy materialistic technology, at great expense to ecology and social justice around the world. Aristotle critiqued the lies spread by Plato but Aristotle did not know the real truth of Pythagorean philosophy. By then, as Dr. Peter Kingsley has pointed out, it was too late.

In fact the secret of Pythagorean alchemy was known in ancient Egypt since 2/3 was the sacred fraction there, as well as in ancient Sumeria and ancient Dravidian culture and ancient Chinese culture – going back to the original human culture, the San Bushmen from at least 70,000 years ago! Just as Pythagoras means "snake-master" so too did the San Bushmen teach that N/om as snake energy is sacred and the ancient Greeks knew this was the reproductive life force energy that is ionized into the cerebrospinal fluid. For example ejaculation is mainly lecithin and lecithin is what myelinates the neurons so that more electromagnetic charge can be stored up in the body.

And so the One was also known as the Counter-Fire that exists in the Underworld and as the pan pipes blow this creates the One as the Fire and light of the Universe. So the Pan Pipes were the original Harmonia "breathing" that feeds the spirit light energy. Or in other words the secret, as Empedocles taught, is to visualize the fire underneath the water in the body – to reverse the Tetraktys based on the complementary opposites of the Perfect Fifth and Perfect Fourth – so that more Air or Aion energy (ionized Snake kundalini) energy is created, called Qi or Prana by the ancients in China and India.

The topic of Polish sabre is a problematic issue of nowadays Historical European Martial Arts research. There are lots of myths and misunderstandings due to the man simplifications of the subject. This paper introduces the subject again with a broader look and is introdction to an entire research performed for the sake of To Arms! exhibition in Jagiellonian University along with its catalogue published in 2018.

Adam M. Croom, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Cognitive Science, Case Western Reserve University. Publications: 28 | Citations: 1,668 | h-index: 17 | i10-index: 20
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Göğüs Göğüse Muharebe (GGM) ya da Yakın Dövüş (YD) askeri ve kurumsal-resmi güvenlik alanında tarihsel kökleri bulunan bir savunma disiplini olmakla beraber çağdaş kent ortamının gerektirdiği önlemler üzerine sivil alanda da farklı versiyonlarıyla yayılmıştır. Batı’daki askeri çalışmalar kapsamında bugün devam eden Göğüs Göğüse Muharebe’nin 20. Yüzyıldaki kökleri 2. Dünya Savaşı’na ve William E. Fairbairn, Rex Applegate, Bill Underwood gibi isimlere dayanır. Avrupa’da bir savunma sistemi olarak geliştirilen Krav Maga ve Rusya’nın hala kullanılmaya devam eden kişisel savunma disiplini Sistema da GGM modelleri arasında kaydedilebilir. 21. Yüzyıla gelindiğinde farklı ülkelerin ve kültürlerin askeri, polis ve güvenlik ekollerinden gelen Yakın Dövüş modelleri, geleneksel savaş sanatları ya da modern savunma sistemleriyle harmanlanarak çağdaş güvenlik uygulamalarında çok geniş bir çeşitlilik yelpazesi sunmaktadır.

Alongside the study of the combat as in terms of its principles, its forms and its components-we must also look into its instruction. A fruitful view of this may be to look at instruction in terms of instructing those who know nothing. After all, combining an individual who is open to all learning with a principle based approach (as we are attempting to lay down) would theoretically create what we have discussed as the near-perfect fighter-combined with correct moral instruction: the near-perfect martial artist. It is to children then, that we turn our attention.

While more research is emerging on women’s capacity for successful resistance and the benefits of self-defense training for women, “resistance” to the idea of women’s resistance remains high. In this note, I describe the importance of bringing true accounts of successful resistance to both academic and lay communities, and the benefits to women of recounting their own experiences of successful resistance to violence and harassment. Such accounts provide new scripts for women’s options in responding to violence, mark attempted but thwarted rape as a visible event, and remind women of their own agency in the face of assault.

This paper looks at the tragedy of Qiao Feng in Jin Yong’s The Demi-Gods and the Semi-Devils . While it is common practice for Žižekean scholars to examine genre writing and popular culture with Lacanian theory, the martial arts genre has received little attention. In Demi-Gods , Qiao Feng experiences an ‘identity crisis’ at the peak of his career: rumour has it that though he was raised and trained in China, he was born a Khitan. Qiao Feng at first believes it is a just conspiracy, and henceforth is blind-sided by the imaginary relation between his ego and small others. He mis-recognises others’ scheming as ‘the Other of the Other,’ while his supposedly deceased Khitan father occupies the corner of the Other in the schema L to orchestra the manipulation game. However, what Qiao Feng is really under prey is the desire of the father, and of the two fatherlands, one Han-Chinese, one Khitan: his tragedy lies in the split of the national Other, in the impossibility of the ethical impera...

On the 5 of February 2016, the Martial Arts Studies Research Network held its first one-day seminar, on the theme of gender issues in theory and practice. Hosted by the University of Brighton, the day drew around 30 delegates, including academics from various fields of study and martial arts practitioners from a range of styles. The day featured discussion on a number of themes on the topic of gender; while a short summary of these can be found here, this report focuses on the key points raised by delegates during the first of two plenary sessions, addressing the ways in which clubs and gyms might best improve women’s and girls’ involvement in martial arts and combat sports (MACS).

Chapter from the volume, Fighting: Intellectualisation Combat Sports, edited by Keith Gilbert (Common Ground, 2014).
The chapter explores capoeira as a mode of aesthetic self construction among Brazilians in Salvador. The work uses Foucault's framing of 'art of living' as a mode of analysis.

Résumé: Fruit du colloque "Spiritualité japonaise - Perceptions et représentations, entre tradition et occidentalisation" organisé par les Universités Libre de Bruxelles et Catholique de Louvain, cet ouvrage propose des recherches en philosophie de la religion sur le Japon comparativement à l’Occident.

Several terminologies have been widely used in the martial universe because they have led to dubious (even unintentionally) understandings about the characteristics and peculiarities of the practices involved. This opens the door to difficulties of understanding and study, misinterpretations on the subject and in more radical situations and socially extended, instigates prejudice by practitioners, scholars and sympathizers. This study aims to review and reinterpret important concepts of the martial universe under philosophical-cultural analysis focused on ethics and aesthetics, since they are fields that have influenced and still influence the martial universe. Conceptual terms will be observed under the lens of hermeneutics. Specifically, the objective was to (i) differentiate the practices of the martial universe from a conceptual categorization (taxonomy) with criteria related to the cultural characteristics and philosophical principles emitted in the practices; (ii) to highlight and endorse the category "martial art" as a practice immersed in pacifist philosophical values; and (iii) to highlight and contextualize the Kung-Fu position in this taxonomy as "martial art" exposing its pacifist philosophical idiosyncrasies. Transformations of the thoughts and nomenclatures used in the martial universe were observed along with changes in human thought. It is argued that the existence of ethical and aesthetic values contained in the concept "martial art" and "Kung-Fu" has been evidenced.

Nonostante gli archivi della Dinastia Qing testimonino l’esecuzione per smembramento di Feng Keshan (冯克善) , nei circoli marziali si è diffusa l’idea che egli sia sopravvissuto tramite rocambolesche vicissitudini. In particolare questa storia è stata esaminata nell’ambito della famiglia Han . Han Jianzhong per esempio riferisce che Liu Jingshan 刘景山 nel suo libro “Chuojiao” racconta che Feng Keshan sarebbe fuggito e poi avrebbe insegnato il Chuojiao. I fatti avvengono a partire dal 1813.

Born in Surakarta, W.S. Rendra (7 November 1935–6 August 2009) was an Indonesian theatre director, actor, playwright and poet. A complex personality in a difficult period, Rendra represents one of the most important, and loved, figures in contemporary Indonesian theatre and literature. He remains barely known outside Indonesia. Crucial to consider is Rendra’s public criticism of Soekarno and Communism, and later of Suharto’s dictatorship. He was arrested several times during the early 1960s. In 1978 he was imprisoned for several months and then banned from performing until 1985. These events reflect both this delicate political period in Indonesia as well as Rendra’s involvement in the cultural and political scenes.
From the early 1960s, Rendra began adapting Western plays for the Indonesian context. He was experimenting with a mixture of theatrical traditions and intercultural techniques. His Yogyakarta-based drama club Lingkar Studi Drama Mahasiswa was a crossroad of experiences, a workshop involving other individuals who also became later prominent figures of the Indonesian culture, as Arifin C Noer and Putu Wijaya. Together with his social commitment, public speaking, and perform- ing, Rendra was already being noticed as rebellious by the authorities. The political tensions in the country and Rendra’s arrest on several occasions during the early 1960s influenced his decision to depart for the US in 1964. He joined an international humanities seminar for anti-communist youth at Harvard University, then studied social sciences and humanities at New York University “where he began to think of art related to ‘structural analysis’ and communal activism” (Winet 2010, p. 152). He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA), which represents the first and only formal training he ever received in theatre and performing.
The American period between 1964 and 1967, and in particular his experience at AADA, were crucial to Rendra’s human and artistic development. Little previous research has investigated this dimension of Rendra’s development. Moreover, at that time,American theatre was interconnected with European theatre, and the interest in cross-cultural and multi-ethnical ensembles was growing exponentially. Given his interest in the avant-garde in his early career, while in the US Rendra had the opportunity to touch those trends.
Considering the above, this essay explores certain dimensions of Rendra’s back- ground to highlight specific facets of his work, compare it to others better known, and thereby contribute to a better international appreciation of his work. I choose here to focus on the actor, training and the human processes that precede the creation of a character. In this attempt to understand certain features of Rendra’s work, I collect, consider and interpolate relevant information.
I begin by exploring important aspects regarding the AADA, and highlight key influences Rendra could have received. I do so through pertinent bibliographical sources and via direct email correspondence with the Academy and reputed US acting coach Harry Mastrogeorge. I contextualize some information directly collected through discussions and interviews with key people via email, phone calls, or in person. Particularly important are Rendra’s eldest son, Teddy and senior actors of the Bengkel Teater, especially I Gede Tapa Sudana. Interviewed at several stages during the research process, we discussed theatre, meditation and other aspects of Rendra’s work. The language used for interviews was English, along with some Indonesian phrases. Quotations most relevant to this investigation are provided with minimal “editing” to preserve each voice.
I suggest correspondences between the American and Indonesian debates around Stanislavsky. I confront some aspects of Rendra’s theatre with facets of Stanislavsky. I then discuss the possible presence of, or similarity with, some of Stanislavsky’s principles in Rendra’s works. I compare Rendra with other prominent personalities of twentieth-century theatre. Historical documents and press are reported where appropriate. Finally, I glimpse at the significance of Rendra’s work today in Indonesia.

К семиотике айкидо. Опыт описания Г. А. Казарян ЕРЕВАНСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ Аннотация. Автор анализирует ключевые вопросы моделирования че-рез знаки невербальной коммуникации некоторых социальных и межлич-ностных отношений в диакультуре восточных боевых искусств. В част-ности, статья посвящена проблеме знаковости ключевых понятий японского боевого искусства айкидо и их проявления в среде тренировок. Особое внимание уделяется таким понятиям, как центр («хара»), дистан-ция («маай»), меч («катана»), анализ которых выявляет концептуальные связи между конвенциональными формами «ката», конкретными жестами, и идеологией айкидо. Исходя из того положения невербальные знаки в боевых эпизодах являются кинетическим коррелятом конкретных рече-вых актов, проводится параллель с речевой коммуникацией. Статья яв-ляется первой попыткой изучения диакультуры айкидо в свете совре-менных исследований семиотики и теории речевой коммуникации. Ключевые слова: айкидо, иконический знак, диаграмма, невербальная семиотика, межличностная дистанция, коммуникация. УДК 003 Контактная информация: Казарян Григор Артемович, кандидат фило-логических наук, доцент кафедры романской филологии ЕГУ (ул. Налбан-дяна, 104, Ереван, 0001, Армения; [email protected])

Historically, most traditional martial
arts, especially in Japan and
Okinawa, have included a practice
known as Nitten Soji or ritual cleaning. While
this practice may have its roots in Shinto, it
has many health implications including the
prevention of infections. In today’s world,
it is accepted that infections due to equipment
and close contact are a problem in both
sports and gyms. As many martial artist use
mats and other safety equipment on a routine
basis, there is a potential for infections. As
the best cure is prevention, we looked at three
types of infectious agents to find a way to
minimize or prevent infection. In particular,
we wish to give the three groups of training
centers users; facility managers, potentially
infected individuals, and un-infected participants
a better understanding of the nature
of infection. Sport acquired infections have
always been a problem, especially in activities
where there is much close physical contact or
in those using hard materials that should be
regularly cleaned by participants. While most
of the data is from sports such as wrestling
and football, many traditional arts use similar
equipment, so these data should be applicable
to them as well. As many different infectious
agents exist, we will address one from each
major group (viral, bacterial, and fungal) for
simplicity. Prevention is everyone’s responsibility.

This essay explores the roots of Jujutsu, Judo and Aikido in the United Kingdom. Along with that, it includes an interview with a pioneering martial artist from that era.

Please purchase my books to read more:

Founding of Jujutsu, Judo & Aikido in the United Kingdom (B&W): https://www.amazon.com/Founding-Jujutsu-Aikido-United-Kingdom/dp/B08FV7LRRB

The Founding of Jujutsu, Judo & Aikido in the United Kingdom (Color): https://www.amazon.com/founding-Jujutsu-Aikido-United-Kingdom/dp/B08T43T5C8

Kenshiro Abbe: The forgotten Budoka: https://www.amazon.com/Kenshiro-Abbe-forgotten-Abdul-Rashid/dp/B095GRWJKD

British Aikido History: (Color): https://www.amazon.com/British-Aikido-History-pioneers-Kenshiro/dp/B08Y4HBDMT

British Aikido History: (B&W): https://www.amazon.com/British-Aikido-History-pioneers-Kenshiro/dp/B08Y49S8TR

A martial-arts master escapes from a prison camp in wartime China and flees to Malaya. His hopes for a quiet life are dashed when he saves a bus driver from a lynch mob. The master agrees to impart his secrets to five disciples. Although the organisation they found becomes internationally renowned, the arts are almost entirely lost as the initiates succumb to internal squabbling and greed.

New in Singapore, Chris Murray tracks down Chan See-meng, favourite disciple of the great Chee Kim Thong. Through dusty Malaysian villages and Shaolin Temple in China, the adventure that begins with gruelling practice on Chan's rooftop leads Chris in the footsteps of the masters. As he becomes absorbed in the esoteric depths of Five Ancestors Fist, he investigates the journey of Zen martial-arts from ancient temples to modern gymnasia. Can the traditional arts can survive in modernity?

An intimate memoir with historical scope, Crippled Immortals unites a cast of legendary heroes and slack-jawed monks, Indian yogi and Tibetan lamas, bluffers, gangsters, and champions who have been touched by Old Man Chee's arts. The practitioner’s path to enlightenment is always arduous, often hilarious, and sometimes heart-breaking. True adepts talk with their fists, but the strength that endures lies in the bond between master and disciple.

In a good competition you bring out the best in each other. You want to beat your opponent when she is at her strongest; this is one aspect of sportsmanship. In popular games (e.g. football) we have been observing for more than a century that the ‘winning attitude’ (winning at all cost) has gained greater acceptance, to the detriment of the notion of sportsmanship. Players frequently fall down in the penalty area (simulation); they argue with the referee (disputing decisions), attempt to intimidate the referee (by squaring up to them), or they commit strategic fouls. All of this subverts the ‘good contest’.

The aim of the paper was to analyze: training effectiveness in the preparatory period,
changes in contestants’ aerobic and anaerobic capacity in the preparatory period, changes in contestants’ motor abilities in the preparatory period, to compare the level of selected parameters of anaerobic capacity measured by means of Wingate test and aerobic capacity measured by means of Beep-test of kickboxing contestants with the results of contestants training similar martial arts. The research has been carried out on three contestants of UKS Gladiator Club who achieve high sports results. An analysis of obtained results shows that the training employed in the preparatory phase has been appropriately planned and effective enough. Both aerobic and anaerobic capacity in the preparatory phase has increased significantly. Anaerobic capacity of the examined contestants is higher than capacity of the contestants in the control group. Their aerobic capacity, on the other hand, is lower than in the control group. When planning further training in the future greater attention should be paid to developing aerobic capacity.

Introduction: Traumatic atlanto-axial rotational subluxations (AARS) represent a serious condition that is associated with neurological complications, and should be considered among jūdō sports injuries involving the neck.
Case presentation: A 6-year-old Caucasian girl with approximately 1 year of recreational jūdō experience presented with neck and shoulder pain while holding her head in a “Cock-robin” sideways tilted position. During a children’s jūdō class while seated on “all fours” she had been subjected to an improperly executed turnover performed by a boy of similar age, body mass and experience. Because of increasing torticollis symptoms after class she was taken by her parents to a local hospital’s emergency department where X-rays showed a mid-clavicular fracture. It was not until 7 weeks post-accident that a CT scan was ordered and a type-III traumatic acute AARS causing her clinical symptoms was recognized.
Differential diagnosis: Congenital cervical spine anomalies, Grisel’s syndrome, Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Odontoid fracture without atlanto-axial dislocation.
Treatment: A halo crown traction brace connected to a cervical traction pulley with gradual increased weight (+0.5 kg every half day to a maximum of 6.5 kg) was used for reduction over a 17-day period, followed by 6 weeks of ambulant immobilization with a halo vest, and 8 weeks of wearing a stiff neck brace. The girl fully recovered but was advised not to return to practicing contact sports until achieving skeletal maturity.
Uniqueness of the study: AARS has not previously been described in association with jūdō practice in children.
Conclusion: Traumatic AARS should be considered as a potential diagnosis in jūdōka, especially those of very young age and of female gender, when presenting with torticollis following mechanical impact or severe pressure on the head if blocked in a tilted position. Prompt diagnosis is crucial, preferably by open-mouth X-rays and CT scan, to ensure proper management and prevent neurological complications.

Flow, an optimal state for study, training and creativity, is often linked with the concept of The Zone, an ideal state for elite performance. Are these two states identical, or how might they differ?  Does it matter, which name we use? See more at www.TheFlow.Zone

In this first of two parts, I’m considering the similarities between Flow and The Zone, as two of the many different manifestations of Hypnotic trance. I’m arguing for very careful use of language, but not for the sake of a more rigorous theoretical discussion. The narrow definitions of some terms are highly contentious, so I’m deliberately accepting broad definitions in order to sidestep those theoretical debates. But I suggest that precise choice of terminology is vital, for utterly practical reasons.

This dissertation investigates the inclusion of women in capoeira: an Afro-Brazilian martial art, dance, and musical tradition. Believed to have originated among communities of African slaves in colonial Brazil, capoeira represents a unique practice because men and women perform together, interact, and compete simultaneously. The last 40 years have seen a revolution in the number of female students and teachers practising capoeira both in Brazil and abroad. Capoeira offers its students an inclusive and validating space for bodily self-expression and physical empowerment; however, this is not always guaranteed due to hierarchical power structures within some groups. The growing influence of female leaders is challenging historical male-centred narratives in capoeira. My research fulfils the need to document, compare and analyse the emerging oral and embodied narratives of women who train in capoeira groups in Brazil and in Europe. This multi sited, cross-cultural study represents an innovative and timely contribution to discussions of creolization, decolonialization, performance, race, and gender theory, and shows how gendered identities are being questioned and redefined by a diasporic practice from the 'Global South'. My findings will be of interest to both practitioners and researchers of capoeira and Afro-Brazilian music, culture, politics and history, and of performative art forms as a site of investigation for gender and cultural studies.

Global Perspectives on Japan (GPJ) is a yearly, Open Access, peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary academic journal on Japanese studies published by FORUM TAURİ Press.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

- Editor’s Note, Erdal Küçükyalçın

Abstracts

ARTICLES

- State, Political Parties, and the Nation: Triangular Political History without a Center of Gravity, Shimizu Yuichirō

- An Ottoman Staff Officer in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905): General Pertev Bey’s Impressions and Evaluations, Doruk Akyüz

- Railroads of the Glorious Empires in the late 19th Century: From the Great Game to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, Semiha Karaoğlu

- Tracing the Royal, Romantic and Demonic Roots of the Nio Warrior Guardian, Jennifer Norris

- Yōkai as the Edge of The World, Kōda Retsu 甲田烈

REVIEWS

- Sinan Levent. Japon Turancılığı (Japanese Turanism) by , Selçuk Esenbel

- Hook, Glenn D. and Gavan McCormack. Japan’s Contested Constitution, Can Öçalan