The International Journal of the History of Sport 

Paul Bowman

Published online: 25 Aug 2016

Abstract 

This paper examines key ways in which ideas such as ‘tradition’, ‘authenticity’, and ‘history’ are deployed in discourses around Asian martial arts. First introducing how such concepts are used in national contexts such as Korea and elsewhere in East Asia it then examines the case of a dispute between two English language writers on martial arts. It examines these different cases to illustrate the ways that ‘tradition’, ‘authenticity’, and ‘history’ can be deployed for different ideological ends, from nationalism to personal self-advancement, in different contexts. In doing so, the paper theorizes the consequences of antagonisms that have recently arisen between common beliefs about certain Asian martial arts and historical studies that challenge such beliefs. It concludes that the discursive status of ‘history’ is not fixed or permanent, but varies depending on context. This is the case to such an extent that the status of ‘history’ can be said to have changed decisively. Ultimately, the paper argues for the value of rigorous scholarship even when it runs counter to cultural beliefs, and highlights the significance of such scholarship for showing the ways in which martial arts history matters in more contexts and registers than martial arts alone.

Full Text available: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09523367.2016.1212842

But the gold goes to China…: The international development of the Chinese martial arts

International Review for the Sociology of Sport

Marc Theeboom,Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Dong Zhu, Shanghai University of Sport, China

Jikkemien Vertonghen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

published 28 April 2015, 10.1177/1012690215581605.

Abstract

Since the mid-1980s, China has been promoting wushu (also known as kung fu) as an international competitive sport towards Olympic recognition. But despite the efforts of the International Wushu Federation, to date, wushu has not entered the Olympics. Data were collected of countries’ medal winning performances at the World Wushu Championships since 1991. The findings of this study clearly showed China’s unchanged dominant position, thereby making it questionable if wushu has really turned into an international sport. This paper discusses two discourses that have been used to describe wushu’s international position: an enrichment discourse to emphasise the potential of wushu to deliver added value to global sports; and a compromise discourse highlighting the dangers of detraditionalisation in order to internationalise. It further attempts to analyse underlying mechanisms that may account for wushu’s current international status.