Martial Arts Studies: Disrupting Disciplinary Boundaries

by Paul Bowman

The phrase martial arts studies is increasingly circulating as a term to describe a new field of interest. But many academic fields including history, philosophy, anthropology, and Area studies already engage with martial arts in their own particular way. Therefore, is there really such a thing as a unique field of martial arts studies? Martial Arts Studies is the first book to engage directly with these questions. It assesses the multiplicity and heterogeneity of possible approaches to martial arts studies, exploring orientations and limitations of existing approaches. It makes a case for constructing the field of martial arts studies in terms of key coordinates from post-structuralism, cultural studies, media studies, and post-colonialism. By using these anti-disciplinary approaches to disrupt the approaches of other disciplines, Martial Arts Studies proposes a field that both emerges out of and differs from its many disciplinary locations."

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2015

Reviews

[Jennifer Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a FANTASTIC book. Recommended for any scholar thinking about writing about sports. Really thoughtful critique of scholarship on combat sports and martial arts in particular. I learned a ton from it.