Martial Aesthetics

Martial Aesthetics
Author: Anders Engberg-Pedersen
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2023-03-07
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1503634868

The twenty-first century has witnessed a pervasive militarization of aesthetics with Western military institutions co-opting the creative worldmaking of art and merging it with the destructive forces of warfare. In Martial Aesthetics, Anders Engberg-Pedersen examines the origins of this unlikely merger, showing that today's creative warfare is merely the extension of a historical development that began long ago. Indeed, the emergence of martial aesthetics harkens back to a series of inventions, ideas, and debates in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Already then, military thinkers and inventors adopted ideas from the field of aesthetics about the nature, purpose, and force of art and retooled them into innovative military technologies and a new theory that conceptualized war not merely as a practical art, but as an aesthetic art form. This book shows how military discourses and early war media such as star charts, horoscopes, and the Prussian wargame were entangled with ideas of creativity, genius, and possible worlds in philosophy and aesthetic theory (by thinkers such as Leibniz, Baumgarten, Kant, and Schiller) in order to trace the emergence of martial aesthetics. Adopting an approach that is simultaneously historical and theoretical, Engberg-Pedersen presents a new frame for understanding war in the twenty-first century.

Striking Beauty

Striking Beauty
Author: Barry Allen
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2015-08-04
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0231539347

The first book to focus on the intersection of Western philosophy and the Asian martial arts, Striking Beauty comparatively studies the historical and philosophical traditions of martial arts practice and their ethical value in the modern world. Expanding Western philosophy's global outlook, the book forces a theoretical reckoning with the concerns of Chinese philosophy and the aesthetic and technical dimensions of martial arts practice. Striking Beauty explains the relationship between Asian martial arts and the Chinese philosophical traditions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, in addition to Sunzi's Art of War. It connects martial arts practice to the Western concepts of mind-body dualism and materialism, sports aesthetics, and the ethics of violence. The work ameliorates Western philosophy's hostility toward the body, emphasizing the pleasure of watching and engaging in martial arts, along with their beauty and the ethical problem of their violence.

Martial Arts Cinema and Hong Kong Modernity

Martial Arts Cinema and Hong Kong Modernity
Author: Man-Fung Yip
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2017-09-05
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9888390716

At the core of Martial Arts Cinema and Hong Kong Modernity: Aesthetics, Representation, Circulation is a fascinating paradox: the martial arts film, long regarded as a vehicle of Chinese cultural nationalism, can also be understood as a mass cultural expression of Hong Kong’s modern urban-industrial society. This important and popular genre, Man-Fung Yip argues, articulates the experiential qualities, the competing social subjectivities and gender discourses, as well as the heightened circulation of capital, people, goods, information, and technologies in Hong Kong of the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to providing a novel conceptual framework for the study of Hong Kong martial arts cinema and shedding light on the nexus between social change and cultural/aesthetic form, this book offers perceptive analyses of individual films, including not only the canonical works of King Hu, Chang Cheh, and Bruce Lee, but also many lesser-known ones by Lau Kar-leung and Chor Yuen, among others, that have not been adequately discussed before. Thoroughly researched and lucidly written, Yip’s stimulating study will ignite debates in new directions for both scholars and fans of Chinese-language martial arts cinema. “Yip subjects critical clichés to rigorous examination, moving beyond generalized notions of martial arts cinema’s appeal and offering up informed scrutiny of every facet of the genre. He has the ability to encapsulate these films’ particularities with cogent examples and, at the same time, demonstrate a thorough familiarity with the historical context in which this endlessly fascinating genre arose.” —David Desser, professor emeritus, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign “Eschewing a reductive chronology, Yip offers a persuasive, detailed, and sophisticated excavation of martial arts cinema which is read through and in relation to rapid transformation of Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s. An exemplar of critical genre study, this book represents a significant contribution to the discipline.” —Yvonne Tasker, professor of film studies and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of East Anglia

The Philosophy of Mixed Martial Arts

The Philosophy of Mixed Martial Arts
Author: Jason Holt
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2021-09-09
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1000450449

Mixed martial arts (MMA)—unarmed fighting games permitting techniques derived from a variety of martial arts and combat sports— has exploded from the fringes of sport into a worldwide phenomenon, a sport as controversial as it is compelling. This is the first book to pay MMA the serious philosophical attention it deserves. With contributions from leading international scholars of the philosophy of sport and martial arts, the book explores topics such as whether MMA qualifies as a martial art, the differences between MMA and the traditional martial arts, the aesthetic dimensions of MMA, the limits of consent and choice in MMA and whether MMA can promote moral virtues. It also explores cutting-edge practical and ethical topics, including the role of gender in MMA, and the question of whether trans athletes should be allowed to compete in the women’s divisions. The contributors to this anthology take down, ground and pound, and submit many essential questions about this fascinating recent development in the culture of sport and spectacle. This is important reading for anybody with an interest in combat sports, martial arts, or the philosophy, sociology, culture or history of sport.

Systema Revelations

Systema Revelations
Author: Brad Scornavacco
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2012-11
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9781478717805

When it comes to our tax laws, there has to be a limit to the amount of complexity that our government should and can constitutionally impose on the American people. Our income tax system is convoluted, expensive, and stressful requiring transformational changes. Stress is scientifically proven to be a contributing factor for so many diseases, setting back your immune system. Behzad (Ben) Compani explains that reducing stress and medical reasons are among other major outlined reasons as to why we need to change our income tax system. This book is pioneering, powerful, economically needed, humanitarian and it is for all taxpayers: The President, The Supreme Court Justices, The Legislators, Doctors and Psychologists, Professors and Teachers, Legislators, CPAs, Journalists, Government Employees, Students This book will give rise to a major movement and it will be grass roots.

The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art

The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
Author: Marcello Ghilardi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2021-07-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 135012978X

For anyone working in aesthetics interested in understanding the richness of the Chinese aesthetic tradition this handbook is the place to start. Comprised of general introductory overviews, critical reflections and contextual analysis, it covers everything from the origins of aesthetics in China to the role of aesthetics in philosophy today. Beginning in early China (1st millennium BCE), it traces the Chinese aesthetic tradition, exploring the import of the term aesthetics into Chinese thought via Japan around the end of the 19th century. It looks back to early practices of art and craftsmanship, showing how the history of Chinese thought provides a multitude of artefacts and texts that give rise to a wide range of aesthetic creations and notions. Introducing various perspectives on traditional arts in China, including painting, ceramics, calligraphy, poetry, music and theatre, it explores those aesthetic traditions not included in “canonic” art forms, such as martial arts, rock gardening, and ritual performance. Written by Chinese, European, and American theoreticians and practitioners, this authoritative research resource enhances contemporary aesthetics by revealing the possibilities of a Chinese philosophy of art.

Taekwondo

Taekwondo
Author: Udo Moenig
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2015-04-10
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1317557336

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.

The Aesthetics of the Oppressed

The Aesthetics of the Oppressed
Author: Augusto Boal
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2006-04-18
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1134195052

Augusto Boal's workshops and theatre exercises are renowned throughout the world for their life-changing effects. At last this major director, practitioner, and author of many books on community theatre speaks out about the subjects most important to him – the practical work he does with diverse communities, the effects of globalization, and the creative possibilities for all of us.

New Essays in Japanese Aesthetics

New Essays in Japanese Aesthetics
Author: A. Minh Nguyen
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 527
Release: 2017-12-29
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0739180827

This collection presents twenty-seven new essays in Japanese aesthetics by leading experts in the field. Beginning with an extended foreword by the renowned scholar and artist Stephen Addiss and a comprehensive introduction that surveys the history of Japanese aesthetics and the ways in which it is similar to and different from Western aesthetics, this groundbreaking work brings together a large variety of disciplinary perspectives—including philosophy, literature, and cultural politics—to shed light on the artistic and aesthetic traditions of Japan and the central themes in Japanese art and aesthetics. Contributors explore topics from the philosophical groundings for Japanese aesthetics and the Japanese aesthetics of imperfection and insufficiency to the Japanese love of and respect for nature and the paradoxical ability of Japanese art and culture to absorb enormous amounts of foreign influence and yet maintain its own unique identity. New Essays in Japanese Aesthetics will appeal not only to a wide range of humanities scholars but also to graduate and undergraduate students of Japanese aesthetics, art, philosophy, literature, culture, and civilization. Masterfully articulating the contributors’ Japanese-aesthetical concerns and their application to Japanese arts (including literature, theater, film, drawing, painting, calligraphy, ceramics, crafts, music, fashion, comics, cooking, packaging, gardening, landscape architecture, flower arrangement, the martial arts, and the tea ceremony), these engaging and penetrating essays will also appealto nonacademic professionals and general audiences. This seminal work will be essential reading for anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of Japanese aesthetics.

Kiko Hidden Power Electric Moves: A Revolutionary Discoveryabout Traditional Martial Arts for the Fight & Beyond

Kiko Hidden Power Electric Moves: A Revolutionary Discoveryabout Traditional Martial Arts for the Fight & Beyond
Author: Hayashi Tomio
Publisher: Wind School
Total Pages: 581
Release: 2024-07-17
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0979269776

Title: This work is the result of thirty years of observations about the function and behavior of Ki (vital energy) in traditional martial arts. Master teacher, Hayashi Tomio, author and Buddhist monk, with over a half century of teaching experience, leads readers into the extraordinary realm of internal martial practice with a revolutionary perspective that the effortless power derived from proper Ki technique may be the result of human's ability to control their bioelectric field as a signaling mechanism to charge their musculature for impressive gains. Hayashi lays out the amazing Ki principles and techniques embedded in most traditional forms. Electrifying your practice takes on literal meaning. Through the Kiko lens Hayashi answers many longstanding questions about the traditional martial arts such as the hidden reason why martial artists are told to keep their knees precisely bent, to crescent their step, to bend their wrist during certain parries, to make certain tonal sounds, to breathe deep into the belly, to stomp their foot, lift their heel, or turn the feet inward or outward in various postures, or to pause at certain points in a kata. Learn about the startling distinctions between open and closed hand moves, why katas should start in a specific cardinal direction, why the arms should or should not cross with certain limb configurations, why turns in a kata are often 45 or 90 degree angles, why duration; the amount of time expended during strength moves, exerts an unusual influence on body-generated power, why certain tonal kiai's are made in kata, why moves done in sets of two or three should not be identical. Learn how to increase both your speed and punching power. Learn about the hidden effects of using certain weapons. For instance, a long or short bo (staff) has a Yin and Yang end. A steel blade can cut meridians without contact. Sai act like lightning rods drawing Ki into a user's body, how simple visualizations can double your strength or make a lock placed upon you difficult to achieve, how redirecting your Ki can seal against pressure point strikes, how everyone possess a unique energy signature—and more.