Jingwu-The School That Transformed Kung Fu

In the early twentieth centruy, traditional Chinese martial arts were in danger of extinction due to the rise of modern weaponry and the failed Boxer Rebellion. In order to keep the ancient arts alive, the Jingwu Association was formed-forever changing the path of kung fu.

Jingwu: The school That

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Transformed Kung Fu tells the story of the Jingwu Association, the first public martial arts training academy and the first school to promote martial arts as both a sport and entertainment. Through these efforts, it helped guarantee that the arts would survive the transition from traditional to modern China.

Today, the Jingwu Assoication is the model for modern Chiense martial arts schools and is legendary among serious practitoners. This lively history covers its tumultuous beginnings; the four historical phases of Chinese martial arts that inform it; important practitioners such as Huo Yuanjia; those elements, including the integration of women, that have made it disctincitive and enduring; individuals branches and practices within the larger system; and much more. Rare historical documents and vintage photographs take the reader directly into one of the most fascinating stories in martial arts.

'Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo have produced a fascinating and thorough work on the real Jingwu Association, providng heretofore unprecedented access to the foundation, training, and culture of this very important and interesting time and place in the history of Chinese martial arts.'-Tim Cartmell, translator of A Study of Taijiuan by Sun Lutang and The Method of Chinese Wrestling by Tong Zhongyi

'A spectacular contibution to filling the gap in early twentieth-century Chinese martial arts and cultural history.'-Stanley Henning, Chinese martial arts historian

Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo both write regularly for Classical Fighting Arts and Kung Fu Tai Chi magazines. They have coauthored three books, including Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals: A Historical Survey. Kennedy lives in San Diego; Guo lives in Taipei.

Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1 Chaos and vision: the birth of the Jingwu
For historical phases of Chinese martial arts
The Jingwu Association and the new culture movement
The mythic and the mundane
Jingwu pillars
Scientific Chinese martial arts
Graduates and certificates
Books are the way
Women on an equal footing
Dollars and demise
Chapter 2 Letting the Jingwu anniversary book tell its own story
Sun Yat-Sen's preface
Huo Yuanjia and the main founders
Commemorative calligraphy
The Jingwu training halls
Flying the of colors; flags and pins
Decorative comic drawings
Branches in Shanghai
Five races under one union
Shanghai concession areas
Jingwu martial arts groups and demonstrations
Monthly meet-ups
The musclemen of the Jingwu
Martial motifs
Classical archery
Youth programs
Chapter 3 Martial arts of the Jingwu
Jingwu Northern Shaolin
Huo Yuanjia's martial arts
Martial arts manuals and posters
Western martial arts books
Saving Chinese martial arts from impending death
Jingwu military training
Pici: Cut and stab skills
Chapter 4 Other Jingwu activities
Reacraetin ond music
Literary studies
The Jingwu photo studio
Western sports and outdoor adventures
Weight training
Gymnastics and track and field
Revolutionaries and martyrs
Neither rain nor bitter cold will stop the Jingwu
Appendixes
Appendix A: Historical methods in Chiense martial arts research
Appendix B: What the Jingwu said about itself-In English
Appendix C: The martial arts teaching staff
Appendix D: Chinese character list
Appendix E: Sources for further study
Index

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