Question about Martial Arts Authors

[Anne Marie]

I am currently working on my writing requirement for law school. The paper is to be of academic quality. I have chosen the tort liability involved in martial arts.

I have the legal side of the research under control. However, I need suggestions as to who is a well-known and well-respected authority on martial arts. I need articles and books that describe the term "martial arts" (I don't want to cite a dictionary). I also need books and articles that describe the diversity and the different philosphies, practices and training approaches of different styles and arts. I have the current JAMA which has an article on the topic I'm working on. It's a great overview of the issues, but I really want to go into more depth in analysis.

I am not looking for personal accounts or just stories from friends of friends. I also don't want any Black Belt Magazine kind of articles, or your typical "Learn 'x' martial art". I need respectable and high quality articles and books.

You can respond here or to my e-mail at giria@nsu.law.nova.edu

I appreciate any assitance that you can provide me.

Thank you,
Anne Marie Giri, 3L
Nova Southeastern University
Shepard Broad Law Center
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

[Joseph Svinth]

From a dictionary standpoint, OED attributes the modern usage to EJ Harrison's translation of bujutsu in "Fighting Spirit of Japan" (1913). Thus the term fits East Asian systems very well, and other cultures' systems less well. Recognizing this, Thomas A. Green, an associate professor of anthropology at Texas A&M, has recently defined the term "martial arts" as follows:

"Martial arts are considered to be systems that blend the physical components of combat with strategy, philosophy, tradition, or other features that distinguish them from pure physical reaction (in other words, a technique, armed or unarmed, employed randomly or idiosyncratically would not be considered a martial art)."

Thomas A. Green, in the introduction to "Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia," ed. by Thomas A. Green (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001), page xvi.

However, most people are not anthropologists. Therefore the definition that comes to mind for most people is probably closer to this, from Corcoran and Farkas (1988):

"The expression 'martial arts' refers to numerous styles of combat originating in the Orient. The most common martial arts are aikido, judo, jujutsu, karate, kung-fu, and tae kwon do. All of these many arts share certain customs and practices."

John Corcoran and Emil Farkas, "Martial Arts: Traditions, History, People" (New York: Gallery Books, 1988), page 2. Corcoran has edited martial arts magazines for nearly 30 years, and his books have sold over 300,000 copies. Therefore there should be no problem presenting him as an authority on the popular (as opposed to academic) usage of the term.

For an introduction to the diversity of the world's martial arts, you could start by following some of the links at http://ejmas.com/kronos/index.html . In particular, check "Other Online Resources" (toward the bottom are links to informative websites devoted to various martial arts) and the bibliographies (here the links lead to the actual text [or at least criticism, reviews, etc.], rather than to booksellers).

[Anne Marie]

Thanks for the pointers and the definitions, I will most definantly follow up on them.

Anne Marie

[TommyK]

Greetings,

Some of the posters here on E-Budo can be taken as recognized (although this will always involve debate) authorities, or at least serious researchers on the Martial Arts.

Mr. Svinth for example leads the pack in my book, but others who post here now, or did before, are respected 'names'. These include the aforementioned Joesph Svinth, Harry Cook, Graham Noble, David Lowry. Meik Skoss, Diane Skoss just to name a few.

So check some of the archived threads and see the gems that often reside here online.

Regards,
TommyK
Tom Militello

"One must know how to do violence, before one chooses NOT to!"

[Neil Hawkins]

Let's not forget our University level contibutors Professor W. Bodiford, Professor P. Goldsbury and Dr Karl Friday.

Regards

Neil

[MarkF]

There is also Robert W. Smith. His works (and those done with the late Donn Draeger are great references) such as Martial Musings give new perspectives on the subject.

Mark