Out Now: The Invention of Martial Arts

The Invention of Martial Arts: Popular Culture Between Asia and America.

Happy New Year! I hope you have been able to have some kind of restful and restorative break or change of pace over the holidays - and that you have found time to check out some of our many podcast episodes!

Today's new podcast episode is a fascinating conversation with Professor Lauren Steimer on movie stunt workers - like all the other episodes, it's available via all the usual outlets: YouTube, Spotify, Google, iTunes, etc. Just search 'Martial Arts Studies Podcast' and you should be directed to the right place without too much trouble.

In other news, I was pleased to see that my new book appeared during December - The Invention of Martial Arts: Popular Culture Between Asia and America, from Oxford University Press.

You can download the ebook immediately via Amazon, Google Books, or the OUP site itself, but I must confess I am still waiting to see a physical copy. Hopefully that will arrive at my door soon. (Websites are still cautiously managing expectations by saying 'February', but OUP assures me it already exists in physical form.)

I have been excited about the publication of this book. I hope that publishing with a major player like OUP will give a lot of new visibility to our shared project here in the field martial arts studies, and enable more people to see what is going on over here and why what we care about and do is valuable.

Within this research community, I hope that the book stimulates debate and new research into the areas it touches upon. It is far from the final word on the subject. There is bound to be a lot of stuff I have missed, and a lot I did not give enough time to, all of which warrants further exploration. So take it as a gift or as a gauntlet. Either way, I hope you find it enjoyable and stimulating.