Chinese Martial Arts: A Historical Outline

Well written outline of generations of society that were punctuated by violence, forcing the necessity for martial arts.I don't think the title conveys what the book is about exactly, it is more like "Chinese Martial Arts in Response to Violence in Society - A Historical Outline". Mostly because the book has the bulk of its information outlining all the upheavals, revolts, resolutions, etc., that happened through the ages.it's not like Kang Gewu's historical outline: The Spring Autumn Annals, which details year by year the development of Chinese Martial Arts.its not like my book The Hidden History of the Chinese Internal Arts, which explores the various CMA style themselves and how they evolved.This book captures different data that give a big picture view of the interaction of martial artist with their hostile environment.I think between the three books you get a full understanding of "what" "when" and now "Why".Written with a straight forward, no BS, way of presenting information.. Does a great job of unfolding hundreds of years of information.I found some facts that I was glad to learn about in the research that I do on origins.I was glad to see the names of some styles that the different people mentioned in the book had practiced, which explained some things for me about those styles.

CMA books have been mired in mysticism and mythology for decades, and this book will be considered one of the few that have become part of a burgeoning trend of books that are informed by social science disciplines that apply textual and historical criticism. Plus, an added bonus, is that Mr. Ross was part of the early wave of CMA practitioners on the east coast that got to see what it was really like training with traditional teachers who focused on function over form. He was also privy to the BS that got pilfered around in Chinatown that was more salesmanship than actual fact. He's been around the block a few times, and his experience, scholarship, and insights are greatly appreciated.

If you want a comprehensive analysis of the cultural and historical underpinnings of the Traditional Chinese Martial Arts, this is the book. David Ross does well to dispel the silly notions of Buddhist and Daoist martial arts masters and reminds us that the Chinese fighting arts were once developed from military arts that underwent cultural immersion as they were spread through the civilian population. While David does his best to cover as many eras as possible, it is important to remember the subtitle that this is an "Historical Outline" and will leave thirsty for more. David did an exhaustive job pulling from multiple sources as well as his own knowledge, I hope that he decides to write more on the subject of Chinese martial arts history, and continue to dispel the silly mythology that has made kungfu useless in the eyes of the martial arts community.

I've read a number of books on Chinese martial arts, and while I prefer Lorge or Shahar's books for their detail, this volume works best if you're hoping to get a solid introduction to the historical study of king fu.

This is a good intro book about the history of Chinese martial arts. It separates fact from fiction in a good way.

Learned so much from this book. I'm barely halfway through, but i have to read slowly because it's so packed with information. Thank you to the author for putting out such a valuable resource!

A thorough insight into martial arts history!

Tome of knowledge, very interesting read!

An excellent overview of the historical and social context of Chinese martial arts that deals with history rather than mythology.If you want to know the reality of Kung Fu practice in pre-modern China then this is an excellent starting point.

First: Despite the five stars, I do have some criticism. This book is in dire need of proof reading. Missing image captions and a number of orthographic errors, often really stupid typos, spoil the pleasure.Now for the content: This book just changed my view on the TCMA for good. It reinforced some suspicions I already had and wiped out other believes that I held dear. I can no longer watch TCMA applications without recognizing the many situations when finishing moves only make sense if the striking hand is assumed to hold a dao. When these close quarter weapons came out of use the training drills no longer made any sense to most people. In more than one way this book helps explain the dire state of chinese martial arts today. The bad image of the fighters at the end of 19th century, the low usability of the applications for the unarmed hand-to-hand fighting games that became modern with the beginning of the 20th century, the many ridiculous scam artists today, and the legend of the fighting monks - everything falls in place. With this book we can finally apply Occam's razor to many claims and stories and see if they fit a very down-to-earth historic setting.I'm now more convinced than ever that traditional gong-fu can only be studied and understood by casting bright light on the historic landscape of the last 500 years. The picture that emerges then contradicts a lot of what is being circulated in martial arts forums. It destroys romantic believes about all-healing all-spiritual moving meditation as well as the notion of invincible strongmen, superior athletic value or practical self-defense in modern settings. As a matter of fact, if what you train is applications and forms from the 17th to 19th century, and you have neither a very large knife nor the experience of gross violence, then you are basically screwed against any modern opponent. You have to develop new weaponless applications and you have to have a sparring curriculum to make up for the exposure to omnipresent violence if you want to stand any chance to successfully use TCMA today. The poor performance of TCMA practitioners against athletes of modern fighting games is a strong confirmation.

Ein sehr lehrreiches Buch das mir die Augen geöffnet hat und so manche Widersprüche, die sich mir beim Kung Fu Training eröffneten, schlüssig machte. Danke Sifu David Ross