I would like to do some research on the creation of martial art styles. It seems there are so many styles that have no definitive beginning. I am specifically looking for Chinese martial arts, but other styles would be helpful as well. The only style I have found to have a decent amount of information is Judo.

If anyone could point me in the right direction, it would be appreciated.

Thank you

Many of the most popular Japanese martial arts; judo, aikido, karate, are quite new and thus easier to track their history. It is my limited understanding that Chinese MA are much older, steeped in even more lore and crazy stories, thus harder to track and even harder to determine what is accurate.

Sri Hanuman has a post on Tung Hao here on this board. He would be an excellent place to start, (both Tung Hao and Sri Hanuman, I guess)

for english written resources:

Authors:
Stanley Henning
Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo
Ma Ming Da
John King Fairbanks (general chinese history)

Books:
Spring and autumn of chinese martial arts
1587 a year of no importance
The Water Margin / Romance of the three kingdoms

Brian Kennedy recently published two books worth adding to your collection:

Chinese Martial arts training manuals: A historical survey
Jingwu

Meir Shahar; The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts (much of which I disliked for its failure to keep neutral on facts, but is still an excellent read)

Did I mention anything written by Stanley Henning? *emphasis mine*

There are any number of other fairly pulpy history tomes out there, with many of the legends recounted. If you go with this list of authors, you will do well to start your journey. The Jingwu book is also a must, for its section on peforming historical research on Chinese martial arts.

Best of luck

I strongly approve of Rabu's list.

I would add the works of Robert W. Smith to the list as well

Sorry, I added a book by him, but did not name him for your reference:

"Kung Ge Wu", spring and autumn of chinese martial arts.

Many of the most popular Japanese martial arts; judo, aikido, karate, are quite new and thus easier to track their history. It is my limited understanding that Chinese MA are much older, steeped in even more lore and crazy stories, thus harder to track and even harder to determine what is accurate.

If you are posting from your limited understanding in the Style forums or the technical forums, pause, take a deep breath, and then consider not posting, especially if you're a new poster. It's a great way to learn more.

Also consider asking questions.

Sri Hanuman has a post on Tung Hao here on this board. He would be an excellent place to start, (both Tung Hao and Sri Hanuman, I guess)

for english written resources:

Authors:
Stanley Henning
Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo
Ma Ming Da
John King Fairbanks (general chinese history)

Books:
Spring and autumn of chinese martial arts
1587 a year of no importance
The Water Margin / Romance of the three kingdoms

Brian Kennedy recently published two books worth adding to your collection:

Chinese Martial arts training manuals: A historical survey
Jingwu

Meir Shahar; The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts (much of which I disliked for its failure to keep neutral on facts, but is still an excellent read)

Did I mention anything written by Stanley Henning? *emphasis mine*

There are any number of other fairly pulpy history tomes out there, with many of the legends recounted. If you go with this list of authors, you will do well to start your journey. The Jingwu book is also a must, for its section on peforming historical research on Chinese martial arts.

Best of luck

I like this n00b. Can we keep him?

Can we, mommy?

Please?

I strongly recommend Adam Hsu's writing as a good introductory read to give you an idea of where to go. Unfortunately, you will not easily find complete translations of Tang Hao's books, which is a shame. (On that note, I am willing to finance a large chunk of any such translation if anybody on this board is handy with Classical Chinese... per some ridiculously small chance.) Scott, since I imagine our projects will intersect at some point, you're more than welcome to my notes.

I like this n00b. Can we keep him?

Can we, mommy?

Please?

Joey Bond in a dress would say yes.

The Jingwu book is also a must, for its section on peforming historical research on Chinese martial arts.

Best of luck

Were you referring to this title by chance?
Amazon.com: Jingwu: The School that Transformed Kung Fu (9781583942420): Brian Kennedy, Elizabeth Guo: Books (http://www.amazon.com/Jingwu-School-that-Transformed-Kung/dp/1583942424/ref=cm_rna_own_wish_prod)

Sure were. Thats the ticket.

*Remember, my post is to the subject of the original poster. I found Brian's statements in the book to be an excellent primer on research. But then again, I have long been exposed to Brian and Stanley Hennings writings, which offer a solid scholarly pursuit of history in the chinese martial arts.

Now to learn Mandarin, Cantonese or any number of dialects which might be more useful than english for research purposes...or get a second wife with native language skills.

Excellent.
Will be getting my paws on that in about a month or two.
I would also like to point my finger at Records of Ming Scholars, by Huang Zonghsi (黄宗羲) of particular interest due to Huang's role as a redactor of the Ningbo Gazette. The man was responsible for inserting a lot of information we now use to refer to an "Internal School" of MA.

Do some snooping here, and you will see where a lot of modern CMA gets it's mythos.

Also, Scott, I highly recommend you take a critical look at Douglas Wile. Not necesserily for his research (which in itself is monumental to understanding modern IMA, IMO) but for his unique approach to such research.

I believe he was the first to include political, social, geographic, cultural, and economic factors into his work. This would allow us a more complete understanding of an art within proper historical context. Wile is, in may ways, the spiritual successor to Tang Hao (again IMO.)

I suggest Martial Arts in the Modern World, by Thomas Green and Joseph Svinth, specifically "Sense In Nonsense: The Role of Folk History in the Martial Arts".

Beyond that the book does not specifically address the origins of CMA, but does have an essay specific to the origin of TKD "The Evolution of Taekwondo from Japanese Karate", and Gracie JJ, as well as a number on the introduction of martial arts styles into non-native locations.

IS there anywhere one could find a complete list of Tang Hao's works? I've only found 3 of them looking around, but read that he authored atleast 10 books.