Sport in East and Southeast Asian Societies – serie

Xi Jinping’s "Soccer Revolution" is unique: the most extensive politicization and geo-politicization of the Global Game. His purpose is to extend the global softpower projection of "the Middle Kingdom": an ancient Western imperial mantra ("bread and circuses") has been replaced by a modern Eastern "imperial" mantra ("rice and pitches"). The Asian Football Federation shares this "allopathic" vision of East Asian soccer: the future is Asia and it starts in China! Soccer is a talisman for a New Asia in a New Era. For China soccer is a hubristic instrument of softpower projection. Softpower, Soccer, Supremacy: The Chinese Dream makes this point forcefully. In East Asia soccer in now "much more than a game"!

This is the first comprehensive study of sport in Taiwan to be published in English. It appears at a time when Taiwan has the attention of the global community to the greatest extent since the years following the creation of the People’s Republic of China and the formation by the Chinese Nationalist Party of an alternative seat of government for the Republic of China in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei. The story of sport in Taiwan is one of athletic achievements and political machinations with this island’s athletes allowed to compete in international sport only in the name of Chinese Taipei. The book offers insights into the development, political uses, and current situation of sport in Taiwan, the contribution made by the island’s indigenous peoples, the significance of physical activity initiatives, relations between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China, sports fandom, the role of the sports media, and gender, exercise, and health. As is so often the case with other parts of the world, sport in Taiwan provides a lens through which the authors examine a range of political and social issues and thereby help readers to gain a better understanding of this interesting, vibrant, and politically sensitive island. "This book is a comprehensive, critical, and timely piece of scholarship that makes a valuable and unique contribution to both the field and our understanding of the distinct and precarious status of Taiwan as a culture and society. Drawing on a range of academic disciplines, theories and methods, the fascinating assembly of essays cover topics spanning indigenous sport, racialised sporting bodies, sport policy, and sport and international relations. The editors, Bairner, Chen, and Chiang, have skilfully blended a collection that uses sport as a strategic lens to provide insights into the complex cultural, economic, political, and diplomatic spheres within which Taiwan carefully negotiates its sovereignty and identity amidst an international community that largely spectates from the geo-political side-lines. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand not only the significance of sport in Taiwan but also the significance of Taiwan in the world."—Steve Jackson, Otago University, New Zealand

Based on over 15 years of research, this text proposes a new definition of the martial arts to examine how such fighting systems are being re-imagined and reconstructed beyond the arenas of combat and sport in the 21st century Western context. Taking the viewpoint of the martial arts as art forms open to reinterpretation, this unique book considers the ways in which martial arts can be used for different purposes, such as within movement systems and for self-help and therapy. However, the martial arts industry is a highly unregulated space. The book, therefore, considers the ways in which the martial arts are being regulated by Western influencers on social media as well as more formal international organisations connected to UNESCO. The project then examines the lives of long-term martial arts instructors and practitioners of historical European martial arts (HEMA), Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan), Wing Chun Kung Fu and other internal martial arts such as Cheng Hsin. This book draws on a wide range of data sources including autoethnography, ethnography, life history interviews and social media and textual analysis to paint a vivid picture of the reinvention process in contemporary society. It shows how elements of the martial arts (often from East Asian societies) are being adapted, critiqued, managed and merged to suit the social needs of today’s martial artists and the public. This monograph will appeal to all scholars and students interested in combat sports, martial arts and physical culture from a social scientific and qualitative perspective."…his research on Mexican traditions brings a fresh perspective to the analysis of cultural influences and theoretical reflection on the heritage of martial arts…"—WOJCIECH J. CYNARSKI"Written in a clear, precise and simple language, it addresses many of the topics inspiring contemporary social research on martial arts…"—CARLOS GUTIÉRREZ GARCÍA"Jennings has…drawn together several of the key themes in martial arts studies which became highly visible during the COVID-19 pandemic."—SARA DELAMONT"…a highly readable academic account of colorful vignettes and vivid insights shared from a lifetime in martial arts and scholarship."—DS FARRER"…a fascinating exploration of multiple overlooked aspects of the living and breathing richness and diversity of martial arts as lived practices, often intertwined with different livelihoods, issues and aspects of health and wellbeing, and ways of growing."—PAUL BOWMAN

This edited volume fills a gap in this understudied niche of sport in Hong Kong by offering an interdisciplinary inquiry that acknowledges sport as a global force that shapes local culture, identity, and politics. As such this publication accommodates perspectives across sociology, cultural studies, anthropology, policy studies, and history to offer both a rich and complementary account of sporting culture in Hong Kong’s socio-historical context. In the past, Orientalist myths told through movies and advertisements have produced an idealized image of Hong Kong as a city of hybridity, a place where "East meets West," with a futurist skyline that has inspired countless steampunk and sci-fi novels. However, the last few years have significantly changed the global perception of this Asian metropolis amidst the formation of a new geopolitical frontier. This volume is not so much a documentation of a peculiar sports system, but a timely discussion and analysis of Hong Kong as a postcolonial place in crisis mode.

The book Chinese Women Striving for Status: Sport as Empowerment is original in focus and in evidence. It analyses for the first time, in informed and substantial detail, the extraordinary, successful and impressive efforts of Chinese sportswomen in their collective striving for, and achieving of, national and international recognition, status and supremacy. The performances and achievements of these women have thrust them to the very center of the global spotlight. Among the most dramatic, recent developments in Chinese society has been the international ascendancy of these Chinese sportswomen: an intentional and impressive demonstration of soft power politics.In the late twentieth century, Deng Xiaoping urged the Chinese policymakers to construct a model of "comprehensive national power" – Chinese sportswomen are in the vanguard of this construction! More than this, in the process, they have achieved elevated social status, and in some cases considerable wealth! This book is unique in recording their astounding achievements."Chinese Women Striving for Status: I marvel at the complexities of the summaries. The book is certain to be important."– Professor Sheldon Rothblatt, Formerly of the Department of History and Director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California (Berkeley)

Contemporary global sport is in constant, sometimes bewildering flux. This book goes beyond orthodox globalisation theory, deploying the metaphor of ‘playing on the edge’ in analysing the dynamic process of making and remaking sport culture in Asia and Oceania. Beyond sport’s traditionally dominant centres in the West, here the edges of the sport and media fields are vividly exposed, re-positioned, blunted and sharpened, revealing many points of tension – racial, ethnic, gendered, classed, sexual, cultural, linguistic, national, etc. – and in many combinations. This embraces many dimensions of the sport-society nexus relating to subjects including association (soccer) and Australia rules football, cricket, esport, casual and urban community sport, the Gay Games, and sports diplomacy. Playing on the Edge engages with the socio-cultural implications of this relentless sporting movement in considering the extent to which the Occidental may, in some respects, be becoming incidental. Playing on the Edge is an exciting contribution to understanding the complexities, specificities, multidirectional nature, and unevenness of sport and globalization. It makes a convincing case for widening analytical horizons and frames of reference as sport cultures in Asia and Oceania influence and perhaps represent the future of world sport. -Professor Toni Bruce, University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand Focusing on the unconventional geographical pairing of Asia and Oceania, Playing on the Edge offers a fresh perspective on globalization and sport. In addressing enduring concerns with the social, cultural and political dimensions and emerging issues in gender, technology, and intellectual property, the authors illuminate world sport’s complex, edgy connections. -Professor Younghan Cho, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea