Knight Errants and Inner Warriors

While textual concerns and elite formations in martial arts traditions are important in this text, it also pays considerable attention to the context of popular culture and the complexity of the interaction between the popular and the elite traditions. It therefore reveals how the magic and apotropaic dimensions of the elite traditions of Buddhism and Taoism had particular resonances in the martial traditions, lineages and practices of Japan and China, as well as being incorporated into the popular ballad, opera and eventually cinematic output. The book traces the key influences upon traditional martial arts culture in China and considers why so many of these have "myths of origin" which identify the art with Buddhist monks or Taoist sages. It considers the notions of ritual and magical empowerment and protection and explains how they are vital elements in the association between religion and martial arts traditional China and Japan.