Martial Arts Studies Conference Schedule 2024
4-6 June 2024, Cardiff University
Cardiff University, School of Journalism, Media & Culture, 2, Central Square, Cardiff, CF10 1FS
Day One: Tuesday 4th June 2024
2 pm – Arrival
Registration Opens. Refreshments
- Location: 2, Central Square, Cardiff, CF10 1FS (Wood Street Entrance)
3 pm – Welcome & Introduction
Location: 0.06
- Paul Bowman [Professor of Cultural Studies, Cardiff University, Conference Organiser, Director of the Martial Arts Studies Research Network, founding co-editor of the journal, Martial Arts Studies]: Martial Arts as Living Theory
3.30 pm – Spotlight Panel: Gender Power, Performance, and Self-Determination in Martial Arts Studies
Location: 0.06
Chair: Georgina Robinson [King’s College London]
- Alex Channon [University of Brighton]: The sexualisation of female fighters: Instagram glamazons, flashing celebrations, and the ‘OnlyFans boxers’
- Emily Dobrich [University of Toronto, Canada]: Insights and Implications from Diasporic Women’s Embodied Learning Experiences in Muay Thai
- Georgia Verry [Conscious Combat Club, Melbourne, Australia]: Gender-responsive, trauma-informed kickboxing: Contrasting the Global North to the Global South
5 pm – Welcome Drinks Reception & Networking
- Location: Social Stairs
6.30 pm – Conference Dinner 1
- Location: The Pitch, Cardiff
Day Two: Wednesday 5th June 2024
9 am – Light Breakfast
- Location: Social Stairs
9.30 am – Workshop on trauma-informed martial arts teaching, with Georgia Verry
- Location: Social Stairs
Wednesday 10 am – 11.30 am – Parallel Sessions 1
1.1. Panel Title: Interdisciplinary Approaches
Location: 1.07
Time: 10.00-11.30
Chair: Sara Delamont [Cardiff University]
- K. L. Coy [Lesley University, Cambridge, USA]: D.E.A.L.Breakers – (Dysfunctional Emotional Abuse in Loyalty) Narratives that Bind and Confine: A Kyukpa and NeuroNarrative Community Wellness Engagement Discussion
- Lyn Jehu [University of South Wales]: Martial Arts for Life: Developing a Sustainable Framework for Practice
- Victor Lorenzo Alonso Delgado [Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain], Augusto Rembrandt Rodríguez Sánchez [Universidad de Sevilla, Spain], & George Jennings [Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, United Kingdom]: The Lucha Canaria Chair at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: a multidisciplinary proposal for the conservation of an intangible cultural heritage
1.2. Panel Title: Kung Fu Fiction Aesthetics
Location: 1.06
Time: 10.00-11.30
Chair: Elaine Chung
- Zixin Miao [The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong]: From Bruce Lee to Jet Li: The Appropriation and Reconstruction of Nationalism in Chinese Martial Arts Commercial Culture in the 1980s
- Nan Zhou [University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom]: Why the Cat? Exploring the Artistic Expression of Movement and Stillness in The Way of The Dragon (1972)
- Petr Vrána [Charles University (Faculty of Arts, Department of Sinology), Prague, Czech Republic]: Guangdong-Hong Kong School Martial Arts Fiction
1.3. Panel Title: Nationalised Identities
Location: 1.05
Time: 10.00-11.30
Chair: Adam Frank
- Martin Minarik [Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany]: Taekkyon – A Traditional Korean Martial Art?
- Izzati Aziz [Cardiff University, UK]: Locating Silat in ‘Modern’ Malaysia
- Wriddhibrata Saha [Shiv Nadar University, Delhi, India]: “One India, Five Taekwondo!”- Exploring the multiple social lives of Taekwondo as a martial art and combat sport in India
11.30 – 11.45 – Short Break
Wednesday 11.45 – 12.45 – Parallel Sessions 2
2.1. Panel Title: Violence
Location: 1.09
Time: 11.45-12.45
Chair: Henrike Neuhaus
- David Stevens [University of Nottingham, UK]: In Defence of Self-Defence Training: The Moral Permissibility of Practicing to Overcome Psychological Barriers Against Harming Others
- Sarriy Anani [Göteborgs Universitet, Gothenburg, Sweden]: Playing out Violence as an Act of Responsibility
2.2. Panel Title: Facing Anxiety and Failure
Location: 1.08
Time: 11.45-12.45
Chair: Jakob Fruchtmann
- Dinah Kretschmer [Universität Bayreuth, Germany]: Without anxiety there is no fighting art: an explorative interview study with MACS teachers on anxiety
- Randy Brown [Randy Brown Mantis Boxing & Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Westminster, USA]: Failing to Learn – Encouraging Failure in Martial Arts to Fuel Success
2.3. Panel Title: Academic Orientations
Location: 1.07
Time: 11.45-12.45
Chair: Paul Bowman
- Spencer Bennington [Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA]: Teaching Martial Arts Studies at the University: How and Why? A Discussion of Best Practices
- Max Ryynänen [Aalto University, Espoo, Finland]: Aesthetics of Martial Arts: A Subdisciplinary Proposal
2.4. Panel Title: Bodily Metaphors
Location: 1.06
Time: 11.45-12.45
Chair: Patrick Mok
- Greet De Baets [Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium]: Somatic metaphors: the impact of aikido-informed intercultural communication training on interaction skills and memory performance
- Zhen Zhang [East China Normal University, China]: Exploring the Embodied Turn: A Review and Reflection on the Study of Asian Martial Arts Studies
12.45 – 13.45 – Buffet Lunch
Location: Social Stairs
Wednesday 13.45 – 15.15 – Parallel Sessions 3
3.1. Panel Title: Cross-Cultural Conceptuality
Location: 1.07
Time: 13.45-15.15
Chair: Paul Bowman
- David Glover [California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, USA]: The Sakki Test: A Phenomenological Exploration of Embodied Awareness and Intention in Martial Arts
- Adam Frank [University of Central Arkansas, Conway, USA]: The “Hard Problem” of Qi: Thoughts on Martial Practices in the Context of Consciousness Studies
- Scott MacMillan [Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Canada]: An Existential Approach to Brazilian Jiujitsu
3.2. Panel Title: Injury and Prevention
Location: 1.06
Time: 13.45-15.15
Chair: Zoe John
- Jay Lee [New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, NM, USA]: Epidemiology of martial arts injuries classified by Gentile’s Taxonomy
- Wendi Bacon [The Open University, UK]: Introducing the MASS-12: an evidence-based Martial Arts Striking Sports injury prevention programme
- Matthew Hillier [Independent Researcher, UK]: Decisional Trade-Offs towards Doping and their Association with Moral Attitudes and Health Risk Perceptions In Mixed Martial Arts Athletes: A Mixed Method Study
15.15 – 15.30 – Short Break
Wednesday 15.30 – 17.00 – Parallel Sessions 4
4.1. Panel Title: Cultural Context
Location: 1.06
Time: 15.30-17.00
Chair: Max Ryynänen
- Noah Johnson [Cornell College, Mount Vernon, IA, USA]: Olympic Champion by Knockout: Competing Forms of Karate Representation
- Glenn-Eilif Solmoe [The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (NIH), Oslo, Norway]: A ‘Karate Epidemic’ in Post-War Norway?
- Carlos Guttiérrez García [Department of Physical and Sport Education, Universidad de León, León, Spain]: “I came to a country where the name judo meant nothing”: The creation of judo social imaginary in Spain
4.2. Panel Title: Theology, Philosophy, Theatricality
Location: 1.07
Time: 15.30-17.00
Chair: Paul Bowman
- Carole Drouelle [University Paris 8, Paris, France]: Migration processes from martial gesture to theatrical gesture
- Per Faxneld [Study of Religions, Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden]: Martial arts and the study of religions
- Daniel Mroz [University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada]: Sitting in a Well, Looking at the Sky
17.00 – Drinks
- Location: Social Stairs
19.00 – Conference Dinner 2
- Location: The Welsh House
- 5A High Street, Cardiff, CF10 1AW
Day Three: Thursday 6th June 2024
9 am – Light Breakfast
- Location: Social Stairs
9.30 am – Taiji push-hands
- Location: Social Stairs
Thursday 10 am – 11.30 – Parallel Sessions 5
5.1. Panel Title: Gendered Embodiment
Location: 1.07
Time: 10.00-11.30
Chair: Scott MacMillan
- Zoe John [Swansea University, United Kingdom]: ‘Normally a cock’: Embodiment, Gender and Violence in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
- Roma Loudun [Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK]: Transgender embodiment and combat sports: Intimate violence and haptic encounters on the edge of legibility
- Alesha Byrne [University of San Francisco, USA]: Gender and Sexual Minorities in Martial Arts: More than Masculine
5.2. Panel Title: Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Challenges in Vietnamese Martial Arts
Location: 1.06
Time: 10.00-11.30
Chair: Emilly Yuge Li
- Mickael Langlois [Institute of Sport Sciences (ISSUL), Lausanne, Switzerland; University of Pantheon-Sorbonne Paris 1 (CHAC/SIRICE)), Paris, France]: The history of Võ Annam: the confusion surrounding a practice between martial arts and combat sports in French Indochina
- Tran Khải Hoài [Vin University, Hanoi, Vietnam]: “The Little Old Vietnamese Man?”: Taijiquan Diplomacy in Sino-Vietnamese Relations and The Making of an Internal Martial Art
- Augustus Roe [Independent Researcher, Hanoi, Vietnam]: Where Tradition meets Modernity: An Ethnographic Study of Martial Arts and Combat Sports in Vietnam
11.30 – 11.45 – Short Break
Thursday 11.45 – 12.45 – Parallel Sessions 6
6.1. Panel Title: Videographic Ethnography
Location: 1.05
Time: 11.45-12.45
Chair: Martin Minarik
- David Contreras [Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany]: Bildung with capoeira. A videographic and phenomenological study of practicing the Afro-Brazilian martial art
- Installation discussion: Henrike Neuhaus [Goldsmiths College, London]: Mosaic ethnographies of Taekwondo: knowledge transmission and caring relationships
6.2. Panel Title: Affective Networks
Location: 1.06
Time: 11.45-12.45
Chair: Emily Dobrich
- Cree & Denise Amory-Reid [Academy For Contemporary Music, Birmingham, United Kingdom]: Interwoven Paths: Family Connectedness in Martial Arts – A Case Study of a Beautiful Journey
- Bradley Spurdens [University of Chester, UK]: Parents’ Perceptions of their Daughter’s Combat Sports: A Discourse Analysis
6.3. Panel Title: Circles and Dyads
Location: 1.07
Time: 11.45-12.45
Chair: Greet de Baets
- Yun Choi Yeung [Institute of Martial Arts and Sciences, Bolton, United Kingdom]: The sciences of neutralisation in non-concentric martial arts
- Jakob Fruchtmann [Constructor University, Bremen, Germany]: See What goes on in a Boxer’s Mind – and Change it! An Innovative Inquiry into the Dyad of Fighting Mind-Bodies
12.45 – 13.45 – Buffet Lunch
Thursday 13.45 – 15.15 – Parallel Sessions 7
7.1. Panel Title: Cultural Discourse
Location: 1.06
Time: 13.45-15.15
Chair: Chen-yu Lin
- María Perrino-Peña [Department of Physical and Sport Education, Universidad de León, Spain]: The Institutionalisation of MMA in Portugal and Spain and the view of MMA Practitioners and Stakeholders
- Anna S. Brasch [Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Lower Saxony, Göttingen, Germany]: From travelogues to fitness boxing instructions. Origin and development of the German-language boxing discourse
- Dave Bright [University of Chichester, United Kingdom]: Risk vs. Hazard: Precision in categorising combat sports
7.2. Panel Title: Historical Texts
Location: 1.05
Time: 13.45-15.15
Chair: Patrick Mok
- Marnix Wells [Independent Researcher, UK]: Short Hitting: Internal versus External Styles of Boxing in Martial Arts History
- Xiujie Ma [School of Journalism, Media and Culture, Cardiff University; School of Wushu, Chengdu, China; Chinese Guoshu Academy, Chengdu, China]: Multidimensional Interpretation of “Fighting (打)” in Martial Arts from the Perspective of Chinese Ancient Literature
- Junya Bai [Handan University]: A Comparative Study of Chinese Martial Arts Classics with Illustrated Text
15.15 – 15.30 – Short Break
Thursday 15.30 – 17.00 – Parallel Sessions 8
8.1. Panel Title: Motivations and Movements
Location: 1.06
Time: 15.30-17.00
Chair: Greet de Baets
- Jiongyan Huang [Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom]: Why Do We Practice Martial Arts? A Critical Analysis of the Globalisation of Japanese Kendo
- Henrike Neuhaus [Goldsmiths College, University of London]: Red Belt, Black Tag: the trajectory of a youth’s martial arts dream in urban Argentina
- Thomas Chan [School of Professional Education and Executive Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong]: Reimagining Chinese Kung Fu: A Study on the Adaptations and Integration of Martial Arts for the New Generation of Martial Arts Practitioners in Contemporary Hong Kong
8.2. Panel Title: Film and Media Culture
Location: 1.07
Time: 15.30-17.00
Chair: Paul Bowman
- Wayne Wong [University of Sheffield, United Kingdom]: Martial Arts as Method: Decolonizing Theories of Cinematic Action
- Luke White [Middlesex University, London]: Martial Arts in/as Science Fiction
- Meaghan Morris [University of Sydney, Australia; Lingnan University, Hong Kong]: Doing celebrity as a martial artist: the longevity of Cynthia Rothrock
17.00 – Drinks
- Location: Social Stairs
19.00 – Conference Dinner 3
- Location: The City Arms (upstairs function room)
- Quay St., Cardiff CF10 1EA