Guest Post: Martial Arts in the British National Press

Martial Arts in the British National Press
Paul Bowman
Cardiff University
JOMEC Research Seminar, Cardiff University, 13^th December 2017

Introduction

This research project looked at stories, items and features about martial arts in the UK national press.[1] The basic area of enquiry is into the kinds of stories that have been and are being told about martial arts and martial artists in mainstream British popular culture.[2]

This study of the press is only one part of a larger research project, which is looking at the representations of martial arts in a range of different realms of British popular culture, such as films, adverts, magazines, music videos and books.[3]

The project is specifically interested in non-specialist publications, non-specialist texts, and non-specialist contexts. This is because I am interested in finding out what kinds of stories about martial arts circulate in mainstream contexts; what kinds of representations dominate…