Rhetoric

Over the last three decades, Martial arts have become very popular in the western world. Terms like ‘Karate’ and ‘Kung Fu’ are familiar to the general public. Many movies have been made depicting the fighting finesse of Karate and Kung Fu fighters. However, the global popularity of Eastern martial arts did not occur without consequence. The Eastern Martial Arts have their origins in Chinas culture, traditions, philosophy, religion and martial history. Kai Filipiaks article ‘From Warriors to Sportsmen: How traditional Chinese martial arts adapted to modernity’ will describe the “adaption processes and their consequences” (p 32) of Traditional Chinese Martial arts. The article was published in the Journal for Asian martial arts, whose primary audience is comprised of Asian martial art practitioners and those with an interest in Asian philosophy, culture and history. Kai informs his audience how integral Traditional Chinese Martial Arts are to Chinese culture and history. Furthermore he details the considerable impact western culture and values affected Traditional Chinese martial arts and, on a greater scale, Chinese culture and heritage. He illustrates how the Traditional Chinese Martial Arts adapted from their cultural roots to its modern age status as a popular sports interest. The adaptation process was necessary for the survival of traditional Chinese martial arts; however this adaptation process proved detrimental to its cultural and pugilistic aspects. He will persuade his audience by his use of evidence such as historical accounts, quotes and extracts and language such as jargon, pinyin and tone. The author defines his audience by the scope of content use of jargon and terminology. The article addresses an issue specifically related to Traditional Chinese Martial Arts, not Asian Martial Arts. However he reaches out to an audience outside of those who practice TCMA. The change he describes includes those who practice the modern sport variants and derivatives that include martial sports, combat sports and combat arts. The limitation of scope directs the message Kai conveys to an audience made up of people who have an interest in, practice or teach Traditional Chinese Martial arts and its derivatives. The majority of the article comments on the cultural heritage more than the martial arts practices of TCMA. Kai also uses extensive use of dates to appeal to readers historical concerns. Footnotes are used to explain philosophical, martial art, historical information. Therefore the audience will include readers who have an interest in Chinese culture and heritage. Kais use of jargon and terminology reflects the shared values, knowledge and experiences of his expected audience. The title of the article and use of jargon are important in defining the audience as a relationship is developed from the start. The footnotes especially highlighted the fact that the intended audience come from different backgrounds. Apart from defining an audience, the use of jargon and pinyin improves Kai’s credibility. The use of jargon and pinyin provides trust in the article as Kai establishes that he, as the writer, has knowledge of the subject and has undertaken research to improve the credibility and the familiarity of his work. The jargon used includes the names of various Chinese martial arts and techniques that only the audience would be accustomed to such as taolu, wushu, leitai and others. The Journal is printed in English and caters to an English educated audience. However he provides pinyin (English Romanisation of Mandarin Chinese pronunciation of characters) translations for organisations and other significant words to provide familiarity for English speaking Chinese natives. Included in the back of the journal is a table (p 53) that features Chinese characters and their pinyin pronunciations. Kai includes these to provide clarity for the Chinese speaking audience. This feature is important because as Chinese martial arts spread through the Chinese diaspora, they were exposed to groups who speak different dialects or language groups. As the oral language can be mutually unintelligible the Chinese writing system is the same amongst all these language and dialect groups. Kai uses evidence to meet the audience’s expectations and establish credibility. The audience expects that the author backs his writing with relevant evidence. The evidence supported his argument by the way it illustrated the close relationship traditional Chinese martial arts had with Chinese; folk culture, traditions, philosophy. The author discussed the historical background of Chinese Martial Arts in detail. He provided the audience with evidence of its “widespread use among very diverse sectors of Chinese society” (p 32). His first example details the relationship between TCMA’s and Chinese folk culture. In the second and third paragraphs he comments on the importance of numbers ‘in the intellectual history of China’ (p. 31) and how the complex ideas and concepts produced can be found in TCMA’s. Kai further supports this example with a quote derived from a famous TCMA called Xingyiquan. Kai uses this quote to define the characteristics of TCMA’s. These are its philosophical, religious and medicinal concepts which he categorises as its ‘complexity’ and then its “multifunctional use as a form of civil self-defence, military combat, competitive sport, mass sport, spirituality, and a type of healthcare” (p 32). The presentation of evidence is critical for the author to establish credibility with his audience. Kai uses accounts and quotes from various martial artists throughout the article to establish credibility. Under ‘From the Grass Roots to its popularization in the City’ he presents us with his first historical account. Kai uses the lives of Yang Luchan (1799 – 1872) and Sun Lutang (1861 – 1933) to exemplify the contribution that Martial Arts masters had of popularising martial arts in the city. They were masters of Taijiquan and Xingyiquan respectively. Kai uses the two masters as examples because of the influence they had over significant political figures such as the imperial family and the president of the Republic of China, Xu Shichang (1855 – 1939). In order to popularise martial arts he would need to exemplify people who had influence over the political figures in China. Kai uses the masters as examples because of their contributions. Sun Lutang in particular is referenced again because of his text book on ‘The Study of Baguaquan’ (p. 39). Kais selection of emotive language contributes to the overall tone of the article. He views the introduction of western as particularly damaging to eastern culture. This is evident through his use of words. “Resulted from the clash of western and eastern cultures caused by the violent invasion of western powers into China” (p 41) is an example of the use of emotive language. Words such as ‘clash’ and ‘violent invasion’ imply a battle like scenario, perhaps used to relate to the fighting aspect of Martial arts. Other statements such as “...Struggle for survival also caused a deep break” (p 42) and “keep the tradition alive” (p 51) contribute to the battle like scenario created. Aside from these statements there is a constant use of words such as ‘struggle’ ‘survival’ ‘radical’. I suspect Kai would use these words to metaphorically compare the adaptation process to a battle. Kai does this to relate to and entertain his audience to keep their attention and prevent boredom. The author uses “reduction” repetitively throughout the article. This word is often used to describe the ‘reduction in complexity’ (p 42) of traditional Chinese martial arts. His use of reduction relays his disappointment in the consequences of the adaptation process of TCMA. This has a negative connotation and supports Kais view in that the reductions of the traditions of TCMA were in fact bad. Traditional Chinese Martial Arts had deep roots within Chinese culture. The introduction of Western Culture to China had significant consequences for Traditional Chinese martial Arts. The increasing popularity of western sports and competition coupled with the declining practicality of Traditional Chinese Martial arts saw a need for them to adapt to modernity. Kai suggests this adaption process stripped away at the cultural aspects of the national treasure. The wider message could be the danger that popular western culture (or any culture) integrated in a different society can prove to be detrimental to local philosophical and traditional aspects of the local culture. Kais uses rhetorical strategy to persuade his audience. Kais use of evidence establishes credibility in his article. The evidence and references he uses provides an illustration of the historical situation in China. His use of jargon and terminology provides for an audience of shared values, expectations and experiences. The language used in the article provided an emotive aspect to the article hoping the audience can empathise with him. He used these strategies to comment on the damage to Traditional Chinese Martial Arts and therefore Chinas cultural heritage.