1st Edition
Shaolin Kung Fu Exploring Chan Buddhism, Monastic Community, and Martial Arts
Introduction
1 Aims, Theoretical Framework and Research Methods
2 Martial Arts Enthusiasts: Foreign Students at The Shaolin Monastery
3 Guardians of The Legacy: Warrior Monks at The Shaolin Monastery
4 Living Chan: Ordained Monks at The Shaolin Monastery
5 Shaolin Kung Fu Between Habitus and Embodiment
Conclusion
Biography
Marta Nešković is a Research Associate in the field of ethnology and anthropology at the Institute for Political Studies in Belgrade, Serbia. She is currently a Visiting Scholar within the President’s International Fellowship Initiative at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"Marta Nešković’s valuable book unveils the spiritual and cultural depths of Shaolin Kung Fu and bridges tradition and modernity through rigorous fieldwork. It explores the embodiment of Chan Buddhism within martial art practice, offering a groundbreaking perspective on the lived experience of Shaolin monks." - Professor Jiang Wu, Director of the Center for Buddhist Studies, The University of Arizona
"The Shaolin Monastery in China, birthplace of Chan Buddhism and center for the martial arts, is the subject of this exemplary anthropological work by Marta Nešković, who carried out immersive long-term fieldwork inside the monastery, bringing new insights with ethnographic mastery of knowledge about local mastery in preserving cultural tradition." - Professor Fadwa El Guindi, University of California, Los Angeles
