his locality without raising the martial arts to a national level of interest.
Largely in response to the new Western sports associations and a more
general move toward public associations, thefirst Chinese martial arts
association (the Pure Martial Calisthenics School) appeared in Shanghai in
1910.^6 A number of other urban martial arts organizations sprang up in
the major coastal cities shortly thereafter. These organizations and their
martial artists tried, and often succeeded, in proving themselves by defeat-
ing foreignfighters in public matches. Individual martial skills proved the
value and power of the Chinese martial arts, Chinese culture, and the
Chinese nation.
Chinese martial artists made considerably less headway against the
New Culture modernizers. For these reformers, the martial arts were
fundamentally traditional and backward. Rather than accept an entirely
marginal place in the larger reforms of national physical culture, some
martial artists and martial arts associations adopted new tactics. It is worth
noting, however, that the vast majority of teachers and practitioners had
nothing to do with these efforts. Thefirst tactic was to include Western
sports and other games in the association’s activities. The Pure Martial
School did this with some success, broadening its appeal while becoming
illustration 25.Two men in Republican period army uniform demonstra-
ting sword versus bayonetfighting. From the Jingwu (Pure Martial) Anniversary
Book, Republican period.
222 Post-Imperial China