feature of the state in the form of a monopoly on the licit use of force. Martial
arts is simply better trained and executed violence. It enhances the ability to
compel others to do one’s will, or to resist the compulsion of others. In many
places and times certain members of the community (often adult males) are
expected to maintain somefighting capability, be it in defense of their family,
clan, or larger group. If predatory violence is an accepted fact of life, then it
is incumbent upon the individual to be able to defend himself or herself. To
others, individuals should not have to be able to defend themselves because
they do not accept violence as a fact of life. These are key questions of culture
and ideology, which turn on the question of the accepted levels of violence in
a community.
The place of violence in a community is reflected most clearly in its laws.
Laws delineate how violence can be used, by whom, and under what con-
ditions. A trained martial artist is considered differently under American
law, for example, than an untrained party to afight.^2 Professionalfighters
are often licensed to compete, and even amateurs must sign liability waivers
before participating in amateur meets. Simply to take a class in martial arts a
student must usually sign a liability waiver. Where laws intercede to manage
the risks of martial arts in the United States, in other societies a student is
assumed to accept the risks involved in training (at a minimum) by showing
up for class. With respect to weapons, whilefirearms are regulated and can
be licensed in some societies, there is seldom a system for licensing the use of
hand-to-hand combat weapons, even for an expert trained in their use. These
differences reflect the values and practicalities of different societies.
Attitudes toward violence are also reflected in areas like the construction
of gender andfiction. Men and women are socialized into highly gendered
relationships with violence, making certain kinds of actions masculine
or feminine. Learning martial arts is often similarly gendered, though
particular martial arts have different implications. Women seldom practice
Western boxing or wrestling, though in recent years a growing number of
women are competing in the sport of boxing. Asian martial arts seem to be
a more acceptable practice for women in the West because they are per-
ceived to rely less upon sheer physical strength and because there are far
more examples of female martial artists in Asianfilms.
The broad popularity of Hong Kong martial artsfilms around the
world has dramatically reconfigured the representation of combat in
Hollywood and otherfilm cultures. Very little remains of the staidfisti-
cuffs of earlierfilms, except as a counterpoint to the new trend. A trained
fighter in a movie must now display East Asian martial arts skills or
appear hopelessly inept. While a vestigial American masculine suspicion
Martial Arts in Academia 241