Journal of Asian Martial Arts

Customer Rating:
Summary: one of a kind journal
Comment: When I first found JAMA, I ordered all the back issues available, and I've read most of the articles, so I have a pretty good sense of this journal. JAMA was founded as an attempt to have a real honest-to-goodness peer-reviewed academic journal on Asian martial arts, and in the first years, it published some good, interesting, exploratory articles. In recent years, the amount of advertising and the percentage of fiction, poetry, and non-peer-reviewed articles has gone up. This is a shame, but my sense is that the journal has no choice financially.

The one negative reviewer here has some sort of bone to pick with JAMA, but there is a kernel of truth in his criticism that JAMA has a white gi and silk perspective. The history of martial arts is very convoluted, and, in some cases, to expose the truth would need really very skeptical articles in the vein of normal critical historical scholarship. This would offend some people and dry up valuable sources of information. This is an unfortunate trade-off that you just have to live with. There is no better alternative unless you thumb through scholarly books on Asian history, searching for random chapters that touch on martial arts history.

There is a need for a more critical and scholarly serious journal on Asian martial arts, but JAMA is the best and only journal of its kind available.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent Scholarship
Comment: This is the 1st professional trade publication I've seen for the martial arts in the United States (outside professional marketing publications). The articles are excellent in their depth and detail. The magazine doesn't wallow in advertisements or glorify in one particular art or group of individuals while slamming everything and everyone else. The range of articles is extensive, from individual arts, concepts, biographies, histories, and even individual movements and weapons. Reserve a place on your bookshelf for these Journals, since they will be useful reference books for both instructor and students, rather than the typical quick read (before tossing them out). The editorial staff is to be congratulated for their commitment to unbiased excellence.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Underrated; I think its great
Comment: I disagree with the other raters here; I think this is a great publication. It's certainly a welcome change from oily-chested, testosterone-pumped, 'slick' martial arts magazines like 'Black Belt'. The whole thing has a much more calm, academic air about it. The articles are meticulously researched, the contributing authors have excellent credentials and truth always seems to shine through. By contrast, other martial arts magazines don't always seem to discern between fiction and fact; whenever a martial arts-themed film comes out, it's always a cover story in the 'slick' magazines.

The Journal of Asian Martial Arts takes a much more 'warts-and-all' approach to martial arts; the stories admit that martial arts are often rendered null by firearms, that many specific movements and forms--ESPECIALLY the very bold and 'pretty' ones--are really just more for show than because they have any fighting value.

And, as I said, the cover never features crew-cut, bug-eyed men with oiled-up bare chests!

Customer Rating:
Summary: Nothing new here
Comment: As much as this magazine trys to put forth an image of scholarship and indepth knowledge it falls very short of its intended goal. Those who frequently contribute to this magazine are very bound by form, and put forth what their own perception of traditional Asian martial arts is, instead of covering what the traditional fighting arts of asia and other cultures really encompass. To put it plainly, if what ever your doing isn't in a white karate gi, or silk Tai Chi uniform then the Journal of Asian Martial Arts will not recognize it. There's nothing worse than a bunch of Americans who try being Japanese or Chinese more so than the people of these cultures. And thats what you often encounter within the pages of this magazine. Americans masqerading as Asians who have little understanding of anything martial.