Featuring contributions from leading Chinese scholars and practitioners, this is the most authoritative study ever written on this topic. Including numerous illustrations of artefacts, weaponry and historical drawings and documents, it offers unparalleled insight into the origins, development and contemporary significance of martial arts in China.

Fan Hong is Professor in Asian Studies at Bangor University, UK and Academic Editor of The International Journal of the History of Sport.

Fuhua Huang is Professor of Sport History at Jiangxi Normal University, China.

1. Martial Arts in the Pre-Qin Period (before 222 BC), 2. Martial Arts in the Qin and Han Dynasties and Three Kingdoms Period (221BC-280), 3. Martial Arts in the Jin and the Southern and Northern Dynasties (265-589AD), 4. Martial Arts in the Sui, Tang, and Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (581-979), 5. Martial Arts in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), 6. Martial Arts in the Liao, Jin, Western Xia, and Yuan Dynasties (916-1368), 7. Martial Arts in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), 8. Martial Arts in the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911), 9. Martial Arts in the Republic of China (1912-1949), 10. Martial Arts in the People's Republic of China (1949-)