Asian martial arts bibliographies (1943–2013): a review

Abstract

One feature of the spread of the Asian martial arts is that it is accompanied with a growth in bibliographic production resulting from increasing information intended for and demanded by new practitioners and scholars. The aim of the study article reports on was to present some of the Asian martial arts bibliographies and analyse their main features. Eleven specific bibliographies about Asian martial arts published from 1943 to 2013 were identified in the languages of Spanish, French, English, Italian and Portuguese. These were directly analysed, taking into account the following elements: (1) description and evaluation of the aims of the bibliography; (2) description, structure, coherence and innovation of its contents; (3) description of the methodology used for its preparation; (4) standardization, organization and presentation of the references; (5) format; and (6) assessment of how these aspects satisfy users’ needs. Their aims, contents, methodologies, structures and formats are widely different. We conclude from our analysis that from the decade of the 1940s until the contemporary period there have been several initiatives for compiling Asian martial arts bibliographies. In general, these initiatives have been isolated, scattered and varied in relation to their authors, aims, sources used, methodology or formal characteristics.