After a three or four hour break, we would meet again for three hours.Ī group of five researchers and two cameramen filmed, interviewed, and trained with ambassadors of the Maori nation of New Zealand, exponents of the Kalis Illustrisimo from the Philippines and Ata Mushtaq al Ansari who demonstrated Tjimande silat. Usually, a six-hour session was followed by a group lunch. Sessions were held daily for over five days. Lectures, semi-formal and informal interviews, demonstrations, and hands-on instruction were the main form of data collection. As part of the contra-expedtionis, members of the ILF group would meet at a public park or a Yoga studio. and interviews and trains with them here. We coined the term contra-expedtionis to indicate a research project where a team brings key informants to the US. From this beginning, the Polynesian contra-expedtionis began. From these ancient and at times long-standing routes of the movement of peoples, technologies and ideas across South Asia and the Pacific we became interested in exploring any connections as they relate to the movement of bodies in conjunction with material technology in the context of armed aggressive social interactions and the language used to describe these concepts or movements. Taking advantage of the valley with an easy access to the Strait of Malacca to the West and the Bay of Bengal to the East, both Indian and South Chinese established trading networks here. Proceeding a latter more profound dissemination of Hindu culture throughout SE Asia, a Hindu presence in SE Asia emerged by 110 AD in the Bujang valley of Malaysia. Finally, a more recent wave of peoples moving across the Pacific occurred from 1200 to 800 BC when Austronesian speakers began building large double-hulled canoes and making much longer trans-oceanic voyages colonizing Hawaii around 800 AD and New Zealand around 1200 AD.Ĭonnections between the Indian sub-continent and SE Asia date back to at least the 6th century BC when there is documentary evidence of trading routes existing between India and Thailand. Sailing far and wide, they reached as far North as Hawai’i, South to New Zealand, and as far West as Easter Island. Then, around 3400 years ago, a Neolithic population emerging from Taiwan migrated at first to the Philippines and across the Pacific Ocean. The first migratory wave across SE Asia and the South Pacific occurred around 40,000 years ago. Both research projects conducted in February of 2020 began from the fact that both SE Asia and Polynesia, as well as SE Asia and India, share a long history, genetically, culturally, and linguistically. To date the ILF has conducted four overseas research expeditions, hosted three labs, and held one contra-expeditionis. Burton as “the science of all combat both human and bestial” (1884). In other words, we are continuing the project of hoplology first laid out by Sir R.F. It also aims to examine and explore any core commonalities or variations in armed combat as it has developed around the world.
#Pacific rim wushu basic training archive#
By way of introduction, the Immersion Labs Foundation (ILF) is a privately funded non-profit foundation that seeks to archive and document regional endangered or dying combative art forms. Below are some of my preliminary observations regarding both events. Over eight days, members of the Immersion Labs Review (ILF) conducted a five-day contra-expeditionis on the combative arts of Polynesia followed by a three-day lab called “Born of Blood” in Central California. Preliminary Observation on the Contra-Expeditionis and Born of Blood Lab More prosaically, this project sounds like it was a lot of fun and I am very jealous that I could not be there. Such work is valuable as it extends the discussions that we have been having in the field of Martial Arts Studies beyond the confines of East Asia and the post-industrial West, asking us to instead consider how well our theories function in a comparative context or on a truly global scale. The focus of these exchanges, interviews and workshops were some of the lesser known traditional fighting systems of South East Asian and the Polynesian cultural area. Ryan has has been kind enough to share with us some of his field notes from a recent hoplology project which he had the good fortune to participate in.