Here's a graphic novel about the history of Chinese martial arts that I bought in a bookstore in Shanghai.
Title: Origins of Chinese Martial Arts
Publisher: Asiapac Books
Date: 2010
Artist: Jack Cheong
Editor: Loh Chong Chai
Nice overview of the Chinese martial arts, mixing prose historical passages with comic-format short stories. The stories are mostly mythical in nature, although some are more historical, including a short biography of Bruce Lee. My favorite of the stories was the origin of Yue Maiden Sword, a tale of a girl who matches martial arts skills with a stick-wielding ape, and goes on to create a whole new style of sword techniques.
If found the very beginning to be a bit shaky, as it gives some vague speculation about the prehistoric beginnings of the fighting arts (accompanied by silly illustrations), but once the book got into the founding of the Shaolin and Wudang schools, it definitely kept my interest.
Jack Cheong's illustration style is clear and vibrant, and nicely captures the martial arts technique. I appreciate his mixing of male and female martial artists on the exercise technique illustrations that the book concludes with.
Rating: 7.5/10
Title: Origins of Chinese Martial ArtsPublisher: Asiapac Books
Date: 2010
Artist: Jack Cheong
Editor: Loh Chong Chai
Nice overview of the Chinese martial arts, mixing prose historical passages with comic-format short stories. The stories are mostly mythical in nature, although some are more historical, including a short biography of Bruce Lee. My favorite of the stories was the origin of Yue Maiden Sword, a tale of a girl who matches martial arts skills with a stick-wielding ape, and goes on to create a whole new style of sword techniques.
If found the very beginning to be a bit shaky, as it gives some vague speculation about the prehistoric beginnings of the fighting arts (accompanied by silly illustrations), but once the book got into the founding of the Shaolin and Wudang schools, it definitely kept my interest.
Jack Cheong's illustration style is clear and vibrant, and nicely captures the martial arts technique. I appreciate his mixing of male and female martial artists on the exercise technique illustrations that the book concludes with.
Rating: 7.5/10
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