A Primer of Chinese Boxing by Ma John: An Endeavor to Build a Self-Reliant Discourse System in Chinese Sports Scholarship

Wei Liu

doi:10.54097/mpyqtf25

Authors

Wei Liu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/mpyqtf25

Keywords:

Ma John, A Primer of Chinese Boxing, Autonomous Discourse System, Cross-cultural Communication

Abstract

In the context of constructing an autonomous discourse system in Chinese sports scholarship, this study employs historical documentary research and cross-cultural comparative analysis to examine Ma John's 1926 master's minor thesis A Primer of Chinese Boxing as an early practice of discourse construction. The findings reveal that Ma John achieved the first systematic introduction of Chinese Wushu to Western academic contexts through three strategic approaches: a terminology strategy combining transliteration and free translation, a presentation mode emphasizing scientification and systematization, and the integration of nationality with historical continuity. However, his discursive autonomy was significantly constrained by the "untranslatability" of linguistic concepts, the restrictions of Western academic norms, the limitations of primer positioning, and asymmetric academic power relations. This study argues that Ma John's endeavor provides historical lessons for contemporary construction of an autonomous discourse system in Chinese sports scholarship: achieving strategic upgrading from "introduction" to "contribution," strengthening theoretical consciousness and methodological innovation, cultivating academic communities, and deeply excavating the "Chinese genes" embedded in traditional sports culture.

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