History of Kung Fu

You're Dead to Me

BBC

Comedy, History

4.7 • 10.9K Ratings

🗓️ 12 January 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Leon Rocha and comedian Phil Wang to learn all about the surprising history of kung fu, from ancient China to the present day. Rooted in ancient Chinese exercises designed to promote long life, kung fu was pioneered by the monks of the Shaolin temple before spreading throughout China. But how did peaceful Buddhist monks come to create a martial arts style that would gain global popularity? From the mountains of medieval China to the movie screens of Hollywood, via plundering pirates and legendary nuns, this episode explores the historical development of Chinese martial arts.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Jon Mason Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and maybe it's when I had a hand in.
0:04.0	I'm Tammy Walker and I produce podcasts with a BBC.
0:07.4	My role is to give new and diverse creators a voice with the opportunity to build a career.
0:12.1	That's the thing I love about Podcast.
0:14.0	You start with just a good idea.
0:16.0	But then you have the space to see where it goes.
0:18.0	And doing that at the BBC means we can really run with the best stories
0:21.0	while developing the most unique audio talent.
0:24.0	So if you like what you hear, why not check out the huge range of
0:27.2	podcast we've got on BBC Sounds.
0:30.3	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:34.0	Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously.
0:41.0	My name is Greg Jenner, I am a public historian author and
0:43.9	broadcaster and today we are channeling our Chi and journeying all the way back to
0:48.5	ancient China to learn about the history of Kung Fu and to help whip us into shape I'm joined by two very
0:54.7	special Kung Fu Masters in History Corner. He's a historian of China and an expert in the
0:59.7	history of East Asian Science, Medicine and Technology. He was previously based at the University of Liverpool and Lincoln,
1:05.0	and now works for the University and College Union.
1:07.0	It's Dr Leon Rocha.
1:08.0	Welcome Leon.
1:09.0	Hi, I'm Leon.
1:11.0	I know Kung Fu, but historically so not massively useful in a fight.
	...

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