From classic Bruce Lee films to the comedies of Jackie Chan, a vibrant look at the enduring fascination with the kung fu cinema of Hong Kong.   In the spring and summer of 1973, a wave of martial arts movies from Hong Kong—epitomized by Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon —smashed box-office records for foreign-language films in America and ignited a “kung fu craze” that swept the world. Fighting without Fighting explores this dramatic phenomenon, and it argues that, more than just a cinematic fad, the West’s sudden fascination with—and moral panic about—the Asian fighting arts left lasting legacies still present today.   The book traces the background of the craze in the longer development of Hong Kong’s martial arts cinema. It discusses the key films in detail, as well as their popular reception and the debates they ignited, where kung fu challenged Western identities and raised anxieties about violence, both on and off-screen. And it examines the proliferation of ideas and images from these films in fields as diverse as popular music, superhero franchises, children’s cartoons, and contemporary art. Illuminating and accessible, Fighting without Fighting draws a vivid bridge between East and West. "White’s scholarly take on Hollywood’s infatuation with kung fu offers multiple entry points for readers, from film historians to sociologists. Action film fans will come away with a deeper appreciation of these films, and an expanded watch list." ― Library Journal "As White makes plain in this solemn but spirited Fighting without Fighting , the Kung Fu craze owed far more to countercultural revolt than to oriental caroling. Lee was a by-product of one of the essential 1960s fantasies—the ponderous belief in the innate superiority of all things eastern." ― Spectator "White offers a comprehensive and eminently readable history of Hong Kong (and by extension, all Chinese) cinema as it was received by and influenced the Anglophone West. The study has a twofold purpose: to narrate that transnational history and to analyze its political, social, and cultural implications for both China and the West. White cannily avoids the many pitfalls such a study could engender and instead theorizes the larger implications of the impact of wuxia films (i.e., films with martial hero/ines on Western television, e.g., the Kung Fu series), comic books, cinema, magazines, and popular culture, not to mention the explosion of martial arts instruction in the West beginning in the 1970s . . . Highly recommended."  ― Choice Won ― CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title, 2023 "While Kung Fu or martial arts films are a genre with a long history in China, it was only after the 1970s that Chinese kung fu films became a real sensation in the West. White’s book, Fighting Without Fighting focuses on this phenomenon and provides insight on the spread and influence of kung fu films in the West. . . . Collating the history of Chinese kung fu cinema, the book imaginatively links kung fu to topics such as orientalism, the black movement, feminism, whiteness, and the Vietnam war, revealing the shifting meanings and influences of kung fu cinema worldwide." ― Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television “Fans and scholars alike will relish White's remarkable exploration of kung fu cinema's explosive rise in the ‘West’ and its ongoing influence in international culture. Fighting without Fighting is the definitive book on the subject.” -- Matthew Polly, bestselling author of “American Shaolin, “Tapped Out,” and “Bruce Lee: A Life” “In this book, White offers a comprehensive yet in-depth look at the ‘Kung Fu Craze’ and its lasting legacy on global popular culture. At once historically grounded and theoretically informed, the book traces kung fu cinema’s journey to the West in all its historical breadth and complexity while also considering it in relation to broader issues of global encounter, identity construction, and the meaning of screen violence. Added to all of this is the clarity and conciseness of the writing, which makes the book a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging read.” -- Man-Fung Yip, chair and associate professor of film and media studies, University of Oklahoma, author of “Martial Arts Cinema and Hong Kong Modernity” “A comprehensive and exhilarating journey through the cultural history of ‘Kung Fu Fever,’ showing how the Asian martial arts have permeated everything from Blaxploitation cinema and Hanna-Barbera cartoons to seventies disco tunes and Marvel comic books. White’s electric prose crackles with all the brio and rigor of a classic kung fu throwdown.” -- Gary Bettinson, editor in chief of “Asian Cinema” and author of “The Sensuous Cinema of Wong Kar-wai” “From the arrival of King Boxer on Western screens to the arthouse wuxia blockbuster, White traces the legacy of Chinese martial arts cinema in the West in this engaging and insightful study. Whether you’re interested in Bruce Lee, the interaction between kung f