Appreciation, Appropriation, and Exploitation in Ethnic Dance

[curgoth]

From a discussion on someone else's LJ on whether or not it is possible to belly dance without cultural appropriation; Appreciation, Appropriation, and Exploitation in Ethnic Dance

I wonder, actually, if the same examination is relevant to the martial arts - most people who study Asian MA these days are several levels of remove from the culture that spawned the art, and that culture is usually echoed in the training.

(Even more tangentially - where does that leave Brazilian Jujitsu; a Brazilian style of a Japanese martial art?)

Comments

[misslynx.livejournal.com]

Interesting article - I like that it's not saying no one should participate in dance or other arts from a different culture than their own - just that people need to be conscious and respectful and take the time to learn something about the original cultural context and significance of what their doing.

And I do think those principles apply to martial arts as well, and a lot of other things.