122 – Taekwondo and Korean History Explains Everything (Part 1) w/ Jay

On Southpaw, we speak to Jay from Red Star Over Asia (@RedStarOverAsia) about his article "When Taekwondo Ruled the World": https://www.midwesternmarx.com/articl...

In part 1, we discuss:

-Churches, cults, political sects, and taekwondo
-Taekwondo's final form: juche
-How romanization sucks
-Using karate against the Japanese
-Showmanship and mythmaking
-The Bruce Lee template
-The Great Man rightwing mythology
-Belt wrestling
-The myth of democracy in Korea
-Martial arts as a rightwing tool
-Taekwondo's historical baggage
-Kanto massacre and Korean ethnic cleansing
-Decolonial movements and sabotage
-Brazilian jiu-jitsu using the same anticommunist ethnonationalist template, except Brazil admired Japanese Imperialism whereas Korea tried to distance itself from it
-Syngman Rhee's role in taekwondo mythic origin story
-The myth of Hwarang aristocrat warriors
-A Japanese collaborator's coup and taekwondo's acceleration
-Korean social movements and land redistribution from collaborators
-Toxic masculinity admiring your oppressors
-Cobra Kai
-Ethnonationalism and pro-Americanism
-Anti-Americanism as a red flag for international rightwingers
-Korea as a US project in neoliberalism, anticommunism, and ethnonationalism run by former Japanese collaborators

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-Part 2:    • 123 – Taekwondo and Korean History Ex...  
-Part 3:    • 124 – Taekwondo and Korean History Ex...  
-Red Star Over Asia: https://anchor.fm/red-star-over-asia
-A Killing Art by Alex Gillis: https://amzn.to/3LI2D5I
-Cobra Kai, the Twilight of American Empire, and the Allure of Paramilitary Violence: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/c...
-120 – Squid Game and the Long Shadow of American Empire: https://ko-fi.com/post/120-Squid-Game...

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