James Wainwright never thought of himself a father, he's grown to love and cherish Xin Yan, the girl he rescued all those years ago. When she's taken from him, first by the courts, then by Triad kidnappers, the engineer will stop at nothing to get her back. He'll go from Chinatown to Hong Kong to Beijing, fearlessly contending with gangsters, rogue inventors, monks, and heads of state, letting none deter him. It'll take more than stubbornness and the brute tactics of a berserker to succeed in the Republic of China, though – James will first have to master himself. And if he fails, he risks losing his daughter, the last tenuous strand connecting him to his humanity, the only bulwark he has against the madness to which inventors of his ilk all too often succumb. Ghosts of Shaolin is the fifth Galvanic Century novel.

James Wainwright always considered himself a working-class engineer playing at detective, never taking the vocation for more than an idle hobby and opportunity to test some of his steampunk inventions. His investigations have always been more of a means of humoring his business partner, idle toff Alton Bartleby. That was before his adopted daughter Xin Yan was taken. Never comfortable in social situations, James finds himself tracking his daughter's kidnappers from London's Limehouse to the gritty streets of Hong Kong, down paths where his mechanical know-how won't serve him. Searching a foreign land, he'll find that his greatest challenges aren't those who have taken from him what is most dear, but letting go of his most treasured preconceptions about the world.

Can Po stop Master Shifu from turning into a hopping ghost? Find out in this funny Kung Fu Panda storybook that’s great for Halloween or anytime. When Po discovers hopping ghosts at a creepy cemetery, Master Shifu thinks Po’s just being silly…until the ghosts turn Shifu into one of them! Can Po face his fears and save Shifu before he’s forced to bounce around as a hopping ghost forever? Find out in this spooky and hilarious story that’s based on a popular episode of Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness. Kung Fu Panda Legends of Awesomeness © 2014 Viacom International Inc. NICKELODEON and all related logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. Based on the feature film “Kung Fu Panda” © 2008 DreamWorks Animation L.L.C. All Rights Reserved.

Shaolin Kungfu has been considered by many as the best martial art in the world. But kungfu is just one of the three treasures of Shaolin, the other two being chi kung and Zen. For the first time ever, this inspiring book, written by an internationally acclaimed Shaolin Grandmaster, brings to you the crystallization of Shaolin wisdom and practice spanning many centuries. Its scope and depth is amazing, touching on, among many other things, poetry and enlightenment. Yet it is written in a language easy to understand. Profound concepts and difficult techniques are explained systematically with many illustrations. The book includes: * The background and scope of kungfu. * Form and combat applications. * Principles and methods of force training. * Energy training and mind training. * Secrets of the masters. * Traditional Chinese weapons. * Maintaining one’s health and vitality and the healing of so-called incurable diseases. * Interesting stories and legends of Shaolin. * Zen and spiritual development.

Inside every human being is a "sleeping tiger"--a raw, untapped power that once harnessed, can repel aggressors of any kind. . . In this masterful book, Dr. Haha Lung draws on the psychological origins of ancient Chinese philosophies, explores the fist fighting traditions of Chinese Kung-fu from its birth in ancient India and introduces the extraordinary concept of the Mind Fist--the mental punch you never see coming! Ranging from nonviolent counterattacks to multiple devastating martial arts techniques, this book includes: • Mental and physical exercises to strengthen the mind and body • Secrets of moshuh-nanren, the Chinese ninja! • Understanding the ways of bullies and aggressors • How to prevent violence using Zhenkin, the Art of Control • Three kinds of force with which you can win physical battle • How fear can be turned into focus • "Ghost" strikes and takedowns Mind Fist brilliantly unlocks an ancient skill of true, permanent self-defense--for any aspect of your life! For academic study only Dr. Haha Lung is the author of more than a dozen books on martial arts, including Assassin!, Mind Manipulation, Ninja Shadowhand, Knights of Darkness, Mind Control: The Ancient Art of Psychological Warfare, and The Lost Fighting Arts of Vietnam.

Demon warrior puppets, sword-wielding Taoist priests, spirit mediums lacerating their bodies with spikes and blades—these are among the most dramatic images in Chinese religion. Usually linked to the propitiation of plague gods and the worship of popular military deities, such ritual practices have an obvious but previously unexamined kinship with the traditional Chinese martial arts. The long and durable history of martial arts iconography and ritual in Chinese religion suggests something far deeper than mere historical coincidence. Avron Boretz argues that martial arts gestures and movements are so deeply embedded in the ritual repertoire in part because they iconify masculine qualities of violence, aggressivity, and physical prowess, the implicit core of Chinese patriliny and patriarchy. At the same time, for actors and audience alike, martial arts gestures evoke the mythos of the jianghu, a shadowy, often violent realm of vagabonds, outlaws, and masters of martial and magic arts. Through the direct bodily practice of martial arts movement and creative rendering of jianghu narratives, martial ritual practitioners are able to identify and represent themselves, however briefly and incompletely, as men of prowess, a reward otherwise denied those confined to the lower limits of this deeply patriarchal society. Based on fieldwork in China and Taiwan spanning nearly two decades, Gods, Ghosts, and Gangsters offers a thorough and original account of violent ritual and ritual violence in Chinese religion and society. Close-up, sensitive portrayals and the voices of ritual actors themselves—mostly working-class men, many of them members of sworn brotherhoods and gangs—convincingly link martial ritual practice to the lives and desires of men on the margins of Chinese society. This work is a significant contribution to the study of Chinese ritual and religion, the history and sociology of Chinese underworld, the history and anthropology of the martial arts, and the anthropology of masculinity.

Magic, Monsters, and Make-Believe Heroes looks at fantasy film, television, and participative culture as evidence of our ongoing need for a mythic vision—for stories larger than ourselves into which we write ourselves and through which we can become the heroes of our own story. Why do we tell and retell the same stories over and over when we know they can’t possibly be true? Contrary to popular belief, it’s not because pop culture has run out of good ideas. Rather, it is precisely because these stories are so fantastic, some resonating so deeply that we elevate them to the status of religion. Illuminating everything from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Dungeons and Dragons, and from Drunken Master to Mad Max, Douglas E. Cowan offers a modern manifesto for why and how mythology remains a vital force today.