Martial Arts Studies journal turns 10

The academic journal, which is published by Cardiff University Press, celebrated the special milestone on 6 November 2025.

Martial Arts Studies is a peer-reviewed online journal that publishes work on all aspects of martial arts studies.

The first issue was published a few months after Cardiff University Press was launched. It was the second journal to be signed by the publisher, and the first one that had no prior existence, making it Cardiff University Press’s first homegrown journal. Dr Hugh Griffiths, chair of the press, described the Martial Arts Studies journal “as a powerful example of how open access publication helps to establish new research networks and emerging areas of study. Cardiff University Press can play a pivotal role in our research culture.”

The journal was founded by Professor Paul Bowman and Dr Benjamin N. Judkins in 2015, with the aim of bringing martial arts researchers from across the disciplines together into one conversation. Over the last 10 years, the journal has successfully formed an international community and a new field of research – martial arts studies.

Reflecting on the last decade, Professor Bowman said: "I am thrilled with the success of the journal. When Dr Ben Judkins and I pitched the idea to Cardiff University Press, it was little more than a sparkle in our eyes.

“With strong design and layout work, a hugely helpful editorial advisory board, and the sterling work of Alice Percival at Cardiff University Press, the journal took off immediately.

“It’s made a transformative intervention into the academic landscape of the study of martial arts, and publishes groundbreaking work in every issue. The current editorial team continue to take the journal from strength to strength."

Dr Alex Channon, a Principal Lecturer at the University of Brighton, is the current Editor-in-Chief of Martial Arts Studies. Dr Channon said: “I joined the Martial Arts Studies journal team in 2022 and took on the role of Editor-in Chief in 2024. Before that, I’d published in and reviewed for the journal more or less since its inception.

“It’s been wonderful to work at the forefront of the development of martial arts studies as the field has coalesced over the past decade. This journal has played such an important role in enhancing the field’s own coherence, as well as its credibility in the wider academic spaces its research can speak to.

“I have no doubt it will continue to be a crucial point of reference for research on martial arts for years to come.”

To find out more about the journal, please visit its website.