About me 

My name is Emanuele Papa and I am from Italy. I began studying traditional Chinese martial arts at the age of 15 and since 2016 I dedicate myself to the study and research of what is today commonly known as zhongguo shi shuaijiao中国式摔跤 "Chinese style wrestling." I am a student of Master Li Deshun 李德顺 whom I met during the time I spent in Beijing studying for my master’s degree. I hold a BA in Cultural Anthropology and an MA in philosophy from Renmin University. My goal is to reconstruct the history of wrestling during the Qing dynasty and to use wrestling to investigate the concept of ethnic and group identity and its transformations from the Qing dynasty to today.