1973年李小龙的《龙争虎斗》香港功夫电影一举打破美国外语片票房纪录，在全球掀起一股前所未有的「功夫热潮」。

作者探究了这一个功夫片高潮迭起的现象，其不仅只是代表流行电影，并认为西方对亚洲格斗艺术的突然迷恋（和道德恐慌），至今也留下深远的影响。

本书追溯了香港武侠电影长期发展的热潮背景，并针对几部关键电影的受欢迎程度和相关议论做了进一步讨论，其中功夫挑战了西方身份，并同时引发了银幕内外的暴力焦虑。此外，作者还研究了这些电影在流行音乐丶超级英雄系列丶儿童卡通和当代艺术等不同领域中的想法和图像的繁殖。这本书可说是具有启发性且简单明暸，并且在东西方之间架起了一座灵活的桥梁。

书评

‘Fans and scholars alike will relish Luke White’s remarkable exploration of kung fu cinema’s explosive rise in the “West” and its ongoing influence in international culture. Fighting without Fighting is the definitive book on the subject.’ － Matthew Polly, bestselling author of American Shaolin Tapped Out, and Bruce Lee: A Life ‘A comprehensive and exhilarating journey through the cultural history of “Kung Fu Fever”, showing how the Asian martial arts have permeated everything from Blaxploitation cinema and Hanna-Barbera cartoons to seventies disco tunes and Marvel comic books. White’s electric prose crackles with all the brio and rigour of a classic kung-fu throwdown.’

 － Gary Bettinson, editorin- chief of Asian Cinema and author of The Sensuous Cinema of Wong Kar-wai 

‘An expert and ambitious narrative that spirals outwards from the advent of Kung Fu in ’70s Hong Kong and Hollywood to encompass a wide historical, geographic and ideological scope in which Bruce Lee is a persistent presence, and has the last word.’ 

－ Barry Curtis, Professor at the University of the Arts, London and author of Dark Places: The Haunted House in Film

关於作者

Luke White是英国伦敦密德萨斯大学（Middlesex University）视觉文化和纯艺术系的资深讲师，他的着作包括：《醉拳传奇：香港功夫喜剧片的身体政治》（Legacies of the Drunken Master: Politics of the Body in Hong Kong Kung Fu Comedy Films，2020年出版）。