Deconstructing Martial Arts introduces and elaborates deconstruction as a rewarding method of cultural studies.
We studied "deconstruction" as an element or "school" of literary criticism when I was in grad school. The author will probably do little to "elaborate" deconstruction as a method of cultural studies because it's been done since the 80s, at least. I.e., literary deconstruction has been applied to culture because "culture" is a text that can be and is "read" (or interpreted).
But, what exactly is deconstruction? Well, I told my students that the problem was that two people could read the same text and come to different interpretations. Why was that? People who came to be known as deconstructivists argued that it was because "meaning" existed in the spaces between the words, and the spaces were what held the text together. It was like the way a brick building depends on mortar.
That "mortar" in terms of culture could be thought of as how a particular culture understands a set of words. For example, "All men are created equal" says and means much more than the words. Some would argue that it does not mean what it says. Anyway, that's one way to apply deconstructivism as a critical (or interpretive) method. It examines "how" people put the meanings of words together by "deconstructing" that which holds the words together.
Afa martial arts, I tend to agree with Ken that the term means different things in different cultures, and even within subcultures. However, the need for self-defense is universal. Why martial arts were developed on every continent may be the same. The various expressions will differ.
"A man is rich when he has time and freewill. How he chooses to invest both will determine the return on his investment."