Exploring embodiment through martial arts and combat sports: A review of empirical research

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Author
Channon, Alex
Jennings, George
Date
2014-02-06Type
Article
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
ISSN
1743-0437
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Since the late 1970s, social scientists have turned considerable attention to investigating martial arts and combat sports (MACS). In particular, this broad range of fighting disciplines has been shown to offer numerous avenues for scholarly enquiry into social change and personal transformation via processes of embodiment. Adopting a thematic structure, we assess the empirical literature in this area via four interconnecting categories pertaining to MACS and embodiment: (1) body cultures; (2) body pedagogies; (3) the embodiment of gender; and (4) bodily harm. Following this review, we identify several gaps in the existing literature, suggesting potential new topics and strategies for research connecting to the social world of physical culture more generally.
Keywords: Martial arts; self-defence; combat sports; review; embodiment; social science
Journal/conference proceeding
Sport in Society;
Citation
Channon, A. and Jennings, G. (2014) 'Exploring embodiment through martial arts and combat sports: A review of empirical research', Sport in Society, 17(6), pp.773-789
Description
This article was published in Sport in Society on 06 February 2014 (online), available at https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2014.882906
Collections
- Sport Research Groups [631]
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