The Rules of Engagement: Negotiating Painful and “Intimate” Touch in Mixed-Sex Martial Arts

Abstract

Within the sociology of sport and its related disciplines, martial arts have become increasingly popular sites for research on embodiment, gender and society. While much previous work in this area has focused upon the embodied experiences of either male or female practitioners, relatively few studies have directly addressed the social significance of mixed-sex practice. In this empirically-focused paper, we draw on qualitative, semistructured interviews with both male and female long-term exponents of various different martial arts disciplines in England, exploring experiences of inter-sex touch within training. Within a social-constructionist, feminist framework, we suggest that heteronormative, patriarchal and paternalistic gender structures can potentially be challenged through sustained mixed-sex practice. As such, this article contributes to work on transformative sporting bodies, martial arts and gender subversion.

'Pink Gloves Still Give Black Eyes': exploring 'alternative' femininity in women's combat sports

“…Secondly, and far more widely noted, has been the tendency for men (or women themselves) to resist or counteract the gender-subversive potential of women's MACS practice in numerous ways. Such resistance can come in the form of passive or overt opposition to participation [e.g., Lafferty & McKay 2004;Hollander 2009] but more commonly involves modes of practice and/ or representation which reify, rather than challenge, hierarchal gender relations [Hargreaves 1997;Paradis 2012;Channon and Jennings 2013;Weaving 2014]. In this latter respect, the ways in which practitioners 'do' gender is of particular importance in mediating the potentially transformative consequences of women's integration into an otherwise ostensibly 'masculine' cultural sphere.…”

“…However, the strongest criticism in this regard was reserved for women whose performances of femininity involved overtly sexualising themselves, particularly within mixed-sex training environments [see Channon and Jennings 2013]. Beth complained of how one woman she trained with 'held back more than she normally would' when training with a man she was attracted to, 'because [she didn't] want to be aggressive in front of a potential boyfriend' [see Guérandel and Mennesson 2007].…”

The Kung Fu Family: A metaphor of belonging across time and place

“…This has been achieved by Channon and Jennings (2013) Channon and Phipps, (2017) with their combined findings on women's experiences of combat sports. While George Jennings set up interviews and observations with British TCMA practitioners in England (2006England ( -2010, Veronika Partikova worked in Hong Kong (2015-18).…”

“…Despite continued changes and diffusions across the world, and well-known adaptations in certain modalities to Taijiquan as a predominantly health and meditative and even performance art (Mroz, 2008;Ryan, 2008), Kung Fu remains primarily what Brown and Johnson (2000) term a selfdefence martial art, a physical exercise where partners touch each other and may get into sensitive, yet negotiated positions inter and intra-sex positions (Channon & Jennings, 2013), which is also a good representation of the cooperative principle. This is common in other forms of martial arts, such as Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), as seen in Spencer's work (2013), and in Capoeira, where loyalty to one teacher is seen as paramount -both in Brazil (Downey, 2004) and overseas (De Campos Rosario, Stephens, & Delamont, 2010).…”

Transmitting Health Philosophies through the Traditionalist Chinese Martial Arts in the UK

“…Based on British participants with more than four years' experience in training and teaching (commonly accepted as being long-term practitioners within TCMA circles), my research project and resulting publications adopted a qualitative socio-cultural perspective, and has so far explored sociologically notable topics such as secular religion [15], spirituality [47], ageing and related narratives of learning and mastery [48], mixed-sex training [49], the martial habitus [50] and body lineage [51]. Besides these themes, the project has also considered qualitative methods through the issue of embodied interactions [52,53] between the researcher and the researched.…”