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Methodology

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The Body and Senses in Martial Culture

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Globalization and Embodiment ((PSGE))

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Abstract

This methodology chapter provides the context and social reality of the field site. The embodied nature of martial arts necessitates a methodology where there is a need to the need “to deploy the body as a tool of inquiry and vector of knowledge” (Wacquant, L. (2004). Body and Soul, Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer. Oxford: Oxford University Press), “go native armed” (Wacquant, L. (2009). Habitus as topic and tool: reflections on becoming a prizefighter. In W. Shaffir, A. Puddephatt, S. Kleinknecht (Eds.) Ethnographies Revisited, New York: Routledge). As an ethnographer, I delineate some of the conceptual, methodological and ethical concerns that underpin this study and discuss the various ways in which the sensorial and bodily sensations experienced by these martial artists can be comprehended and translated for the benefit of an academic audience.

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Lionel, L.H.L. (2016). Methodology. In: The Body and Senses in Martial Culture. Palgrave Studies in Globalization and Embodiment. Palgrave Pivot, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55742-1_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55742-1_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-55741-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-55742-1

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