Looking East and South: Philosophical Reflections on Taijiquan and Capoeira
In a precarious occupation, martial arts instructors must be inspiring and build a shared philosophy. Drawing on Taijiquan and Capoeira, which have their philosophical or epistemological roots in Asia and Africa, this article explores core concepts that feature in students’ enculturation. These conc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Philosophies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/8/6/101 |
| _version_ | 1827294671182757888 |
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| author | George Jennings Sara Delamont |
| author_facet | George Jennings Sara Delamont |
| author_sort | George Jennings |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In a precarious occupation, martial arts instructors must be inspiring and build a shared philosophy. Drawing on Taijiquan and Capoeira, which have their philosophical or epistemological roots in Asia and Africa, this article explores core concepts that feature in students’ enculturation. These concepts are grounded in epistemologies contrasting with Papineau’s work on popular and elite sport, <i>Knowing the Score</i>. More specifically, the philosophical approach used builds upon Papineau’s chapters on focus, cheating and racism, although these martial practices are not grounded in the Judeo-Christian Western epistemologies underlying Papineau’s thinking. Indeed, one of the attractions for Western Capoeira and Taijiquan students is precisely their “strange” or exotic philosophical concepts driving specific pedagogical practices. Ethnographic fieldwork in Britain and written and oral accounts of embodied expertise are used to explore the practical uses of these non-Western epistemologies by teachers to build shared cultures for their students. Specifically, we examine the concepts of <i>axé</i> (life force) and <i>malicia</i> (artful trickery) in Capoeira, noting its contrast to Western ideas of energy and fair play. We then examine Taijiquan and the concepts of <i>song</i> (鬆 or “letting go”) and <i>ting</i> (听 or “focused listening”), considering the movement skill of systematic relaxation and the focus on specific components of human anatomy and body technique among adults unlearning embodied tension built throughout their lives. We close with considerations for projects examining the diverse, alternative southern, non-Western, and potentially decolonial and subaltern epistemologies in such martial activities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:26:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f33446c1f02842a7b31869ab3ec3648e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2409-9287 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T14:05:59Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Philosophies |
| spelling | doaj.art-f33446c1f02842a7b31869ab3ec3648e2024-04-03T10:25:37ZengMDPI AGPhilosophies2409-92872023-10-018610110.3390/philosophies8060101Looking East and South: Philosophical Reflections on Taijiquan and CapoeiraGeorge Jennings0Sara Delamont1Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff CF5 2YB, UKSchool of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UKIn a precarious occupation, martial arts instructors must be inspiring and build a shared philosophy. Drawing on Taijiquan and Capoeira, which have their philosophical or epistemological roots in Asia and Africa, this article explores core concepts that feature in students’ enculturation. These concepts are grounded in epistemologies contrasting with Papineau’s work on popular and elite sport, <i>Knowing the Score</i>. More specifically, the philosophical approach used builds upon Papineau’s chapters on focus, cheating and racism, although these martial practices are not grounded in the Judeo-Christian Western epistemologies underlying Papineau’s thinking. Indeed, one of the attractions for Western Capoeira and Taijiquan students is precisely their “strange” or exotic philosophical concepts driving specific pedagogical practices. Ethnographic fieldwork in Britain and written and oral accounts of embodied expertise are used to explore the practical uses of these non-Western epistemologies by teachers to build shared cultures for their students. Specifically, we examine the concepts of <i>axé</i> (life force) and <i>malicia</i> (artful trickery) in Capoeira, noting its contrast to Western ideas of energy and fair play. We then examine Taijiquan and the concepts of <i>song</i> (鬆 or “letting go”) and <i>ting</i> (听 or “focused listening”), considering the movement skill of systematic relaxation and the focus on specific components of human anatomy and body technique among adults unlearning embodied tension built throughout their lives. We close with considerations for projects examining the diverse, alternative southern, non-Western, and potentially decolonial and subaltern epistemologies in such martial activities.https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/8/6/101martial artscombat sportsepistemologyethnographyTaijiquanCapoeira |
| spellingShingle | George Jennings Sara Delamont Looking East and South: Philosophical Reflections on Taijiquan and Capoeira Philosophies martial arts combat sports epistemology ethnography Taijiquan Capoeira |
| title | Looking East and South: Philosophical Reflections on Taijiquan and Capoeira |
| title_full | Looking East and South: Philosophical Reflections on Taijiquan and Capoeira |
| title_fullStr | Looking East and South: Philosophical Reflections on Taijiquan and Capoeira |
| title_full_unstemmed | Looking East and South: Philosophical Reflections on Taijiquan and Capoeira |
| title_short | Looking East and South: Philosophical Reflections on Taijiquan and Capoeira |
| title_sort | looking east and south philosophical reflections on taijiquan and capoeira |
| topic | martial arts combat sports epistemology ethnography Taijiquan Capoeira |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/8/6/101 |
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