{"id":1324,"date":"2019-12-23T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T12:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/?p=1324"},"modified":"2019-12-22T11:09:59","modified_gmt":"2019-12-22T16:09:59","slug":"combat-sports-fighting-for-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/2019\/12\/23\/combat-sports-fighting-for-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Combat Sports: Fighting for Community"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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Combat sports, such as mixed martial arts (MMA), involve substantial risk of physical injury. (Photo by Gregg Rich Photo<\/a>.)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a combat sport that involves a combination of different fighting styles. As it has gained prominence in mainstream cultures, MMA has introduced the world to a variety of martial disciplines, such as wrestling (grappling), Muay Thai (striking), and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (submission grappling). Given that the goal of an MMA competitor is to defeat an opponent, which can occur by way of a knockout or submission (e.g., \u201ctapping out\u201d due to pain or injury), the sport involves a substantial level of physical risk.\u00a0\u00a0When a fighter inflicts visible damage on an opponent, it is categorized under what the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), one of the world\u2019s biggest MMA organizations, calls \u201csignificant strikes.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

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What determines a \u201csignificant strike\u201d<\/a>\u00a0ranges from the opponent’s facial expression of pain to blood drawn from a strike. Concussions and head trauma are prevalent concerns<\/a>\u00a0in my experience as a combat sports competitor and in contact sports more generally. With rising concerns about the consequences of concussions, head shots are still encouraged by spectators and professional combat sports organizations. It is common for professional combat sports organizations to\u00a0favor fighters who knock out their opponents, \u201cbrawl\u201d or \u201cfinish the fight,\u201d<\/a> because the brutality of knocking an opponent unconscious is seen as entertaining and brings in more viewers<\/a>. Fighters are encouraged to knock their opponent unconscious through financial incentives, such as Glory Kickboxing’s \u201cKnockout of the Night Bonus,\u201d<\/a> which offers an additional $5,000 to the fighter who knocks out their opponent. Often combat sports organizations take advantage of the entertainment value of knockouts by prioritizing advertising knockouts<\/a>\u00a0as opposed to other facets of the sport. Fighters\u00a0who have \u201cknockout power\u201d are often portrayed in the media as \u201cknockout artists\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to attract viewership for the fighter\u2019s following bouts. For example, knockout footage is compiled together into highlight reels, such as\u00a0a knockout countdown of the year<\/a>, that highlights the least to the most intense knockout. So, why do people continue to compete in combat sports despite the risk of serious injury?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

To explore this question, I conducted in-depth interviews in\u00a0my research<\/a> with combat sports competitors: 11 individuals (2-hour sessions each), ages 18-40 years of age, male (8) and female (3). Based on these interviews, I argue that social bonds with other fighters heavily influences participants\u2019 decisions to continue competing in a sport where physical harm is all but guaranteed. In the discussion below, pseudonyms are used to protect participant confidentiality.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A fighter\u2019s community involvement and the relationships a fighter develops with their training partners are important factors that keep competitors in combat sports. For example, Jake, who is in his mid-20s and a high level Muay Thai amateur fighter, explained that his training partners are his \u201cbest friends\u201d and fighting gave him \u201ca sense of belonging.\u201d Sam, a fighter in his late-20s and an amateur Muay Thai world champion, also expressed \u201ca sense of belonging\u201d with his training partners. He continued: \u201cyou don\u2019t get these relationships outside where you see each other\u2019s weaknesses and other sides…There is a non-verbal communication which is stronger here. I don\u2019t feel judged in the gym, I feel more authentic compared to outside.\u201d Fighters \u201csense of belonging\u201d with training partners illuminates the significance of identifying with a community. Sam\u2019s response suggests a sense of comfort and openness, within a combat sports context, that enables fighters to see each other\u2019s weaknesses. A combat sports context offers an openness that leads to a shared intimacy and bond between training partners that is often difficult to foster outside this athletic context. In particular, male fighters\u2019 intimate interactions with each other contrast with traditional gender norms because men showing signs of weakness is often considered socially detrimental under dominant notions of masculinity.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I also observed social pressure as a key component for fighters to continue to compete in combat fights. Training partners, coaches, and family members were often cited as sources of pressure for fighters to continue fighting. For example, Lucus, a Muay Thai head coach in his mid-30s, said: \u201cdefinitely, pressure from friends and family to continue, to live up to their expectations, to win in front of them.\u201d Carol, an elite boxer and Muay Thai fighter in her mid-20s, initially stated that social pressure is not a factor in her motivation to compete in combat sports, but then admitted, \u201cbut on a subtle level, yes when coaches ask me to take a fight that I do not want to because I feel like I need a break. Also, peers expect something from me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

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Photo by David Ash<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

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The motivating factors of\u00a0community<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0social pressure<\/em> exemplify the influence of people around fighters they care about. Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu used the term “habitus”<\/a> to explain the influence of people’s surroundings on their ingrained habits and dispositions. Habitus explains how an environment can shape an individual\u2019s personality to reflect the environment they interact within. An interplay between a person\u2019s agency and the environment they inhabit helps us understand how fighters are shaped by a combat sports context through taking up the social role of a fighter. Fighting becomes part of fighter\u2019s identity and, because of this, quitting combat sports would raise other issues that may seem more daunting than fighting itself, such as an identity crisis, loneliness due to the disconnection from peers, and a loss of \u201ca sense of belonging.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

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One participant\u2019s responses succinctly express Bourdieu\u2019s concept of habitus, specifically how individuals are shaped by their surroundings. As Lucus stated:\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

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it is who I am, but I chose to be in this environment and to be molded by it, I didn\u2019t just be a passive subject to my surroundings. I think the difference between animals and humans is that we can change our environments.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

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Lucus\u2019 response captures not only how individual identities are shaped by their surroundings, but also the agency individuals have in choosing to adapt to a combat sports environment. Overall, fighters continue to compete in combat sports because of engrained habits, views of others around fighters, and relationships. Social determinants, such as a sense of belonging, pressure or lifestyle, are significant factors in a fighter\u2019s decision to continue to compete in combat sports.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

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When we talk about the complex nature of head trauma and the possibility of physical harm, it is important to understand the need for fighters to\u00a0identify with a community and how these needs come from both internal and external influences.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

John<\/span> Deidouss (@johndeidouss<\/a>) is a PhD Candidate at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. His research interests are in the sphere of racism and combat sports. He is part of the socio-cultural studies branch in the Kinesiology department. John<\/span> Deidouss is a striking coach, a Muay Thai Classic World Champion and a 2x Fightquest K1 Champion.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n

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Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a combat sport that involves a combination of different fighting styles. As it has gained prominence in mainstream cultures, MMA has introduced the world to a variety of martial disciplines, such as wrestling (grappling), Muay Thai (striking), and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (submission grappling). Given that the goal of an MMA competitor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2075,"featured_media":1326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Combat Sports: Fighting for Community","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[126577,103732],"tags":[36509,18842,103916,103914,1976,103915,103913,99,1877,103917],"class_list":["post-1324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-boxing-combat-sports","category-health-injury-violence","tag-belonging","tag-injury","tag-jiu-jitsu","tag-martial-arts","tag-masculinity","tag-may-thai","tag-mma","tag-relationships","tag-risk","tag-wrestling"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/files\/2019\/12\/37494362624_7781e724d1_k.jpg?fit=2048%2C1493&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8iFlL-lm","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2075"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1324"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1339,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions\/1339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}