This book is a fairly accurate representation, in terms of both content and form, of the presentations given at the international conference on combat sports and martial arts (CS-MA) held in Bordeaux in 2023. These are addressed thematically in three parts with a dual objective: on the one hand, to take into account the scientific interest in BT from a multidisciplinary perspective, and on the other hand, to address an international sporting event such as the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, without neglecting everyday practices.
While ensuring a certain consistency in the analysis of BT, the articles deal with a variety of situations and a plurality of scientific and martial disciplines. In the spirit of the JORRESCAM (French Society for the Study of Combat Sports and Martial Arts) organizing this conference, the authors of this book have analyzed issues arising from high-level competitive situations and the Olympic Games, as well as amateur competition and even everyday life.
While most approaches stem from the humanities and social sciences, with history at the forefront of the proposed work, including art history, followed by approaches in sociology and phenomenology, it remains true that, albeit more discreetly, other chapters take different approaches, whether in social psychology, geography, clinical didactics, or bioengineering. The latter, based on computer vision, kinematics, and biomechanics, have clearly demonstrated the value of undertaking interdisciplinary studies in CS-MA by fitting in seamlessly with the corresponding sections. Furthermore, the chapters by Jean-François Loudcher, Cédric Terret, Julien Morlier and Jacques Mikulovic, Dov Ganchrow, and Ai-Cheng Ho have gone beyond the monodisciplinary approach to offer a certain interdisciplinarity, even an epistemological reflection that falls within the field of CS-MA and BT in particular.
In terms of the diversity of combat disciplines studied, Renaud Bouchet’s work includes judo and wushu in their analysis, while Patrice Régnier and Olivier Bernard provide a socio-historical perspective by comparing karate and horse riding. Boxing, judo, and capoeira are the most represented disciplines in the book as a whole, followed by taijiquan and wushu, then, mentioned in a single chapter, karate, Thai boxing, and MMA. Their varied cultural origins and diverse analytical approaches have facilitated international and interdisciplinary dialogue, which pertains to the modelling and learning of multiple body techniques.
Even the work on MMA presented by Maria Perrino Peña and Abel Figueiredo, which could symbolize a certain contemporary transdisciplinarity in combat sports and martial arts, highlighted the importance of sociocultural and institutional contexts in the production of specific BTs that enable athletes to follow the path that leads to Olympus. In a different time frame, Julie Pincot compared a traditional practice, kung fu wushu, in two national contexts, the country of origin (China) and a Western country (France). These two studies, focusing on a modern and traditional practice, ultimately showed that the process of sportification, understood as the transformation of a physical activity into a federated discipline, is not uniform enough to be recognized by the IOC. In particular, political regulation may involve a review of the BTs implemented in each of these disciplines.
Whether in the context of the OGP or that of lower-level practitioners, the book sheds light on the modernization of certain combat sports disciplines that are often subject to institutionalization processes, such as the aforementioned Spanish MMA and Wushu, in terms of continuity and rupture. These processes can take place over a long period of time, as in Matthias Röhrig Assunção’s study on the transformation of the BTs of capoeira ginga from the 1820s to modernization. They can also be expressed over a shorter period of time, as in the work carried out by Agnès Roby-Brami, Océane Dubois, and Emmanuel Guigon on the kinematic modeling of sword control in taichichuan, since the aim is to improve movement based on robotic patterns.
As mentioned above, the practices described in the contributions to this book are not limited to the OGP. The work of Éric Margnes and Benoît Catala, as well as that of David S. Contreras Islas, highlight an interesting approach study to training and learning in Thai boxing and capoeira, namely, respectively, the clinical didactic approach and the phenomenological approach. The example closest to everyday experiences is provided by professionals Raúl Camacho Pérez and Fernando Diéguez Rodríguez-Montero; these authors explained how certain judo techniques can be adapted from their original use to improve the quality of life for older adults.
In terms of both content and form, the international dimension has been achieved throughout the book, with contributions in the three languages used at the conference and additional translations to aid understanding (French, English, and Spanish). In terms of content, the international scope already mentioned was combined with interactions between the global and the local for the regulation of MMA in Spain and Portugal. Then the work of Reubrecht as well as that of Recaredo Agulló Albuixech, Víctor Agulló Calatayud, Dayana Arteta Molina, and Helena Paricio de Castro, adopted the Île-de-France region and the figure of a Valencian boxer, respectively, as more regional phenomena for analysis, thus highlighting the territorial issue of CS-MAs.
Ultimately, the book is organized into three balanced parts. The first part outlines various forms of modeling that reflect the sociocultural transformations of BTs. The second part highlights the role of BTs in the production of creative acts, training, and research areas through their relationship with a more or less conscious body. The third part placed a more subtle emphasis on techniques as everyday experiences, followed by the trajectories of competitive sport linked to societal developments, including in the context of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
All of this work is promising. It seems more than ever that a transdisciplinary approach and international openness are essential in order to produce enriching and operational results.
