‘Fighting like a girl ’: qualitative analysis of the gendered movement learning in the Spanish Olympic karate team

Abstract

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“We could perform much better if we had specific training for girls” – Impacts of the embodiment of tradition for elite-level karateka women

“…Both interviews ended up revealing several overlapping issues present in karate, emphasized, though, for women since gender matters are central for the domination in place in karateka environment. Data were generated from interviews, video-analysis of the fighting styles of the women in the squad (Turelli et al, 2022), notes from observations of some training sessions of the squad, which were interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the same reason, the Olympic Games were postponed to 2021, impacting our original research plan and representing a limitation of the study, therefore requiring adaptation.…”

“…But to be able to remain in environments where their presence is challenging, they are also challenged in their disruptive acting. Then, they end up embodying the internal dynamics of dojos 2 , adapting to and often reproducing the traditional teachings that discipline practitioners (Turelli, 2022). As they get experienced, if reflexive and critical of such lived experiences, they need to go to a sort of second level of disruption, starting thus from inside, estranging the familiar in a manner of an outsider within (Collins, 2015).…”

“…Despite several struggles for equality in society, a fight embraced first and foremost by feminist movements, women remain being 1 Karate practitioners or environment. seen, addressed, and treated as other in sport (e.g., Tjonndal, 2017;Turelli, 2022). Equality is therefore not achieved, and differences are often ill-intentionally used to justify exclusion and discrimination, even though they are disguised by politically correct speech (Foucault, 2016;McRobbie, 2015).…”

“…Indeed, in a number of occasions women may feel privileged and authentic (see Turelli et al, 2023a) for taking part in the so-called masculine world of martial arts and combat sports (MACS). When we analyse the context from a critical perspective, though, acceptance into the environment, for example, does not lead necessarily to belonging because women are not considered to be true fighters (Turelli et al, 2022; see also Salvini, 2017). Neoliberal Western society tends to blame individuals, with an emphasis on women, for their unsuccessful projects (McRobbie, 2015), making them believe that all sorts of wrong choices were made freely and autonomously by them, so they just deserve accusations of blame and feelings of guilt.…”

“…Explaining the subjective embodiment that women high-level karateka experience and construct while practicing their sport is a complex task considering the multifaceted character of karate. To point out just a few facets, it is simultaneously a martial art, and a (amateur/elite/Olympic) combat sport (Turelli et al, in review-a); it carries some philosophical Eastern teachings, and moulds itself to the Western competitive logic (Turelli et al, 2023b); it includes women fighters, while both accuses them of being masculinized and sexualizes their bodies (Turelli et al, 2022;2023c;2023d). Considering these few examples, we have been approaching our researched topic from different and complementary perspectives.…”