Edgework and Mixed Martial Arts: Risk, Reflexivity and Collaboration in an Ostensibly ‘Violent’ Sport

Channon, Alex 2020. Edgework and Mixed Martial Arts: Risk, Reflexivity and Collaboration in an Ostensibly ‘Violent’ Sport. Martial Arts Studies (9) , pp. 6-19. 10.18573/mas.95

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Abstract

In this paper I outline the ways in which Stephen Lyng’s concept of ‘edgework’ offers a valuable and unique vantage point for making sense of the contemporary practice of full-contact combat sports. With a specific focus on the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), I propose that theorising this form of fighting as an example of edgework helps clarify the experiences and motivations of its participants within a social-psychological framework that is well-attuned to the extant research literature. In illustrating its potential utility, I focus on how the concept provides a means of addressing the paradoxical problem of ‘violence’ in MMA; that is, in understanding how and why people might engage in ostensibly ‘violent’ activities with those whom they simultaneously claim to respect and admire. I contend that edgework adds depth to our understanding in this domain by illuminating the nature of the relationship existing between competitive opponents in full-contact fighting, arguing ultimately that it can be used to reconceptualise the action of MMA as a form of mutually-constructed risk, instead of ‘violence’. Central to this discussion is the importance of collaboration between competitive opponents in MMA, whose purposeful attempts to beat one-another are necessary in order to sustain the activity’s appeal in offering opportunities to experience ‘authentic’ reflexivity, identity construction, and community formation.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Journalism, Media and Culture
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2057-5696
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	6 July 2020
Date of Acceptance:	11 March 2020
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 11:19
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/133112

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