Sara Delamont

Many martial arts systems have their own revered heroes, such as mythical founders and leaders of notable schools. The paper draws on ethnographic research conducted on The Blade Academy, an expanding historical European martial arts (HEMA) school in the United Kingdom. Among pedagogic strategies used by the lead instructors and their core followers are narratives about historic figures whose heroic beliefs and deeds should be respected and even emulated by practitioners. This article explores the case study of 12-13th century Norman-English knight William Marshal, who is used as a principal model for leadership, martial valour, economic success and moral activity by the lead instructor. We examine idealised models of chivalry that such modern martial artists aspire to follow despite them living within very different societies and value systems. We conclude by considering the merits of revisiting historical figures who might act as role models for modern teachers and their students.

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, Knowing the Score. 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 axé (life force) and malicia (artful trickery) in Capoeira, noting its contrast to Western ideas of energy and fair play. We then examine Taijiquan and the concepts of song (鬆 or “letting go”) and ting (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.

The author reflects on continuities and changes in the subdiscipline, using Mary Douglas and Basil Bernstein. In 2000 the millennial issue ofSociology, the generic journal of the British Sociological Association, included a paper about the sociology of education called 'The anomalous beasts: Hooligans and the sociology of education'. It focused on hooligans as anomalous beasts in the sociology of education, and the sub-discipline as an anomalous beast within the discipline of sociology itself. It concluded with, very poor, predictions about the likely state of sociology of education and UK sociology in 2025. The fortieth anniversary ofBJSEis a good time to revisit that millennial evaluation in order to offer a new sociologically informed re-evaluation of the field in 2020, set an agenda to highlight some of the current weaknesses in the sub-discipline and update the analysis of the uneasy relationship with the wider discipline of Sociology itself.

The empirical focus of this paper is a martial art, Savate, which has received little scholarly attention from social scientists in the English-speaking world. The disciplinary framework is based on symbolic interactionist approaches to bodies, embodiment and movement. The ethnographic methods employ the research agenda of John Urry as set out in his wider call for a mobile sociology. Here Urry’s research agenda is used as a strategy: a key goal for ethnographic researchers. The utility of Urry’s sociological work on mobilities for scholarship on combat sports is exemplified. Until now that approach has not been widely used in martial arts investigations or sports studies. The data are drawn from an ethnographic study conducted dialogically by an experienced Savate teacher and a sociologist who observes him teaching. Nine ways in which the ethnographic data on Savate classes are illuminated by the mobilities paradigm are explored so that previously unconsidered aspects of this martial art are better understood and the potential of Urry’s ideas for investigating other martial arts and sports is apparent.

In this tab you will find guides on using this dataset. The Teaching Guide is designed for faculty who are teaching research methods and statistics, with suggestions on how to use the dataset in lab exercises, in homework assignments and as exam questions. The Student Guide introduces the method for students, and can be used in teaching to provide students with an introductory overview of the method or test. Ethnography of Diasporic Capoeira Dr Sara Delamont and Dr Neil Stephens, Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University 2006 Unfunded research Opportunity Sample 2003–2015 2003–2004: ‘Tolnbridge’ and ‘Cloisterham’ pseudonyms for 2 United Kingdom cities FN = Fieldnote DISC = tape-recorded discussion

In this tab you will find guides on using this dataset. The Teaching Guide is designed for faculty who are teaching research methods and statistics, with suggestions on how to use the dataset in lab exercises, in homework assignments and as exam questions. The Student Guide introduces the method for students, and can be used in teaching to provide students with an introductory overview of the method or test. Learning to Tango Distinguished Professor Paul Atkinson, Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University Participant Observation 2003 Single Case Analysis of 1 Tango Class. Cardiff United Kingdom

The work of John Furlong on school and classroom ethnography is located in its context and its achievements celebrated. The paper focuses on class, ethnicity and gender issues as it explores the changes and continuities in the ethnography of education over the 66-year period covered. The qualities of a good ethnographer are playfully compared to those of the African-Caribbean trickster figure Anansi used by Furlong in an early article. Looking back to 1954 and forward to 2020, the key themes found in the qualitative research on schools and classrooms in the UK and the USA are compared and contrasted.

(2013). Sport, masculinities and the body. Gender and Education: Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 374-375.