Social configurations of fights, martial arts and combat sports

Abstract

The objective of this study was, through a theoretical essay, to reflect on the development of fights, martial arts and combat sports based on the figurational sociology of Norbert Elias. Based on this dynamic, we can problematize aspects linked to the genesis and development of these bodily practices based on their dialogue with social aspects. In this sense, we highlight that sport and society have an interdependent relationship, since political, economic and cultural elements of society cross the sporting field. We emphasize that from the civilizing processes, there was an expansion of networks of interdependence, responsible for modifying social connections between configurational elements, generating operations that tension narratives and perceptions that were previously crystallized. This dynamic contributes to the transposition of traditional components that support the boundaries of the field of fights, martial arts and combat sports, such as greater relativization of violence and gender inclusion in this social field. Therefore, the idea of interdependence presented by Elias is seen in the social and sporting field, in which minority groups have such strong interdependent relationships that they put tension on dominant groups, generating a support network that consolidates and expands perceptions and appropriations about this bodily practice.