Body and Senses in Martial Culture

This ethnographic study of a mixed martial arts gym inThailand describes the everyday practices and lived experiences of martial artpractitioners. Through the lived realities and everyday experiences of thesefighters, this book seeks to examine why foreigners invest their time and money totrain in martial arts in Thailand; the linkages between the embodiment ofmartial arts and masculinity; how foreign bodies consume martial arts andwhat they get out of it; the sensory reconfiguration required of a fighter; and the impact of transnational flows on bodily dispositions and knowledge. The author argues that being a successful fighter entails not only sensitized awarenessand knowledge of one s body, but also a reconfiguration of the senses.