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Relaying on years of ethnographic research and boxers' life stories, this article examines how boxers from racialized and marginalized communities hope for family and glory in a Midwestern U.S. gym. Hope for family is embraced by youth and young adults who develop familial ties with trainers and fellow boxers. Hope for glory begins in gyms but ultimately must be sought in competitive arenas of elite amateur tournaments and professional boxing. Competitive arenas, however, exists in sociocultural systems that capitalize on the brutalization and exploitation of racialized bodies as boxing fanatics crave blood, pain, and concussions. In these contexts, boxers' hope for glory is fulfilled through exploitation—both physical and cultural—of their collective bodies; and hope for glory compromises the relationships and sense of community that are established as boxers pursue hope for family.

Approaching the Gendered Phenomenon of Women Warriors / Alex Channon & Christopher R Matthews -- Moral Guardians, Mini-Skirts and Nicola Adams : The Changing Media Discourse of Women's Boxing / Amy Godoy-Pressland -- The Boxers of Kabul : Women, Boxing and Islam / Hillary Kipnis & Jayne Caudwell -- Chicks Fighting in a Cage : A Philosophical Critique of Gender Constructions in the Ultimate Fighting Championship / Charlene Weaving -- Beauty and Strength : Defining the Female Body in The Ultimate Fighter Season 20 Promotional Campaign / LA Jennings -- Gender Inequality in Olympic Boxing : Exploring Structuration through Online Resistance Against Weight Category Restrictions / George Jennings & Beatriz Cabrera -- The Fight Outside the Ring : Female Boxing Officials in Trinidad and Tobago / Roy McCree -- Mexican Female Warrior : The Case of Marisela Ugalde, the Founder of Xilam / George Jennings -- Women Fighters as Agents of Change : A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Case Study from Finland / Anna Kavoura, Stiliani Chroni, Marja Kokkonen & Tatiana V. Ryba -- Beautifully Violent : The Gender Dynamic of Scottish Karate / Chloe Maclean -- Mediating Factors in Martial Arts Practice : A Specific Case of Young Girls / Jikkemien Vertonghen, Hebe Schaillée, Marc Theeboom & Paul De Knop -- Outlaw Emotions: Gender, Emotion, and Transformation in Women's Self-Defence Training / Jocelyn Hollander -- Resisting the Hegemonic Gender Order? : The Accounts of Female Boxers in South Korea / Yun Jung Kim, Sun Yong Kwon & Jung Woo Lee -- Reinventing the Body-Self : Intense, Gendered and Heightened Sensorial Experiences of Women's Boxing Embodiment / Helen Owton -- I'm not the Type of Person who does Yoga : Women, Hard Martial Arts and the Quest for Exciting Significance / Mark Mierzwinski & Catherine Phipps -- Ambivalent Lives, Fighting Bodies : Women and Combat Sports in Brazil / Jorge Knijnik & Marco Antônio de Carvalho Ferretti -- UnBoliviable Bouts : Gender and Essentialisation of Bolivia's Cholitas Luchadoras / Nell Haynes

Meihuaquan ("Plum Blossom Fist [Boxing]") has traditionally been practiced as vernacular (folk) art practiced among the Han ethnic group residing in the Shandong, Henan and Hebei Provinces of China. Historical documentation dates Plum Blossom Boxing to the seventeenth century. The classic Chinese novel, Shuihu Zhuan (Marsh Chronicles) recounts the martial exploits of Shandong's twelfth century outlaw heroes who may have been Mei Boxers, also. Thus, for perhaps a millennium, the region has been noted for vernacular martial arts and social banditry. The region's rampant lawlessness promoted highly-developed martial prowess among both lawbreakers and those who were required to protect themselves against the brigands. Cultural, economic, and environmental factors in the region gave rise to heterodox political and religious beliefs that frequently served as a catalyst for martial sects, most notably the "Boxers" who at the turn of the twentieth century, came into conflict with the imperial government. These factors laid the groundwork for the "character traits" of the art while Taoism, the Five Elements theory, and a concept of predictable change shaped Plum Boxing's strategic and mechanical principles. In the past decade, there have been efforts to globalize this vernacular martial art. Rather than driving Plum Boxing to extinction it is likely that the folk and the "larger than local" will co-exist. ; El meihuaquan ("Puño [Boxeo] de la Flor del Ciruelo") se ha practicado tradicionalmente como arte vernáculo (folclórico) en el grupo étnico de los Han de las provincias chinas de Shandong, Henan y Hebei. Los registros históricos datan al boxeo de la flor del ciruelo del s. XVII. La novela clásica china Shuihu Zhuan (Las crónicas del pantano) relata las proezas marciales de los héroes proscritos de Shandong durante el siglo XII, quienes también podían haber sido boxeadores mei. Así, durante posiblemente un milenio, la región ha sido célebre por sus artes marciales vernáculas y el bandolerismo social. La rampante anarquía de la región promovió habilidades marciales altamente desarrolladas tanto entre los criminales como entre aquellos que necesitaban defenderse frente a los bandidos. Los factores culturales, económicos y ambientales de la región dieron lugar a creencias políticas y religiosas heterodoxas que sirvieron frecuentemente como catalizadoras de sectas marciales, muy destacadamente los "Bóxers", que en el cambio al s. XX entraron en conflicto con el gobierno imperial. Estos factores sentaron las bases de los "rasgos de carácter" del arte, mientras que el taoísmo, la teoría de los cinco elementos y un concepto del cambio predecible conformaron los principios estratégicos y mecánicos del boxeo de la flor del ciruelo. Durante la última década se han realizado esfuerzos para globalizar este arte marcial vernáculo. Es probable que esta circunstancia, en vez de conducir al boxeo de la flor del ciruelo a la extinción, consiga que lo tradicional y lo "más amplio que lo local" lleguen a coexistir. ; O meihuaquan ("Punho [Boxe] da Flor de Ameixa") praticou-se tradicionalmente como arte vernácula (folclórica) no grupo étnico dos Han, das províncias chinesas de Shandong, Henan e Hebei. Os registos históricos datam o boxe flor de ameixa do século XVII. A crónica clássica chinesa Shuihu Zhuan (As Crónicas do Pântano) relata as proezas marciais dos heróis proscritos de Shandong durante o século XII, que também podiam ter sido "boxeurs" mei. Assim, durante possivelmente um milénio, a região foi célebre pelas suas artes marciais vernáculas e de banditismo social. A aparente anarquia da região promoveu habilidades marciais altamente desenvolvidas, tanto entre os criminosos como entre aqueles que necessitavam de se defender frente aos bandidos. Os factores culturais, económicos e ambientais da região deram lugar a crenças políticas e religiosas heterodoxas que serviram frequentemente como catalisadoras de seitas marciais, muito destacadamente os "boxeurs", que na transição do século XX entraram em conflito com o governo Imperial. Estes factores assentaram as bases nos "atributos de carácter" da arte, tal como o taoísmo e a teoria dos cinco elementos, confirmando os princípios estratégicos e mecânicos do boxe flor de ameixa. Durante a última década realizaram-se esforços para globalizar esta arte marcial vernácula. Mais do que conduzir o boxe flor de ameixa à extinção, é provável que o tradicional e o "mais amplo que o local" cheguem a coexistir.

On the basis of an ethnography of a group of boxers, this article questions pugilism as an experience of confrontation with the other, the reasons and effects of which lie beyond the ring. Using the boxers' words to explain their everyday struggles, this article seeks to describe fighting figures by placing them in the full depth of their biographical paths. These boxers share the experience of immigration and their life stories have all been marked by profound feelings of strangeness, understood as a social disqualification of otherness that causes deep and private wounds. Like the shadow of the other, hanging over the 'conversations of gestures', the boxers' wounds and the violence of their biographical paths can help explain how they experience their fights, through the idea of a bodily response to all the hardships they have endured, well beyond the ring and its rounds.

Ten classic works in twin research are described. These volumes are rich in data, interpretation, and impact, and contain life history material that adds depth and dimension to the quantitative findings. Next, research on social relationships in older twins, superfecundated twinning in chimpanzees; effects of embryo transfer on conjoined twinning and the reduced frequency of in vitro multiples is reviewed. Finally, there has been considerable public interest surrounding the first identical twin renal transplant, an identical triplet wedding; identical twin boxers, a twin living in space, and a politically active twin pair.

This article utilizes Foucault's theoretical perspective of modern power and constructivist perspectives of gender to examine relations of power and gender in boxing. The aim of this paper is to explore how and in what ways constructions of gender are linked to relations of power in international amateur boxing. Further, what implications the interplay between gender and power might have for female boxers. In order to identify relations of power between men and women in boxing, a series of online texts depicting the process of including women's boxing in the Olympic Games (2009-2012) is analyzed and discussed. To investigate what implications these gendered power relations might have for female boxers today, AIBA's recent provisional suspension of the Norwegian Boxing Federation is examined. A content analysis strategy was chosen as my analytical approach (Titscher et al. 2000), where the data material consisted of 67 online texts of which 23 were analyzed in-depth. The analysis of the material illustrates how an attempt to implement feminine outfits for female boxers in the Olympic Games was used as a gender-marking strategy in international boxing. This is further related to power by arguing that AIBA's need to distinguish female boxers from male boxers was an attempt to make the women adhere to traditional norms of femininity (Hovden 2000; van Ingen and Kovacs 2012). Furthermore, the analysis of the material indicates that men's boxing is valued as superior to women's boxing and that these gendered power relations in boxing manifest themselves through their effects on women's boxing.

AbstractThis paper is an ethnographic account of daily life at a boxing gym in Manila in the Philippines. My book, Rokaru Boxer to Hinkon Sekai conducts a social analysis of three different topics in order to grasp the lives of Manilan boxers on both theoretical and empirical grounds—namely, daily life at a boxing gym, an international boxing market structure in which Filipino boxers are consumed as underdog roles, and the daily life in Manila's squatter areas to which the boxers are closely tied. The current study limits its examination to daily life in a boxing gym. Most of the unique characteristics that influence Filipino boxing can be found in the live‐in residencies of its gyms. The gym is a place for training and living. It is not only by training but also as a result of various aspects of their life here that young men are able to become boxers. Unlike the gym in the African American ghetto described by Loïc Wacquant, participating youths in Filipino boxing come from the absolute lowest tiers of society. The youths live in boxing camps where every aspect of their daily live is strictly regulated, and thus are they inscribed with the rules that must be observed in this sport. This study is an examination of the pains and pleasures of life at one such boxing camp.

Boxing is infused with ideas about masculinity, power, race and social class, and as such is an ideal lens through which social scientists can examine key modern themes. In addition, its inherent contradictions of extreme violence and beauty and of discipline and excess have long been a source of inspiration for writers and film makers. Essential reading for anyone interested in the sociology of sport and cultural representations of gender, Boxing, Masculinity and Identity brings together ethnographic research with material from film, literature and journalism. Through this combination of theoretical insight and cultural awareness, Woodward explores the social constructs around boxing and our experience and understanding of central issues including: masculinity mind, body and the construction of identity spectacle and performance: tensions between the public and private person boxing on film: the role of cultural representations in building identities methodologies: issues of authenticity and 'truth' in social science.

AbstractProfessional boxing offers hope of vast wealth and global mobility for aspiring athletes in Accra, hopes bolstered by the understanding that Ghanaians are particularly suited to boxing's attrition. However, when boxers become active in the global industry, they encounter power relations which locate them as cheap, subordinate labour, and stymie their championship hopes. As boxers build lives through the sport, they reflect critically on the role their hopes of 'making it big' play in perpetuating industry inequalities, recognizing what I call the ideological function of hope. Despite this, they remain committed to hopes of dramatic success. Their simultaneous optimism and cynicism complicates contemporary accounts of hope as a strategy of resilience in contexts of profound uncertainty. Building on ethnographic research with Accra boxers, I theorize hoping as a paradoxical experience of critique and optimism in equal measure, to account for the contradictory ways people act when orienting themselves towards better futures.

Boxing, a sport reflecting the capitalist commodification of the body, has survived as a sport due to black boxers who have emerged as role models. The "level playing field," an egalitarian myth for black people denied opportunity in other fields, makes sports like boxing attractive, & can be seen as an opportunity to challenge the hierarchy. Jack Johnson & Joe Louis were early black boxers who demonstrated difficulties of black athletes: one challenged the hierarchy by winning; the other was seen as an "Uncle Tom." Coming after these two boxers, Cassius Clay was originally seen as a "great white hope"; but after his conversion to the Nation of Islam, Muhammed Ali became a symbol of independence. Ali was a leader in resistance to the Vietnam war & the draft, political actions that affected his boxing career, sometimes detrimentally. Ali consciously served as a representative of black people through his boxing career, which current sports stars are not doing. 8 References. A. Cole

Coaching is a male dominated area of sport. Globally, women coaches represent a small minority and only a few women coach male athletes. In Norway it is estimated that only about 19% of all coaches are women. In this article we engage in issues regarding the gendering of coaching from an athlete perspective. The concerns are how meanings of gender mirror the athletes' perceptions and experiences of coaching practices. The theoretical framework develops our understanding of gender and how leadership ideals and practices are structured by and through gender. The data material consists of qualitative interviews with Norwegian boxers. The analysis demonstrates that male coaches earn the respect of their boxers more easily than female coaches do. Furthermore, female boxers experience a more open and socially supportive coach–athlete relationship with female coaches. The coach–athlete relationship with male coaches is often shaped by paternalism, which particularly seems to represent a challenge for young female athletes. The interviewees describe sound coaching as consisting of leadership forms associated with both masculine and feminine skills.

Boxing gyms in the Netherlands, which were traditionally bastions of 'white' men, have become more and more diverse. Since boxers with different ethnic backgrounds and women have joined boxing clubs, trainers need to manage this emerging diversity in their gyms. This empirical study of a gym in the Netherlands, where full participation of women is the norm, attempts to gain insights about practices of and experiences in the regulation of social inclusion and exclusion. We explore points of connection between Foucault's conceptualization of regulation and disciplinary techniques and the regulatory and embodied practices of boxing. In this case study, observations and interviews were conducted to explore how trainers address diversity of members in training sessions and at matches. The results show how the participation of male and female boxers with different ethnic backgrounds was normalized by trainers. The gym, with a traditional hierarchical and patriarchal culture, enabled trainers to use disciplinary techniques to normalize their construction of what is normal in the gym. These trainers are not all-powerful, however, and had to negotiate their construction of boxers in interaction with others. The use of disciplinary techniques produced both uniformity and differentiation and, through an on-going process of negotiation, they defined who would be included or excluded.

Marginalisation and exclusion of women in elite boxing has emerged as a substantial international problem, threatening women's democratic right to equal participation in sport. Since the London 2012 Olympic Games women's boxing has been an Olympic event. However, only 3 of the 10 weight categories were included in the Olympic programme for women. Today, male boxers compete in 10 out of 10 possible weight categories. While female boxers have gained accessed to a previously closed realm, discrimination, exclusion and unequal treatment of female athletes remains a widespread problem in international elite boxing. This article explores how the introduction of women's boxing into the Olympic Games involves practices of inclusion and exclusion in elite boxing. In particular, this analysis focuses on the following two research questions: (a) how practices of social exclusion and inclusion affect the involvement and engagement of women in boxing; and (b) how, and in what ways, female boxers have experienced recognition and acceptance in elite boxing after the introduction of women's boxing into the Olympic Games. Using a qualitative approach including document analysis of official press releases from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Boxing Association (AIBA), as well as interviews with athletes and coaches, this study reveals that although women's boxing has gained access to the Olympics, the structural and cultural changes that comprise the social inclusion of women in boxing are yet to be implemented.