Jiu jitsu as a lived body: A triadic composition of embodied practice

Jiu jitsu as a lived body: A triadic composition of embodied practice

Jiu jitsu, also known as Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ), having evolved from judo, is an embodied practice comprising a diversity of individuals. While self-defence and sport together create a vitality of practice that most participants can enjoy, this research looks beyond this enjoyment to understand how the formation of jiu jitsuans (or practitioners) creates a rich tapestry of aesthetic perspective that helps to unlock the self within a dojo community of practice. The aim of this research is to consider a much broader practice of jiu jitsu and the breadth of space that it occupies in a participant’s self-improvement, and, how participants might construe an image of self within a community of practice. While using a multiple methodology, qualitative approach engaging Participatory Action Research, and Grounded Theory, this thesis argues that for jiu jitsu to effect change within the practitioner’s life, it cannot be discovered from afar, it must be found within the practice, and not as a practice that merely instrumentalises the body for competing objectives. Thus, jiu jitsu is re-considered as a lived body, a body consciousness that cannot be fully objectified. Embodiment of jiu jitsu is conceptualised as a compositional work of the participant (subject) at work in the dojo (studio), and this research investigates those experiences and complex stages of transition. Through coding and categorising data sets collected from participants in a small regional dojo in New South Wales, I have re-calibrated the original triadic theory and symbol used by Jigorō Kano and Helio Gracie to produce my model of the Triadic Composition of Embodied Practice. This research addresses a gap in the knowledge of martial arts practice, that a unified and cohesive practice of mind, body, and soul is the embodied narrative of the jiu jitsuan. The findings illuminate a paradigmatic shift from a two-dimensional perspective of the body as object and instrument, to reveal that the embodied practice of jiu jitsu is never separate from body consciousness. I anticipate that this work will contribute to the intellectual contribution to the theoretical knowledge of embodied practice and martial arts studies.

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