Acta Universitatis Carolinae Kinanthropologica (AUC Kinanthropologica) is an international peer reviewed journal for the publication of research outcomes in the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences, as applied to kinathropology. It is a multidisciplinary journal accepting only original unpublished articles in English in the various sub-disciplines and related fields of kinanthropology, such as Anthropology, Anthropomotorics, Sports Pedagogy, Sociology of Sport, Philosophy of Sport, History of Sport, Physiology of Sport And Exercise, Physical Education, Applied Physical Education, Physiotherapy, Human Biomechanics, Psychology of Sport, Sports Training and Coaching, Sport Management, etc. The journal also welcomes interdisciplinary articles. The journal also includes reports of relevant activities and reviews of relevant publications.
The journal is abstracted and indexed by CNKI, DOAJ, EBSCO, ERIH PLUS, SPOLIT, SPORTDiscus, and Ulrichsweb.
AUC KINANTHROPOLOGICA, Vol 60 No 2 (2024), 71–78
Distinctiveness in combat sport aesthetics
Jason Holt
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14712/23366052.2025.1
published online: 07. 03. 2025
abstract
According to some philosophers, sports where athletes actively struggle against their opponents are aesthetically enhanced because of the increased potential for drama arising from dynamics of social interaction. I argue that combat sports further increase the potential of such dramatic aesthetic appeal. In contrast to the comparatively abstract struggles of team sports, suggesting a more detached Kantian aesthetic, combat sports involve competitive struggles that are less abstract and more primal, suggesting a more engaged Deweyan aesthetic. I also argue for a hierarchy of primal appeal within combat sports from the minimally constrained primal appeal of mixed martial arts to the more abstract, less primal appeal of fencing. Between these extremes, grappling sports (e.g., wrestling, judo, and jiu jitsu,) have a more primal (and intimate!) but less dramatic appeal than striking sports (e.g., boxing, kickboxing, and taekwondo). I conclude by raising and resolving an apparent paradox suggested by my account.
keywords: aesthetics; fighting; drama; grappling; striking
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ISSN: 1212-1428
E-ISSN: 2336-6052