Sociologies (Mar 2018)
Être Normaliens et pratiquants de Mixed Martial Arts
Abstract
Who would have thought possible the encounter between Mixed Martial Arts, a glamorous combat discipline, and trainee teachers, traditionally focused on their demanding studies, at the école normale supérieure in Lyon? However, after removing the illusions of a cultural dissonance in terms of legitimacy, the actual intentions these intellectual sports people put into their practice were identified. These proved to be primarily generic rather than specific to Mixed Martial Arts (development of physical abilities, improved wellbeing, honing of technical skills). Their engagement in this activity is not necessarily contingent; the students are attracted by its technical diversity and inherent variability while simultaneously serving their personal search for maximum efficiency.
