Theorising Violence through and within Martial Arts Studies: Violence as Violation by Intentional Force

In this paper we offer an analytical definition of the term “violence”, constructed relative to the notion of a “violence paradox” within martial arts: that is, the question of how something broadly understood as destructive and antisocial can be refigured in martial arts spaces as a conduit for positive, productive and edifying outcomes. Here, we treat violence as a characteristic of human interaction, proposing the concept be approached through examining six interactional dimensions: the action dimension, the relational dimension, the intentionality dimension, the affective dimension, the normative dimension, and the identity dimension. Discussing these with respect to a comparative examination of scenarios from outside of martial arts practices as well as those within them, we critically engage with efforts to qualify the appearance of violence in martial arts, relative to the characteristics of this broad range of interactions. We conclude by proposing violence be defined as “violation by intentional force”.