Interviews as embodied interaction: Confessions from a practitioner–researcher of martial arts

Abstract

Martial Arts and Combat Sports (MACS) are now a major area of qualitative inquiry in physical culture studies. As part of this subfield, reflexive accounts of ethnographic methods are contributing to knowledge of qualitative methods and embodied interactions. Within this article I seek to add to these growing contributions by considering a relatively understudied strategy in martial arts research – that of face–to–face interviews – from a physical and reflexive dimension. Drawing from case studies of British practitioners of Traditionalist Chinese Martial Arts (TCMAs), this confessional tale calls for a reflexive look at the embodied dimension of face–to–face interviews alongside the more conventional analysis of language.‘Zack and I eagerly scrambled up the hill. It was a break during an exciting interview, and we were keen to take some fresh air, marvel at a local Celtic cross, and most importantly, explore some of the embodied concepts that we had discussed for the last hour over a cup of tea. For over an hour we progressed from basic drills to free–flow training in close proximity, occasionally clipping each other across the ear or striking a rib, but always in good humour. When we returned to his home for his home–cooked stew and a refreshing beverage, my shoulders and forearms had plenty of ammunition to power the second half of the interview: About what just happened.’ (Field notes)