VARIATION IN CULTURAL CONSENSUS BETWEEN EXPERT AND NOVICE BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU ATHLETES

Abstract

The practice of martial arts for leisure and exercise is growing rapidly in the United States. In this study, we utilize mixed methods and cultural consensus analysis to examine a cultural model of strategy among Brazilian jiu jitsu athletes in a gym in Atlanta, Georgia, and to explore how that cultural knowledge varies within consensus. This study builds upon previous research in martial arts studies by employing cultural domain analysis and ethnographic research to quantify and link culture to embodied knowledge through a cultural model of strategy. Results show that strategy in Brazilian jiu jitsu revolves around the hierarchy of positional dominance. Low level belt-ranked novice athletes utilize shared understandings of positional dominance to guide their personal strategic selection of techniques, which they habitually practice to the point of embodied reflexivity. High belt-ranked expert athletes eventually reach a level of expertise at which relying exclusively on the cultural model of strategy impedes their performance in competition. These expert athletes develop a personal model of strategic fluidity within the context of the cultural model of strategy which focuses on adaptation to specific opponents and circumstances.