In Venezuelan Stick Fighting: The Civilizing Process in Martial Arts, Michael J. Ryan examines the modern and historical role of the secretive tradition of stick fighting within rural Venezuela. Despite profound political and economic changes from the early twentieth century to the modern day, traditional values, practices, and imaginaries associated

Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art explores capoeira as a field of confrontation where different struggles that divide Brazilian society are played out. It contains a first English language scholarly account of capoeira's early history and development to the present day.

What skills did Shakespeare's actors bring to their craft? How do these skills differ from those of contemporary actors? Early Modern Actors and Shakespeare's Theatre: Thinking with the Body examines the 'toolkit' of the early modern player and suggests new readings of the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries through

This volume of abstracts provides an insight into the contested nature of sports coaching. Detailed, yet concise, this compilation of work recognises the importance of context and the socio-historical learning environments that coaches operate within. The text draws upon the work of a range of scholars varying from doctoral students,

What happens when one’s skill level in dance, the martial arts, or other activities surpasses local training opportunities? Lauren Miller Griffith and Jonathan S. Marion provide a new and exciting apprenticeship pilgrimages model —including local, regional, opportunistic, and virtual—that practitioners undertake to acquire knowledge, skills, and legitimacy originally unavailable.