Let's overcome the discrimination against our body with our own body

Minji CHO

(Participant in the 2024 ICM Global Martial Arts Academy, Student in the Department of Anthropology at Seoul National University)

During our stay at Chungju on the sweltering summer season, we all became true ‘friends’ through martial arts and sports despite our differences in our sex, race and nationality. There was no isolation or any discrimination at all. The five days we spent during 2024 UNESCO ICM Global Youth Martial Arts Academy period gave the total 30 attendees the time to ponder over prejudices prevalent in our society and to recognize the potential of martial arts and sports to address social discrimination. 

In his book Body and Social Theory, Chris Shilling explains how discrimination against women was embedded in knowledge in the process of theorizing about our body. Until the late 17th century, the body was assumed to be non-gendered, but in the 18th century, enlightenment egalitarian thinkers argued that socio-cultural differences between men and women were based on biological bodies, and presented ideologies that justified gender inequality. Furthermore, in the 19th century, against the backdrop of industrialization and urbanization, men’s anxiety was transferred to women’s bodies, and women’s bodies were transferred with pathological properties. In the 20th century, a movement emerged to justify discrimination against women through socio-biology, a genetic theory on women’s inferiority, and to integrate with conservative ideology. As such, gender categorization based on anatomical and biological differences was established, and gender distinction and discrimination based on biological differences are still visible in our society.

Meanwhile, sports occur in the space of human body through the body. The experiences while exercising are engraved in the body, remembered, converted into knowledge, and connected to the body's performance. In the process of exercising, the interaction of different body parts occurs frequently and closely. Then, why can't we overcome the discrimination that occurs based on our body through the movement of our body?

The problem of violence arises from the separation, isolation, and alienation within each group. The conflicting interests of each other are expressed in the form of violence against each other. However, through martial arts, we can create a one single community. Through the Global Youth Martial Arts Academy, we all tried the same movements, learned what kind of mindset and thoughts we should have when doing the movements, and had a sense of common purpose. Martial arts can be seen as a combative sport, but unlike other sports, it has a strong meaning of learning movements while cultivating your mind. That is why we were able to share the same thoughts and feelings. In fact, as we learned ‘pumbalgi (stepping skills)’ and ‘hwalgaejit (hands skills’ of Taekkyeon) and tried ‘ttangjuk (kicking the opponent)’ with each other, we were able to feel that our bodies were connected. Also, I took a ‘Taekwondo’ course as a liberal arts class for one semester at my university. Although we were students with different majors, we participated in the class with the same goal of learning Taekwondo, regardless of our gender. My body sometimes served as a support for other students to hold onto and practice kicking, and I also tried out various movements by relying on the mitts that my classmates were holding. Since we experienced physical interaction through Taekwondo and trusted each other, we were able to form a community that went beyond just taking the same class and even had lunch together. Also through the ASEAN+3 Youth Cultural Forum held in Brunei, I could experience Silat, a Southeast Asian martial art. In the process of learning and performing Silat, we practiced by watching each others’ body movements, helped each other, and got connected by building a bond. Although we came from different countries and had different backgrounds, we were able to perform Silat on the stage altogether and become true ‘friends.’