Materialising a Black Belt: A cultural analytical approach to clothing and capital in martial arts

Abstract: This thesis analyses the material culture of karate clothing in Sweden, namely the karate belt(obi) and the karate uniform (gi). It employs ethnographic methods to observe how these objects reveal themselves in observation and interview in the karate practise hall (dojo), and uses a Bourdieuan framework to analyse the different types of capital which emerge; cultural, social and symbolic. This study finds that people strategically use material objects in a variety of ways in order to engage with other cultures, to support and reinforce social structures (particularly social hierarchy) and to construct their own identity. It also uses Sara Ahmed’s theory of ‘affect’ and Marcel Mauss’ concept of ‘mana’ to expose the potency of these objects in terms of their ability to direct human behaviour and transform mental and physical states. This study concludes that further attention should be paid to the importance of material culture within the field of sport and beyond, and the ways in which clothing and uniform reveal complex social and symbolic structures of power, on a global and local scale.