An Asian martial art in Latin America, or Taekwondo in Buenos Aires: Mosaic ethnographies of knowledge transmission and caring relationships

The thesis explores a range of taekwondo practices in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Using visual ethnographic methods, it presents an account of practice as art and as sport, focusing on learning and knowledge transmission as well as the different relationships of care that I encountered during 18 months of fieldwork. Based on audio-visual research, the thesis presents the data as a multimodal mosaic that combines short films, images, interview and participant observation data and text to convey concepts related to experience, knowledge transmission and care. Through an account of the life history of a pioneer of this Korean martial art, I shed light on the importance of storytelling and the archiving practices of Taekwondo practitioners. By examining how the martial art has been taught across generations, I show how the art has (also) become a combat sport and explore some of the implications of the transformations of the practice in response to the requirements of competition, such as shifts in evaluations and measurement of skill and the impact of innovative technologies. The different situations of practice show the multiple forms that caring relationships can take, including within the process of ethnographic research and the relationships that emerge from it. The thesis aims to contribute to the Anthropology of Sport through a multimodal approach that highlights the variegated practices and relationships expressed through Taekwondo. The presentation of data in the format of a mosaic underpins the connections arising from a focus on skilled vision (Grasseni 2004) and ethics of care.