The Magic Ring

This chapter investigates how combat sport establishes itself as play, rather than violence, through its relationship to designated spaces. Opening with competing definitions of magic in martial arts versus in game theory, this section moves on to explore the importance of spaces of practice—boxing rings, cages, dojos, and academies—to martial arts and combat sport training. Spaces are transformed through practices that in turn rely on alterations of movement, time perception, and self-awareness. The chapter concludes with an exploration of edge play, acknowledging both that games often simulate situations that we would otherwise avoid and that the line between game and reality can, in the case of combat sport, be a thin one.