I can take it, I can take it! On bodies and Pain in boxing

Abstract

This document presents reflections on pain in boxing, resulting from fieldwork conducted in gyms and clubs in the city of San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina. It is situated within the framework of Communication and Corporeality Studies and adopts an ethnographic approach, thus drawing on participant observation and in-depth interviews. It is structured in three sections: first, it discusses the learning and meanings of pain in physical training; second, as part of the same process, it reflects on aspects specifically linked to the training of boxing techniques; and finally, it focuses on boxing events as settings that constitute a ritual of imposition and denial of pain, where different meanings of pain are realized, previously learned in the spaces where bodies are constructed for boxing.