Speakers
Description
Many action sports are undergoing the process of what can be called sportisation with their Olympic inclusion. However, previous literature focuses mainly on external features of sportisation (e.g., forming NGBs, and introducing related schemes), with little attention afforded to how sportisation internally transforms action sports’ own communities and their cultures. Drawing upon a case study of breaking in South Korea, this paper investigates the process of sportisation resulting from its Olympic inclusion. Using document analysis and semi-structured interviews with 10 key individuals in the Korean breaking community, this paper presents four aspects of sportisation in K-breaking. First, aggressive anti-social practices in breaking (e.g., Burn and Call out) have become regulated. Second, the appellation of breakers has changed from ‘b-boy or b-girl’ to ‘athlete’ and from ‘nick-name’ to ‘name’ while the formal positions and roles have emerged (e.g., coaches and referees). Third, breaking battle or competition formats have become formalised. Finally, the breaking community has been split into two distinctive groups: a) a culture scene; and b) a sport scene. These Olympic-prompted changes cause concerns among veteran breakers about the potential collapse of the culture scene and standardisation of breaking styles. From the findings, this paper suggests that the Olympic-sparked sportisation comes not only with new opportunities, but also with conflicts and unintended consequences.
