Chapter 3. Temporary cyborgs: Preparing digital subjectivities in Taekwondo

In this chapter, I argue that practitioners without access to digital technologies anticipate how potential human-technology interactions change which movements are valued in Taekwondo. The introduction of digital sensors in the body armour of Taekwondo competitors has radically changed Taekwondo's physical practices. Athletes are adapting their movements, including kicks and punches, to be detected by these new sensors that react to the clash of two equipped bodies. Outside of competitions, athletes must usually prepare without this costly equipment, relying instead on an imaginary of how the digital protector scoring system would react. Long term practitioners critique the evolution of a martial art focussing on self-defence into digitally co-judged sport. I re-examine the collected ethnographic fieldwork data that included audio-visual recordings and notes from participant observation of training and competing in several Taekwondo dojangs in Buenos Aires. I use Grasseni’s (2004) “skilled vision” and Grasseni and Gieser’s (2019) “skilled mediations” that help describing the observed changes in practices provoked by the highly regulated technology.