Week 6, 6.1, CofP- kickboxing

Kickboxing, a community of practice I have been involved in can be applied to Wenger’s model. What is it about?’ A community of practice is something more than a club of friends or a network of connections between people’ (Lave, Wenger) Kickboxing therefore fits into this description because of the knowledge that everybody has come to this class to learn self defence and exercise. How it functions? ‘They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other’ (Lave, Wenger) the members of kickboxing understand that there is mutual engagement and the members are coming together to learn moves from the instructor. The members have to work together in parts and try moves on each other, which gives a sense of community and engagement. ‘What capability it has produced? They develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems—in short a shared practice (Lave, Wenger). The group members in Kickboxing are learning routines in a period of time, they have to work together so mutual respect is gained. Other shared resources which are gained from Kickboxing are the understanding of the names of routines, the routines and the sharing of facilities.

Kickboxing reflects the idea of Community of Practice because as Wenger states in his article ‘that emphasizes the learning that people have done together rather than the unit they report to, the project they are working on, or the people they know.’ The members of kickboxing all work together and learn the moves as a group. In this case there isn’t much of a power hierarchy within the group, apart from the instructor and his helpers. The beginners all work together and the more experienced members work together, giving the sense of ‘togetherness’ and the mutual respect for each others learning.