The Emergence of a Rhizomatic Mode of Consciousness through Body Movement: Ethnography of Taijiquan Martial Artists
Anthropology of Consciousness September 1, 2021 Tomáš Paul
Becoming a Taijiquan practitioner in the Czech Republic involves a gradual transformation of consciousness over years or decades, contrasting with the immediate shifts from ordinary to extraordinary states typically studied in the anthropology of consciousness. The analysis uses Deleuze and Guattari's concepts of the arborescent and rhizomatic to depict consciousness as an ever-changing map, where the dissolution of boundaries (deterritorialization) is always balanced by their reinforcement (reterritorialization). This framework creates a space for dialogue between martial arts research and the anthropology of consciousness.