This dissertation project provides a methodological contribution to the field of critical rhetoric by positioning narrative theory as a powerful yet underutilized tool for examining the power dynamic between producer and consumer in a participatory media context. Drawing on theories of author and audience from rhetorical narratology, this study shows how producers of media texts provide rhetorical cues to audiences that allow them to reassert their power in the form of creative authority vis-à-vis consumers. The genre of professional wrestling serves as an ideal text for examining such power dynamics, as WWE has adapted to changing fan participatory behaviors throughout its sixty-year history. Focusing on pivotal moments in which WWE altered its narrative address to its audience in order to reassert its control over the production process, this study demonstrates the utility of narrative theory for understanding how creative authority shows power at work in media texts. Further, this study situates rhetorical narratology in conversation with theories of rhetorical persona, scholarship on subcultures, and the discursive construction of the “people.” In so doing, I show how a nuanced understanding of author and audience augments critical rhetorical scholarship’s focus on power. Finally, by applying narrative theory as a method for both close textual analysis of single texts as well as a tool for piecing together a critical text from narrative fragments, I also address questions of the role of the text in rhetorical criticism and the role of authorship in an era when audiences exert influence on media texts as they are produced.

This analysis of the professional wrestling genre attempts to understand the complex reading practices employed by wrestling’s fan community. I argue that wrestling fans consume these texts in the context of both the official narratives of media producers and the meta-narratives that exist independently of the official texts. In addition, I argue that wrestling fans display characteristics normally reserved for traditional media producers, collaborating with those producers over the direction of the official narratives. This process of collaboration is indicative of the blurring of the boundaries between textual producers and consumers and necessitates a theoretical conception of the audience that accounts for these unique fan practices. I have called this audience conception the productive audience model.

Sports are changing along with the development of society; commercialization and professionalization of the sports movement is today demanding more of the athletes than before. These demands have created a trend of early specialization, not only amongst the biggest global sports, but also the less practiced ones. This study investigated the sport of wrestling, in Sweden, focusing on socioeconomic factors in the families of the wrestlers, when they were growing up. Furthermore, how family members influenced the athletes, as well as their thoughts of early specialization in order to reach the national team, was included in the research. The conclusion of this study was that the majority of the wrestlers who reached the national team, grew up in families where both parents where present, and their parents had a great interest in sport. Moreover, the families had a medium to high socioeconomic status, indicating that this might have been a contributing factor to the success of the athletes. The wrestlers in the national team started training when they were between five and nine years old, whilst making a debut in competition one year later, and started training for an elite career around the ages of 15 to 16. Still, they had divided opinions whether an early specialization is necessary in order to reach a very high level of the sporting society.

A global race between countries for the most valuable medals has triggered the demand of the athletes even more than before. To cope with the increased pressure the athletes not only need physical but also mental strength. Athletes and coaches stresses the importance of motivation to build the mental strength that is needed. This study researched Swedish wrestling and was built on eight elite wrestlers thoughts and experiences regarding motivation. The goal was to examine these experiences in relation to the athletes ongoing athletic career and goal achievement. The study started as a working project from the Swedish Wrestling Association and their purpose was to study the athletes road to becoming wrestlers at the highest levels of the game. Qualitative data form the eight elite wrestlers was gathered from interviews with questions regarding their journey from starting with wrestling to becoming athletes at the highest level of the game. The respondents ages varied from 19 to 31 and during the interviews they had to reflect on the subjects at hand. Results of the study pointed out the importance of high objectives and the self belief that is necessary to become the best in the world. The athletes that participated in the study also felt the need for interim goals to push forward and pinpointed all the sacrifices that is key to succeed at the highest level of international wrestling. The paper also discusses three key psychological needs within the Self-Determination theory connected with the athletes experiences. The essential need to be apart of something larger, be able to influence their own existence and also be pushed to limits where development occur but not surpass their own ability. As a conclusion this study tries to give answers to how the athletes stay motivated in the ever-changing sports climate.

The aim of presented diploma work was to determine effect of wrestling on the physical condition of pupils of the 1th level of elementary school. I settled tutorial of wrestling for this purpose on the basis of my personal experinece and experience of specialists applied to this subject (instructors and schoolmasters). Knowledge acquired during the preparation stage I developed subsequently in my diploma work. This tutorial could be applied not only by teachers of physical education but also by club trainers. Prior to the settling of tutorial it was necessary to test pupils and find out level of their initial motion ability. For this purpose I applied set of tests of motor efficiency and physical condition EUROFIT intended for the young. Gathered data have been annotated and treated. On the basis of obtained results I compiled resume about the effect of wrestling on the physical condition of pupils of the 1th level of elementary school.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-02-16T13:55:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 veraluciaferreirapintofernandes.pdf: 3436759 bytes, checksum: e7e578e9a04bc29a975d65880015bd3b (MD5) / Rejected by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br), reason: Renta, não encontrei o lattes de Vera Lucia Ferreira Pinto Fernandes. Por favor, confirme na dissertação e autorização se realmente o Lucia não tem acento. Obrigada. on 2016-02-26T12:36:12Z (GMT) / Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-02-26T13:12:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 veraluciaferreirapintofernandes.pdf: 3436759 bytes, checksum: e7e578e9a04bc29a975d65880015bd3b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-03-03T14:02:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 veraluciaferreirapintofernandes.pdf: 3436759 bytes, checksum: e7e578e9a04bc29a975d65880015bd3b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-03T14:02:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 veraluciaferreirapintofernandes.pdf: 3436759 bytes, checksum: e7e578e9a04bc29a975d65880015bd3b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-25 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esta pesquisa, de natureza qualitativa e caráter descritivo, se desenvolveu a partir da seguinte questão central: “Quais os eventos e experiências são vivenciados pelas mulheres que levaram adiante uma carreira como lutadora, apesar dos elaborados argumentos sociais que funcionariam como inibidores de tal atitude?”. Com aporte teórico dos estudos de gênero e metodológico das representações sociais, desta questão central foram definidos como objetivos deste estudo: a) Compreender como se dá o processo de inserção e permanência de mulheres nas lutas; b) Identificar os significados, as motivações, assim como, as dificuldades na construção de suas carreiras; e c) Identificar e analisar as representações de feminilidades dessas mulheres atletas e analisar até que ponto se aproximam e/ou se afastam de uma representação hegemônica. Para atingir os objetivos propostos utilizamos uma Entrevista Semiestruturada, elaborada de acordo com os objetivos da pesquisa, que foi feita a seis atletas profissionais de diferentes modalidades de lutas: duas atletas de Boxe Olímpico, três de Luta Olímpica estilo livre e uma de Mixed Martial Arts. Todas as atletas possuem grande representatividade nacional e internacional dentro do cenário das lutas. As narrativas mostram que as atletas possuem a aptidão esportiva para as modalidades em que atuam, mas esta só é descoberta a partir do convite para a primeira experiência, primeira luta, ou envolvimento técnico com o esporte que, notadamente, é sempre mediado por um homem, aqui caracterizado como tutor. A este fato, somam-se o anseio das famílias pela escolha profissional das atletas, as dificuldades – financeiras e preconceitos –, seus sonhos, conquistas e significados agregados à carreira de lutadora. São mulheres que suportam uma pesada rotina de treinos em ambientes mistos e representam a feminilidade de forma plural e marcada pela postura mais agressiva nos treinos e nas lutas. Suas feminilidades estão aliadas à vaidade e beleza, sejam estas constitutivas de toda mulher ou aquela investida externamente nas ocasiões em que não se encontram lutando ou treinando e, quando possível, também nestes momentos. Ou seja, elas subjetivam determinadas “masculinidades” como forma de pertencimento ao meio, ao mesmo tempo em que marcam a presença do feminino no ringue, no tapete e no octógono. / This research is qualitative and descriptive in character, developed from the following central question: “What are the events and experiences experienced by women who carry on a career as wrestlers, despite the elaborate social arguments that act as inhibitors of such an attitude?”. With theoretical basis of gender studies and methodology of social representations, the objectives of this study have been defined from this question: a) To understand how the process of insertion and retention of women in wrestling is b) To identify the meanings, motivations, as well as the difficulties in building their careers, and c) To identify and analyze the representations of femininity of these female athletes and analyze how far towards and / or away from a hegemonic representation. In order to achieve the proposed objectives, a semi-structured interview was used, prepared in accordance with the objectives of the research, which comprehended six professional athletes of different modalities of wrestling: 2 in Olympic boxing, 3 freestyle wrestlers and 1 in mixed martial arts. All athletes have great national and international presence. The narratives show that the athletes are fit for the modalities in which they compete, but this is only founf out from when they start in the sport, in their first fight, or with the technical involvement with the sport, which is always mediated by men, here characterized as tutors. In addition, there is the desire of families regarding teh choice of the professional athletes, the difficulties - financial and prejudice - their dreams, achievements and meanings attached to the career of wrestlers. They are women who bear a heavy training routine in mixed environments and represent femininity in a plural manner and are marked by more aggressive stance in training and in fights. Their femininity is allied to vanity and beauty be it constitutive of every woman or that one invested externally on the occasions that they are not fighting or training and, where possible, also in those moments. In other words, they subjectivate certain “masculinity” as a way of belonging to the sport, while marking the presence of the feminine in the ring, on the mat and in the octagon.

Introduction Wrestling is a competitive and intermittent combat sport characterised mainly by strength components. Few researchers have examined nonfunctional overreaching in strength-based athletes, such as wrestlers, despite being prevalent. To prevent the more severe condition of overtraining syndrome, it is important to detect early maladaptation, i.e., nonfunctional overreaching. Due to its complex nature, most studies have not managed to develop nonfunctional overreaching conditions in athletes. The purpose of this review is to broadly summarize previous research on functional overreaching, nonfunctional overreaching, and overtraining syndrome to examine useful methods to assess nonfuntional overreaching in wrestlers. Method Google Scholar, PubMed, and Web of Science were used with various combinations of nonfuntional overreaching OR overreaching OR overtraining syndrome. Subjective and objective methods that could be useful to adapt to wrestling to assess nonfunctional overreaching were summarized and discussed. Studies conducted on athletes or physically active individuals in various sports engaging in seasonal training or a moderate to high-intensity training intervention of at least six days or are nonfunctionally overreached were included. Included studies are published original articles and reviews. Results There are few studies on wrestlers regarding nonfunctional overreaching. Biochemical and physiological factors have been inconsistent, a relation between nonfunctional overreaching and decrements in maximal muscular strength and vertical jump height have been reported. Profile of Mood States, Perceived Recovery Status, and Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes have been successfully used to detect nonfunctional overreaching, only the latter being a comprehensive enough monitoring tool. Conclusion To adequately assess nonfunctional overreaching in wrestlers, psychological tools together with performance testing with baseline and follow-up values are emphasised. As specific objective or subjective markers seem to be lacking, coaches should use an individual approach when monitoring wrestlers. Consequently, more studies are needed to determine the validity and reliability of these methods in assessing nonfunctional overreaching in wrestlers.

Title: Kinesiological analysis of selected techniques in greco-romain wrestling Objective: The aim of this Thesis is to measure the extent to which various muscles are involved during the practice of the wrestling technique body lock, lift and suplex. It also considers the order in which the muscles are involved. The research applies surface electromyography. Methods: The theoretical part of this Thesis is predominantly based on the method of analysis and synthesis of the specialized literature. In the practical part, the surface electromyography was used to measure which muscles are involved in the body lock, lift and suplex. Subsequently, the difference of the motion performance of the four probands was evaluated. Furthermore, the timing of muscle activation was monitored. Results: The evaluation of the result showed that musculus rectus femoris is the most involved in the movement and the least musculus obliquus externus abdominis. In addition, it was found that m. Obliquus externus abdominis is involved first, while the last one is involved with m. Biceps femoris. Key words: Wrestling, electromyography, quality of movement, muscle activation

No description available.

Since 1989, The Swedish Sports Confederation (SSC) has had the same gender equality goals for the decision-making bodies and election committees. Even so, men continue to be over represented in most national sport federations and clubs. This has led the SSC to adopt a formal regulation specifying that no gender should be represented by less than 40% in the boards of the national sport federations. This formal regulation does however not extend to the sport clubs, although it is still considered a goal to work towards. The aim of this study was to investigate how board members of Swedish wrestling club sexperience working towards the SSC’s gender equality goals. This was done by qualitative interviews with eight board members, investigating their attitudes towards the work regarding gender equality,what strategies the board members described were being, or could be, used and what might affect the work towards the gender equality goals. The results show that all board members have a positive attitude towards gender equality, although there seems to be uncertainty regarding the definition of gender equality as well as the gender equality goals. The results also show that the strategies described by the board members include strategies aimed at directly achieving the gender equality goals, as well as more general strategies aiming for gender equality in the whole club. What mainly seems to affect the conditions for achieving the gender equality goals seems to be the traditionally male-dominated history and culture of the sport, as well as the lack of interest in being a member of the board.