Embodied cognition and movement-driven practices

In this chapter we focus on embodied engagement in movement-driven practices. In these practices, athletes strive to enhance their performance, and must, in different conditions, “think on the fly” while performing. Sport is a prototypical example of such embodied engagement; however movement-driven practices extend beyond traditional sports. Throughout the chapter, we provide examples of these different practices, such as boxing, climbing, aikido, dance and esports. 1 These activities present a specific kind of window for investigating and understanding the substantial role of the body in cognition. We argue for using a strongly embodied cognitive approach to provide a new perspective on how bodily and worldly aspects of practitioners’ real-time engagement in an activity are part of such “thinking on the fly”. We first describe and discuss the concept of Strong Embodied Cognition (EC). From a Strong EC approach to skillful action, we focus on how it is that thinking (including planning, reflecting and creativity) takes place as a strongly embodied process in different kinds of activities. We then consider the role of embodiment for incorporation of skills and interactive sense-making of expert athletes, and end with a discussion of the role of embodiment in esports and how esports constructively challenge the Strong EC approach.