Editorial: Where Martiality and Religion Meet: Health, Sport, War

This editorial presents the main questions that drive this themed issue on the links that exist between martial arts practices and religions. How can terminological, categorical and definitional boundaries be delineated to frame the two notions? What are the contemporary dynamics that redefine their relationships, from the processes of formalisation and specialisation, to the phenomena of patrimonialization. crossbreeding, hybridisation and (re)invention? How might martial arts become a practice of peace? The various contributions in this collection provide several elements of an answer to this question, by offering insights into the violent and conflictual propensities of martial practices but also into their ethical, ritual, performative, therapeutic and regulatory dimensions.