Hanging out and hanging about

This article offers reflection on the relationship between the researcher and the field of research, within the sport of men's boxing, which is strongly characterized by polarized oppositions: between winning and losing, success and failure, women and men and, perhaps most importantly for the researcher, `insiders' and `outsiders'. It is this interrelationship between `insiders' and `outsiders' and the embodiment, not only of the practitioners of the sport but also the embodied presence of the researcher, which is used here to explore methodological questions about the research process and debates about how the researcher is situated in relation to the research site, by addressing questions about ontological complicity that are implicated in the distinction between `hanging out' and `hanging about' at the gym and as part of the culture of boxing.