Japanese turn-initial particle hai in instruction-compliance sequences in boxing.

This paper analyzes how language and body interact in boxing sparring sessions by focusing on the Japanese particle hai (lit. 'yes') as it occurs turn-initially in the first part of instruction-compliance sequences. Based on sequential and embodied analysis of 11 boxing sparring sessions, this paper examines: (1) in what sequential and embodied environments hai is used; (2) if hai responds to a focal moment, what constitutes that moment; (3) what actions do hai-prefaced instructions indicate? How do language and body interact when these actions emerge? This paper identifies three environments: (1) while a boxer is being attacked, the particle prefaces instruction to evade the attack; (2) after a first phase of combined boxing movements, it precedes instruction pursuing the second phase; (3) after a change of distance, the particle introduces instructions for punches which are suitable at that distance. In each environment, hai is used to identify the exact moment at which targeted shifts from a current body alignment to a different one should be implemented. Depending on the temporal order of language and body, hai-prefaced instructions express different actions, e.g., 'late' instruction can "acknowledge" (Mondada 2021) boxer's independent initiations of the targeted action and, simultaneously, make their completions relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]