Wushu, the Evolution of Sports Mythology, and the Rhetorical Management of Losing

Mythic rhetoric is a mainstay in sports communication. Stories of athletes achieving greatness through struggle provides a foundation for communities to build, manage, and share collective identities and ideologies. One of the unexplored weaknesses of sports myths lies in how rhetors respond to losses. Sports myths are a powerful resource used to shore up mutual identity, but they are tethered to real-world outcomes that run counter to mythic themes. Thus, losses can spur on mythic evolution to address ensuing inconsistencies. In those cases, rhetors are left with several options: ignore the outcomes or adapt the myth, either grounding or broadening it to transcend shortcomings. These tendencies were evident in the Chinese government’s responses to Xu Xiaodong, a mixed martial artist who made headlines defeating Wushu masters. Wushu, a term referring to a collection of traditional Chinese martial arts, is a core myth for the government. Seeing masters rack up losses threw their mythology into chaos. This analysis examines the state-run media’s responses to the Xu situation as a means of understanding the delicacy of sports myths and a consideration of how rhetors who rely on those myths respond to losses when myths evolve because of real-world outcomes.