Well without wanting to jinx the situation I think I can safely say that the British summer has now officially arrived. With the Met Office having given out an official warning for a heat wave throughout this week I reckon its time for warm orange squash and ice creams in the garden. For all our international readers this one week will probably be our very British summer so I hope you understand the excitement.

But what does this mean for our training? Well first thing is first in warm climates – especially when we are not used to it - taking on board more water is the priority. Also think about when you are training. On a Saturday I usually complete my 7 mile run that combines inclines and straights to give me a hard (but not impossible) work out. This week due to the weather I set off about 5 o clock in the evening and I found this was perfect considering the heat we are having at the moment. So again guys think about your training times and make sure your not punishing yourselves in the mid day sun.

Martial Edge Update

I think it is fair to say that the team may have looked quieter then normal recently. Well not to give too much away but we have been working hard behind the scenes to design and build a brand new site which promises to be amazing! One of the things we have been frustrated with is the fact that when we launched the new site it quickly became apparent that we needed to grow the functionality very quickly to keep up with the demand for new stuff. So stay tuned on that front as we will be announcing some big things pretty soon.

New Content
We have some new content from guest author Luke Rolls who spent a good deal of time over in China so make sure you check out his interview with the Shaolin Masters. Andy Curtiss is a brand new contributor and a former green beret so he is going to be working with us over the next year sharing some of the military survival techniques he was taught as a soldier and how we can apply them in non military confrontations.

Rising Stars
This is starting to hot up now so make sure you are either putting yourself or someone you know forward for this. With over a 1000 GBP in prizes and coverage in a national magazine this is something not to be missed!

The Rising Stars competition is really starting to kick off now with entrants starting to filter through. From Jiu Jitsu to Olympic Taekwondo hopefuls, and Karate to MMA this competition is open to all students from all backgrounds. Also make sure you are checking out Martial Arts Illustrated every month to read in-depth profiles on the 2009 Rising Star entrants. So instructors and students alike get onboard!

So far our entrants list includes in no particular order:

Ben Such

Danny Armstrong

Jamie Abley

Mollie Walden

Anton Simpson Tidy

Gianni Susassi

Richard Treherne

GKR Karate interview with Robert Sullivan How much air time does one organisation need? The controversy continues to swirl around the GKR machine in such forum posts as GKR dont cringe, Go Kan Ryu Karate, You bring shame upon karateka and GKR again.

Last month Lesley Jackson the Martial Edge Deputy Editor completed an interview with Robert Sullivan the founder of GKR which received mixed reviews from you guys. I have also maintained an impartial policy when it comes to seeking interviews, after all if the wider community thinks we are going all tabloid on interviewees we will see those stepping forward to actually get interviewed by us diminish. That said we reviewed the situation after the feedback in the Robert Sullivan post and decided to head back to Robert to get round two of some questions that you guys felt we should have asked the first time.

General Martial Edge News

As most of you know we are currently in discussions with backers to take Martial Edge to the next level of development by getting the bugs ironed out and introducing some new features that will improve how we can all benefit from Martial Edge. So stayed tuned on that one!

Pete Mills

Senior Editor/Co Founder

Martial Edge

The Worlds Largest Online Martial Arts Community

Rising Stars 2009 is nearly here!

Martial Edge in conjunction with Martial Arts Illustrated are launching Rising Stars 2009 which is a national competition to find the top 50 upcoming stars of the martial arts world. Entrants will be able to upload profiles and other members can vote and discuss the entrants in the martial arts forums.  For more information check out the countdown timer on the Rising Stars page. Also make sure you pick up a copy of a Martial Arts Illustrated this month as we will be giving you more detail of how it is all going to run in April’s issue!
 

Martial Arts Festival

Do you want to meet the Martial Edge team? Well you will have an opportunity at the Martial Arts Festival in Leicester on the fourth and fifth of April.  It promises to be a great event with free seminars hosted by Jamie Clubb, Chris Crudelli and Iain Abernethy. For more information check out our interview with the organiser and also take a peek at the MAF UK site.

Spreading the word

Ok guys nearly at that 1000 member mark which is a massive achievement for this site once we reach it. With all the improvements planned for the Martial Edge site make sure you are spreading the word to fellow students and instructors alike.

Pete Mills
Senior Editor/Co Founder
Martial Edge - The Worlds Largest Online Martial Arts Community

Latest Happenings

Lesley Jackson nailed an interview with a genuine Hollywood star last week called Rick Yune. Sure not a household name but the former model turned all action martial arts star played the diamond encrusted Villain in Die Another Day as an evil Korean! Rick is currently over in the UK to talk about his latest movie The Fifth Commandment. For the team it represents yet another sign that Martial Edges reputation as a quality online publication is growing within the world of martial arts and the wider entertainment industry.

I finally put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard with a piece entitled the Martial Artist. I am starting to put together a collection of essays so I will keep feeding stuff through so you can all actively get involved with the creative process. In the Martial Artist I briefly explore the challenges and ultimately what it means to be a martial artist and I have set it up in the forums so we can have a good debate. Come on we have to stop talking about GKR at some point you know.

Martial Arts Festival

If you have not already booked out the 4th and 5th April make sure you do. The Martial Edge Team will be having a big presence at the Martial Arts Festival in Leicester come April. It is going to be star studied event from Iain Abernethy, Chris Crudelli, Jamie Clubb and Mo Teague giving free seminars to full on martial arts shows.  For more information visit the website but also watch this space as we are going to be doing some promotional interviews with the organisers to get the word on the street!

Forum rules again!

Guys and Gals the forum rules are clear cut on this site in that there is to be no profanity and no personal attacks. The peripheral of this of course is that we expect the untold laws of online communities such as spamming and trolling to be respected. We had a bizarre situation last week where the team were actually accused of censorship by a minority because we took exception to a member who thought it continually acceptable to link dump! We are going to make things clearer when we begin the development of the new site for Martial Edge so as always keep an eye on the Talk to the Team if you are experiencing any issues with the forums.

On a positive note nearly 1000 forum members

Nearly there now on the 1000 mark which is a massive achievement for not only the hard work the team put into the site but also the members who actively contribute and promote this site. Come on guys just a little more!

Pete Mills
Senior Editor/Co Founder
Martial Edge - The Worlds Largest Online Martial Arts Community

Well I am back from the alps without any major injuries so I think coming back safely can be classed as a first class effort on my part! There are a couple of threads talking about skiing and snowboarding in our martial arts forums so I highly recommend you look into this sport if you have not done so already.

Without further a do I will crack on with the updates of what has been happening at Martial Edge HQ. The team have two big announcements to make. Firstly if you want to learn more about how Martial Edge was founded and the team of people behind it then make sure you check out this months edition of Martial Arts Illustrated Magazine. You can find the magazine in all good newsagents and shops such as WH Smith and Tesco. For our international readership I recommend you check out the Martial Arts Illustrated website on how you can get hold of an international subscription.

Secondly in partnership with Martial Arts Illustrated we are launching a competition to find the 2009 Rising Stars of the UK Martial Arts Scene. More information will be given out next month but to give you a taster of things to come we are looking for the top 50 martial arts students aged between 16 and 21. It will be open to every style and organisation and the judging will be conducted bythe respective editorial teams of Martial Edge and Martial Arts Illustrated. So stay tuned for more on that one.

Latest content

Have you checked out our excusive interview with the muscles from Brussels? Thats right the man himself Jean Claude Van Damme? This week Martial Edge talk exclusively to JCVD on his new movie release JCVD and I have to say it rocks! Also this week Lesley Jackson looks at an issue that every student from the UK to the US is conscious about and this is of course money. Or the current lack of it. We have had some interesting debates in the forums recently about rip off merchant instructors and organisations so our very own Lesley Jackson has stepped up as the martial arts consumer champion to give you some much needed weaponry in combating fraudulent martial arts operations in this weeks article the great martial arts swindle. As the saying goes to be forearmed is to be forewarned and do not forget you heard it here first.

Spammers and Trolls in the martial arts forums

Definition of Spammers

Posts that clearly advertise a service or product are not allowed

Definition of Trolls

An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial and usually irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online

Guys the downside to having a growing site is that this will become more common place. Please check out my thread in the talk to the team section of our martial arts forums if you need more information or if you want to report spam or troll activity in the forums.

Ok a cheesy picture is something I have to include!

Pete Mills
Senior Editor/Co Founder
Martial Edge - The Worlds Largest Online Martial Arts Community

Ding dong, its me again! Our regular blogger Pete is currently wizzing down snowy mountains in France and cant be with you this week and so once again, he has left you all in my trusty hands

As you may have picked up in the forum this week, my training in Taekwondo has got off to a bit of a funny start this year; First of all I had to spend an unnecessary 50 pounds on an umpires course and in the past few days Ive just found out that I am to lose yet another good Taekwondo instructor a few weeks before I am due to take my second Dan. So what do I do when I’ve got the Taekwondo blues? Turn to Martial Edge of course!

There was certainly some hot debate on the forum this week with one of our longest threads to date about the Go Kan Ryu style of Karate Everyone on there seems to have a strong opinion about GKR Karate and the debate really got active when some new Go Kan Ryu stylists entered the arena. Its great to see everyone contributing regardless of their martial arts style, thats really what martial edge is all about!

The madness continues as I noticed that some of you are getting involved in the Chris Crudelli Oxygen Challenge in April including Martial Edges own Jason Dainter. Well all I can say is you are all nutters and if you come back alive, dont complain to me when you have all got itchy chilblains on your toes! Seriously though, it looks to be an action packed few days and we at Martial Edge will want to hear all about it when you get back.

Here a book, there a book…

Carrying on with the theme of me having the Taekwondo blues, they were temporarily on hold when I read Alex Gillis excellent biography about the history of Taekwondo in his book: A Killing Art, It has been quite a while since Ive been really gripped by a martial arts book but this was a real page turner. However, after watching the WTF action at the Beijing Olympics and live at the British Open last November I couldnt believe all of the giggery pokery that has gone on during the past 50 odd years that Taekwondo has been around. Watch out for my book review and interview with Alex Gillis coming soon.

And finally, the news that some of you have all been waiting for. The results of the UFC Kevin Lynch Octagon Competition. Users were asked who they would suggest in their ultimate UFC dream fight. There were some interesting matches made and may I say that Paris is quite correct in thinking I would make an excellent referee due to my stern teacherly demeanour and you are right, I do carry a board duster around with me as I have one in my school bag along with sellotape, marker pens and a stapler. Enough of the gabbing, here are the 3 luck winners:

	1. Camilla For her suggestion on Mirko Filipovic AKA Cro Cop (In his prime) vs Mike Tyson (In his Prime).
	2. Paris For her very detailed fight anaylsis of the some of a fantasy martial edge UFC competition involving some of the most active martial edge forum members
	3. Normaengage For suggestion: my dad vs your dad, which made us all chuckle at Martial Edge HQ and therefore worthy of a prize!

Well done to everyone and I hope you all enjoy your new heavy weight tomes that are winging their way over to you shortly.

Righto, Im off now and Pete will be back with us next week, unless he has hurtled head on into a tree or got lost in a snowy abyss or something.

Lesley Jackson
Deputy Editor
Martial Edge: The Worlds Largest Online Martial Arts Community

General Martial Edge News

First thing is to check out this months edition of Martial Arts Illustrated Magazine that will feature an interview on me about Martial Edge and the Team. So if you are interested in learning more about the earlier years of Martial Edge and indeed the future plans make sure you check it out! Martial Arts Illustrated is available from all good news agents and W H Smiths and Tesco and for our international readership that may be interested check out MAI online.

Some editorial thoughts

Since Christmas you will have seen some interesting new material go up on the site. From an insight into the new martial arts themed Volkswagen advert to Martial Arts Training in New York we are pushing the editorial boundaries in 2009 and that is a Martial Edge promise.

We have been getting a fair few requests from writers since the Christmas break which is fantastic news for the team as we cannot cover everything. We dont have strict guidelines with submission as long as it remains relatively coherent and doesnt contain any libellous or offensive material. So on that front keep it going.

Martial Arts Forum

Just a general point as the site continues to grow quite rapidly now. Martial Edge is and will remain an open community. Our golden rules are no profanity and no personal attacks so keep it clean and focused on the topics. Jason has also set up a chat room that you can visit if there is a few people online but this is very much at an early stage yet.

UFC competition

Closing date for this is Friday night guys and gals so last chance to put your entries in for this in the competition section of the forums.

Pete Mills
Senior Editor/Co Founder
Martial Edge - The Worlds Largest Online Martial Arts Community

Happy New Year

To start our first blog entry of 2009 the team would like to wish all of our current users both registered and lurking - a happy new year. As a team we are excited about what the new year will bring for the site. Looking forward in 2009 our goal as I have mentioned in previous blog entries is to be the worlds largest online martial arts community. With the planned developments we have for Martial Edge I see no reason why this cannot be the case.

New members and New Debates equals Growing Martial Arts Forums
 
2008 brought to life a martial arts forum that can really grow and flourish this year. Looking back I can remember the early weeks when the forums first came online and there was only a few of us chatting to ourselves in there. Today we have people logging onto the forums from all over the world to share discussion on the martial arts.

As the forums grow this year we have to remember that this is an open community and people of all ages and experience are welcome if they are able to make a positive contribution. Back in 2008 some members of the site raised concerns in the expanding community thread and indeed as the site grows that thread is open to further discussion to ensure we maintain that control.

Popular discussions in the Martial Arts Forums

Just to highlight some of the interesting debates and forum discussion that is going on at the moment.  The editorial team posted a new piece in the philosophy and opinion section on UFC Ring Girls with the forum topic on what impact using sex to sell has on female martial art practioners.

Another interesting thread has been started by Dan McCarthy in the martial arts talk section. Dan is a senior instructor at San Mai and has started a sound off thread to encourage fellow instructors and students at his school to get involved with Martial Edge. Clearly if your not from San Mai its difficult to get involved with that thread but thats not the point. The point is that this is one school in one town of one state in one county yet through Dans efforts of encouraging support this has had a really positive impact on the Martial Edge Community. More of the same guys!

New Content from the Editorial Team

We have tonnes of stuff to go up in the next month. With articles we have some fresh interviews and articles including this week a short piece on the ground breaking Volkswagen advert gracing British television schemes. Lesley Jackson has spent her Christmas holidays enjoying the latest reviews in the world of martial arts cinema and publishing including the Muay Thai flick Chocolate. There is also fresh new video and audio footage to go up on the site so watch out for that one.

UFC Octagon Competition

My first question is how much do you like giant martial arts books crammed full of pictures? If the answer is a BIG FAT YES then be sure to check out this months competition for your chance to win a copy of the UFC title Octagon by Kevin Lynch. This book is basically a scaled down version of the opus which is currently selling for around $3000 in the US.

Pete Mills
Senior Editor/Co Founder
Martial Edge - The Worlds Largest Online Martial Arts Community

Festive Greetings to the Martial Edge following
It is Christmas eve and as always we cannot bare to leave the Martial Edge HQ. Well ok I might be exaggerating a little but before we finish up for the festive holidays the team would like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.  2008 has been an exciting year for us and we are all looking forward to 2009 as if it was our first ever lesson in the martial arts.

Chat room now live
If you check out Jasons latest post in the talk to the team forum you will see that there is now a chat room available over the new year period. It is not advertised fully on the site as we are still working on some of the techie stuff behind it. However it is there to be used by existing members so get stuck in. As everyone both sides of the Atlantic tends to log on at different times of the day I suggest that you get together and arrange a time to be online and have a chat!

UFC Competition
If you have not already entered make sure you get involved in the competition currently running for a chance to win a copy of the Kevin Lynch opus Octagon which is AMAZING. I will close the competition around mid January. The link to the entry page can be found here.

Anyway all the best for the Christmas period from the Martial Edge team and we look forward to another exciting year.

Pete Mills
Senior Editor/Co Founder
Martial Edge - The Worlds Largest Online Martial Arts Community

Merry Christmas from the Martial Edge Team

Christmas is only 8 days away now so I think its time to wish everyone who has supported the Martial Edge site and team a very merry Christmas and a happy new year! In the forums there are few threads already starting to kick off on the subject so I guess all I need to say is share the love.

Martial Arts Forums

The forums just keep getting better. There are some quality conversations going on in the forums everyday so get involved where you can.  Looks like we are going to fall short of having a 1000 members on here by Christmas but the team is still really pleased with how the site has progressed throughout the year. I think 2009 is going to be a big year for this site well it is with the development we have planned but that said the site is continuing to grow everyday and that my Martial Edge friends can only be a good thing! Apologies for the odd bug that continues to cause a few problems it is on our list to get sorted after Christmas and we appreciate everyone working around them.

As I keep saying every week make sure you are telling your fellow students, instructors and even contacts on other forums to get involved. We still have some long dark evenings ahead with the winter months coming up so that gives us plenty of time to have some good debates!

New  Editorial Content

Watch out all this week as we will be publishing some new material for the articles and reviews section. In particular check out the review of Sucker Punch, as well as some new material from Martial Arts author Jamie Clubb.

UFC Octagon Competition

My first question is how much do you like giant martial arts books crammed full of pictures? If the answer is a BIG FAT YES then be sure to check out this months competition for your chance to win a copy of the UFC title Octagon by Kevin Lynch. This book is basically a scaled down version of the opus which is currently selling for around $3000 in the US. It is something not to be missed so click here to enter.

Pete Mills
Senior Editor/Co Founder
Martial Edge - The Worlds Largest Online Martial Arts Community