Ok, before you think what on earth is Pete doing with the picture below, let me explain. The blog has been quite a success since its launch (thanks for the positive feedback) however there have been requests for pictures. As always we listen to what you guys who use the site want and therefore I thought the best way to kick this off in true Martial Edge style was a picture of the team.

Top left: Pete Mills,senior editor/co founder, Top right Jason DainterIT project management/ co founder, Middle right, Ben Johnson chief editor, Bottom Left, Lesley Jackson, deputy editor, Middle bottom, Ian Hales IT, Bottom Right, Sham Norsham,IT.

Anyway, enough of the comedy on with the serious stuff.

On Friday we published the brand new Martial Arts Articles and Reviews homepage. As you may have noticed there are still some finishing touches to be made but ultimately it will make your navigation of the content a whole lot easier. We have big plans for the next two to three months with editorial content so it was vitally important that we put a system in place that would allow the site to grow without sacrificing the ease of which you can use the site. As usual feedback and suggestions are most welcome in the forums on what you think to the new articles and review layout page.

Work also began on the task of putting all of our Martial Arts Shop products online - yes kids all 600 of them! So I wont go over board on product plugs but I will however keep you all updated until launch with how development is going.

On Sunday Ben (Chief editor/writing genius/drummer in upcoming band Wintermute) and I made the 40 mile trip across the Pennines from Leeds to Manchester to meet the legendary Phillip Star, author of The Making of a Butterfly and Martial Mechanics. Phillip was over from the United States promoting his latest book and conducting a series of seminars organised by Chris Lomas. If you are reading this blog chances are you are familiar with Phillips work on Martial Edge and he has been a friend to the team for around two years (yes even when we were a tiny little website). It was great to finally meet the man himself and with over fifty years of training in the martial arts it was an honour to spend some time with him. You can catch Phillip in the forums.

As usual I am pleased with how everyone is starting to respond to the message of spreading the word about what we are setting out to do with Martial Edge. Traffic to the website is continuing to rise with an increase of people now starting to sign up and connect on the site everyday. As I said in last weeks entry the team doesnt expect everyone to be martial arts forum users, forums are just the start. Already we have profile pages, write on wall functions and private messaging. (And like Willa Wonkas Chocolate factory a couple of surprises too).

The team have been receiving positive messages recently as loyal users are also starting to notice that the site is catching on. That said we cannot rest on our laurels. Keep telling everyone you know about us. Again, suggestions would be helpful if you think the process of becoming a member of Martial Edge could be easier and whether we do a good enough job of promoting the benefits on the site.

As usual, you can catch me or any of the team members during the week in the forums.

Pete Mills

Senior Editor/Co-Founder

The Worlds Largest Online Martial Arts Community

Martial Edge News

As you may have seen during the week we are currently testing out the live chat feature. Before you start wondering if Martial Edge has gone all old school on you, dont worry. Essentially we are testing out a new platform that will allow users to interview an instructor or a personality from the martial arts world live. The date will be announced on the site and all you have to do is log on at the relevant time, armed with some questions. So stay tuned for that one and if you have any suggestions/comments/feedback do let us know in the forums.

The team (Myself, Jason, Ian, Sham, Lesley and Ben) have been pleased with the feedback received throughout the week on how much everyone is enjoying the site. It certainly is uplifting to know that although there are parts of the site still to be developed, we are hitting some of the right notes. Jason actually shared an interesting story with me a few weeks ago that will always stick with me. A user of Martial Edge had dropped him an email saying how he thought the site was like the most amazing fine dining restaurant and he was the only one eating there. The Martial Edge site was in its infancy back then but it was pleasing to hear. I think we can safely say that is no longer the case but the journey of growing Martial Edge into the worlds largest online martial arts community has only just begun.

With regards the martial arts forums we have had some interesting debates going on this week. As I said in last weeks entry it is a pleasure to log on and get involved even though officially I try and stay neutral - I cant resist and have to get involved.

We need your support

If you are a fan of what we are doing and you have not yet introduced yourself in the forums then do so. It is one of the primary ways you can show your support and give us that all important feedback about the things you like and of course the things you want us to improve on. I dont for one minute expect everyone who uses the site to register a profile and take the plunge, after all I enjoy visiting websites such as Sherdog (for MMA action and news) TechCrunch (Yep, Jason and Ian are slowly tempting me to the dark side of the computer boffins, or rather the appreciation club) and one or two others. However, to grow the site we need that support so just do it as it takes two minutes!

Also on the point of support it is vital that if your enjoying the site to spread the word. As I said in last weeks martial arts blog, instructors should be getting students on here to register profiles and set up friend networks. Students need to be telling other students and thats how these things snowball. Im not going to let slip all of our plans but exciting things are going to happen with the way you will be able to use the community features. With regards to spreading the word it creates a positive effect of more people using the site. In turn the busier our site is, the more willing martial arts commentators are to work with us to publish online content.

As a final note on the M.E. news front apologies for the delay in getting the Taekwondo and Thai Boxing video tutorials onto the site. They will be up early this coming week!

Martial Arts News from Around the World

As an avid reader of the Financial Times (yes I am that sad) I was intrigued to read about the former Russian President, Vladamir Putins love of Judo. After further investigation on Google, not only did I discover that he had recruited former dojo buddies into influential government posts (such as Vasily Shestakov to head Moscow’s new press and information bureau - the Orwellian-sounding National Information Centre) but has also co-authored a book on the subject of Judo too. The title Judo, History, Theory and Practice can belong to yours truly from Amazon. Yes folks it does exist:

http://www.amazon.com/Judo-History-Practice-Vladamir-Putin/dp/1556434456

On the publishing front if you are into your self help books Geoff Thompsons latest has just been released, The Beginners Guide to Lightness. (Review coming soon) I will be the first to admit that I used to approach Geoffs work with ignorance, i.e. hes a glorified hard man what does he know about feelings? Yep, hands up on that one in my younger days that thought did enter the mind. But that said I am always the first to put my hands up and admit when I am wrong. I interviewed Mr Thompson back in 2006 and thats when I first started to actually read his material objectively. I am not quite in need of self help material just yet, but it certainly has its place and means different things to different people. Anyway, it was worth a mention as a copy dropped through the door this week and of course I wanted to draw attention to the fact Mr Thompson is also a Martial Edge author.

As a final note, Manchester United 3 Chelsea 2, didnt I tell you I also predict football scores? (For non football/soccer fans, and for our international martial arts friends im referring to the European Champions League on wednesday evening)

As usual, you can catch me or any of the team members during the week in the forums.

Pete Mills

Senior Editor/Co-Founder

The Worlds Largest Online Martial Arts Community

Ahem, introduction

Welcome to the first instalment of the editorial blog. Every week you will have me, Pete Mills, senior editor (and co- founder dont you know) telling you about all the exciting things we have going on here at the Martial Edge HQ, and of course what blog page wouldnt be complete without a look back at the weeks news and events in the martial arts world?

If you have just logged onto Martial Edge for the first time ever and found this page - dont worry - the sites not that new! However, the team now feel that the site is growing sufficiently to warrant the effort to reward loyal visitors with an even more personal touch then before by producing a weekly blog.

General Martial Edge news

Jason Dainter (Co-Founder / IT guru/ stunt double for Timothy Dalton) and I attended the Seni 08 martial arts expo to get a feel for what the industry was doing and of course what the fans were looking for. From a personal perspective it was an excellent day out with the highlight of finally meeting Bob Sykes - the editor of Martial Arts Illustrated - after been a fan for so many years. I was also highly amused at the hype surrounding the UFC guys, in particular, the very attractive girls swooning all over the UFC fighters. Who says sex doesnt sell?

For Martial Edges benefit we cemented a working relationship with Summersdale Press. Summersdale are the premier martial arts publishers in the United Kingdom and are clearly up there fighting for the worlds no.1 position with Turtle, Bluesnake, Overlook, and Tuttle with authors such as Geoff Thompson, Iain Abernethy, Rick Young, and Jamie Clubb to name a few. What is the benefit I here you ask? Twofold, the fact the editorial team have now got access to amazing content and interview opportunities with these esteemed authors is one, the second is you will soon have access to the entire range of Summersdale books and dvds through the Martial Edge online store when launched later next month. So look forward to some good stuff coming through onto the site.

What we are also pleased with is how the forums are becoming such a diverse place to hang out and whether it is during lunch breaks, skiving from work or getting involved in some serious debates I will put my neck on the line by saying the ground work is there for one of the best online martial arts forums on the net. Also a big thanks to those who contributed (and who continue to contribute) to the Martial Edge Shop thread, the feedback has been really helpful. On Friday we finalised the design of the shop and to give you a sneak preview of whats going to be in there we will have 700 products split across the following ranges:

Sparring equipment and Protective Gear, Fitness and Home, Workout Bags Kickshields, Pads and Training equipment, Boxing and Kickboxing equipment, Martial Arts Uniforms and Belts, MMA - Mixed Martial Arts, and Official UFC merchandise, Martial Arts DVDs and Books, Training Weapons, Martial Arts Kids, Martial Arts Clothing, Shoes and Bags

All items will be available on next day delivery with complete safe and secure online payment methods. (Come on guys, you have seen how advanced the site is - you know its going to be safe.) What excites me about launching the shop is that it marks the next stage of development, a simple stepping stone as it were in our ambition to create the worlds largest online martial arts community site.

The last thing I want to mention is make sure you are logging on this week for the release of some brand new Martial Edge filmed video tutorials. Featured will be in-depth videos with Richard Smith of the Bad Company Thai Boxing Gym based in Leeds, and Chris Beanland, sixth Dan ITF Taekwondo Instructor with the T.A.G.B. After the success of the Chris Crudelli Tai Chi Fighting tutorial we felt it necessary to get more of this content online.

Martial arts news from around the world

This isnt the place for me regurgitating news from the worlds press. Rather, I will take the opportunity to bring things to your attention that have either caused me to laugh at loud or items that I feel would benefit the Martial Edge community.

USA Taekwondo Olympic Newsletter

If you have not seen this yet get onto the USA Taekwondo website: www.usa-taekwondo.us and download the Olympic newsletter. Its crammed full of useful tips and this week had a very informative article on Indomitable spirit. I have even gone to the trouble of taking an extract:

Indomitable spirit is best described by the United States Marines as the refusal to fail. The tenet of indomitable spirit is deeply rooted in periods of war and adversity. Indomitable spirit describes a mental fortitude that is essential for survival. When two warriors meet on the field of war one will eventually emerge victorious. Jimmy Kim 1988 Olympic Gold Medallist from Indomitable spirit.

There are also some good inspirational quotes in there even if your Taekwondo is not your base art so check that one out.

One thing that really got the juices flowing this week was that Matt Damon, star of the Bourne Trilogy is reportedly teaming up with Paul Greengrass again to film a fourth Jason Bourne movie. Apart from the fact they are works of cinematic genius, what I really love about these films is that they put life into the on screen fight. The Kali inspired fighting scenes were orchestrated by Jeff Imada and have a brutal reality about them that has been lost in action movies in recent years. It certainly will be interesting to see how they can build on the increased tempo of the franchise that culminated in the shoot out at the end of the Bourne Ultimatum, but thats the magic of Hollywood right?

Anyway, thats it for now folks. As always you can catch me in the forums during the week.

Pete Mills

Senior Editor/Co-Founder

The Worlds Largest Online Martial Arts Community