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