Cage fighting and the unconventional Duchess...

Alnwick Castle, Northumberland

ALNWICK, England…

The Duchess of Northumberland, no stranger to controversy, is to stage a televised cage-fighting tournament in the grounds of the 1,000-year-old Alnwick Castle, the (London) Sunday Times reported.

On October 21, the Northern Free Fighters and Team Shotai Kai will slug it out, not in an aircraft hangar, a dingy social club or a smoke-filled pub, but in a stunning glass atrium usually reserved for elegant weddings, silver anniversaries and 60^th birthday parties...

Blogs and film companies...

I’VE got a new blog care of Bey Logan, the former editor of Combat Magazine and now Hong Kong film director and documentary maker.

The blog platform – where you can read blogs from the movie starts of the Hong Kong film industry as well as Bey’s own blog – is called alivenotdead.

Will be doing my first entry next week – so check it out and of course Bey’s own blog.

Sooooo busy…

Welcome to our new blogs and a new blogger...

PHIL DOHERTY: WELCOME to our new style blog platforms. As you can see the new blog platforms are interactive and you can now leave comments on the blogs. We hope that you will enjoy being able to talk to our contributors and discuss the issues, ideas and concepts they bring to Martial News.

We also would like to welcome Paul Green to Martial News. Paul is an American tactical defence systems expert who trains US police officers.

He will be discussing many different aspects of this field and has started his blog off with a perspective on what is known as the "Bystander Effect". This is a must read for any martial artist who teaches self-defence and something we all should be aware of...

Evolution of Martial News

THE evolution of Martial News is continuing.

You may have noticed but we now have direct email on site on a number of pages including the contact page, advertising, and comment among others.

This means it is now easier than ever to send stories directly to us.

The Cage Fight Night section - which we have put up for you to have a looksy will be going fully live at the end of this month...

Universal Truths

HAVING been in the martial arts game now for more than 25 years I'm still struck by how much the different arts have in common.

We often get caught up in "our style" that we forget there is far less that separates us than we imagine.

Now seasoned martial arts instructors who have trained in various systems will already know this through experience.

But often beginners, or those with few years in the arts, imagine that the styles are very distinct from each other...and superficially they may appear that way...

Coloured Belts

I was reading the other day a website dedicated to selling martial arts belts as well as other sports gear.

On that website there was a product where you can proudly display all your belts in a plastic, see-through display with pockets to place your treasured belts in order.

At first I thought: "My God - people would actually put their belts on display! How sad is that!"

Let Your Inner Child Out to Play

Martial arts are a funny old business.

There is always something new to learn. Yet there is always a danger of getting caught in your own style or system and closing your mind to new ways of expressing what we collectively do.

After all a punch is just a punch, a kick is just a kick and block is exactly that a block.

There really isn't a "true" way of doing things because they all are simply different expressions of the same thing...