A brief introduction...

It is with great pleasure that I write this first blog for Spiked Extreme Sports on the subject of Mixed Martial Arts - or Cage Fighting as it is commonly known. Firstly, because it continues to highlight the growth in popularity the sport is enjoying by crossing boundaries into mainstream awareness but also because of the synergy between extreme sports devotees and Mixed Martial Artists.

To hurl yourself down a mountain on a bike can be considered extreme to some factions of society, stepping into a cage with someone who has trained to rip your head off can also be considered extreme – we all know that risk is in the mind of the participant and that a large degree of risk is reduced through preparation.

Through this blog I shall endeavor to provide an insight into MMA that is more encompassing than that of a fighter, mainly because as a photojournalist I am exposed to so many other facets of the game that sometimes pass by unnoticed. I shall on occasion jump on my soapbox and vent, table my thoughts on key events and finally, to provide an ongoing narrative on the development of my book “Blunt Force Trauma” due to be published by Constable & Robinson in October 2010.

The book is a culmination of a love affair with MMA that started back in 1996 after witnessing one of Lee Hasdell’s Night of the Samurai events in Milton Keynes and continues to romanticize me today. During that time I have contributed to a variety of magazines such as Fighters Only, Fighters, MAI, KamiPro in Japan, Fight! in America and several newspapers. I am currently a staff writer at www.mmaweekly.com and MMA Unlimited Magazine as well as a photographic contributor to Ground and Pound Magazine in Germany.

I do hope that these ramblings help to motivate Spiked Extreme Sports Readers to give MMA a go, you don’t have to become a professional fighter to enjoy the training, if you never step into a cage, it doesn’t matter, I am not a fighter – but I have fought, these days time doesn’t allow me the luxury of being consistent enough to compete again, but I would never quit training, the physical rewards are huge and the camaraderie is second to none.

If you want to know more about dabbling your toes into MMA training, pick up the next issue of Spiked Extreme Sports Magazine where I breakdown the sport from two different perspectives: The fighter and The Instructor.